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February 02, 2025

How Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis blockbuster impacts Sixers trade deadline scenarios

What on earth just happened?

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Luka AD Jerome Miron/Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks might have just pulled off the most stunning trade in NBA history.

Very early Sunday morning, news broke that the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks had agreed to terms on a deal so stunning that most of the world believed ESPN NBA reporter Shams Charania's social media had been hacked. But this, somehow, is real: Luka Dončić is headed to the Lakers along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick.

The Utah Jazz are involved as the third team in the deal, acquiring two second-round picks for taking on the expiring salary of Lakers second-year player Jalen Hood-Schifino.

This is not just a shocking trade, it is the single most out-of-left-field transaction in recent American sports history. For Dallas to initiate talks on trading Dončić, a 25-year-old offensive savant who won Rookie of the Year in 2018-19 and has earned a First Team All-NBA nod in every season since, is unthinkable. Dončić is at worst the fourth-most valuable asset in the entire sport, midway through a season in which they are defending champions of the Western Conference, the Mavericks traded him for the soon-to-be 32-year-old Davis, a budding role player in Christie and just one first-round pick.

All of this is unfathomable. But we are going to have to try to fathom it, because it is happening. Dončić is going to be a Laker, Davis is going to be a Maverick and the entire landscape of the Western Conference has been turned on its head.

But, of course, our focus here is on the Sixers. And there could be some ramifications here which alter their trade deadline approach. The Lakers and Mavericks each seemed to be conceivable trade partners for the Sixers on a pair of players, but that outlook has changed quite a bit.

Whether a Sixers team which has suddenly surged will be buyers or sellers ahead of the NBA's Feb. 6 trade deadline remains to be seen, but they have two bigs expected to generate continued interest.

The first is Guerschon Yabusele, who has become a brilliant offensive player in an unexpected yet seamless transition to playing center. Yabusele is natural power forward who can certainly give a team quality minutes at the four, but the five has been his home for much of the season and he has thrived. On a veteran's minimum contract, Yabusele can be easily slotted into any team's cap sheet.

Then there is Andre Drummond, one of the best rebounders in NBA history who returned to Philadelphia on a two-year, $10 million deal containing a player option with the reputation as one of the NBA's elite backup centers. His production has lagged far behind that perception this season, though, and he has missed plenty of games due to a few different injuries. It stands to reason there would at least be limited interest in Drummond on the trade market among teams in need of some muscle inside, two of which come into play here.

If the Sixers do opt to move one or both of their primary backup centers behind Joel Embiid, how will this Dončić-Davis blockbuster alter their market?


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Trading with the Mavericks

Before this earth-shattering deal came to fruition, Dallas was looking for some short-term frontcourt reinforcements with starting center Dereck Lively II out for multiple months and Kleber potentially in the same boat after he broke his foot last week. Now Kleber is gone, but Davis has joined P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford in what will become a loaded rotation of bigs once Lively returns.

Dallas should be doing everything possible to acquire another ball-handler to relieve Kyrie Irving of the increased load he is about to take on. The Mavericks' next-best offensive engine might be Spencer Dinwiddie, which is a harrowing thought. On the wing, they have a pretty good mix of contributors, particularly if Washington is able to remain effective playing in a more traditional wing role in certain lineups.

While the Mavericks have clearly demonstrated a willingness to do things nobody else would consider doing by trading a 25-year-old perennial MVP candidate for an inferior 31-year-old and only one first-round pick, it is hard to come up with any motivation the Mavericks could feel to pursue another big.

Suddenly, a prime suitor for Yabusele and/or Drummond appears to be out of the picture entirely when it comes to trade talks surrounding bigs. The Mavericks' most obvious need is a backup ball-handler, and it is abundantly clear that the Sixers do not have any quality options to offer in that department.


MORE: Can the Sixers keep Yabusele long-term? A salary cap expert explains


Trading with the Lakers

Even before exiling Davis, the Lakers were believed to be scouring the trade market in search of a big who play alongside and behind him. Now, they are desperate for any NBA-caliber bigs whatsoever, as Davis has been swapped for Kleber, who does not have a timeline to return.

The only healthy bigs on the Lakers' roster are Jaxson Hayes, who is on a veteran's minimum contract, two-way centers Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III. Even Kleber is not a prototypical center himself; lineups with him at the five will be considered small-ball units. Not only will the Lakers have next to no rim protection without Davis, but they will eventually be starting three players who are routinely treated as weak links when defending on the ball: Dončić, Austin Reaves and 40-year-old LeBron James.

To be clear, whenever you can acquire a player as good and young as Dončić, you pull the trigger and figure out the rest of the puzzle later. It is difficult to recall any similar opportunity emerging in recent history and equally tough to imagine one coming to fruition for many years to come. With James and his heir apparent Dončić in place, the Lakers will still do whatever they can to compete now, one would think. But they have plenty of work to do between now and Thursday, as their roster is wildly imbalanced.

In theory, that makes the Lakers a prime candidate to trade for Yabusele -- who has reportedly drawn interest from several contenders -- or Drummond, who spent part of a season in Los Angeles a few years back. But when trying to come up with any specific frameworks, it becomes tricky.


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First of all, the Lakers only have one second-round pick to dangle in trade talks. They are able to move their 2031 first-rounder, but if they would not cough up that pick in a trade for Dončić, it is hard to imagine them giving it up for Yabusele or Drummond.

Then there is another significant hurdle: the Sixers and Lakers are both over the first apron and below the second apron, meaning they can aggregate multiple salaries in a trade, but cannot take back more money than they send out. That means at least a three-team deal would almost certainly be required. Unless the salaries headed in each direction match to the penny, the deal will not be approved by the league office.

Another hurdle: the Lakers do not have a single player with a salary between $4 million and $10 million. The Sixers would have to package Drummond and Yabusele with someone like Eric Gordon to even have the capacity to absorb someone with an eight-figure salary. But the only player on the Lakers' roster with a relatively small salary who has any trade value is rookie first-round pick Dalton Knecht, who it is hard to imagine them moving for a rental of a backup big.

The Lakers will almost definitely find a way to add at least a big or two to their roster in the next few days, but the composition of their salaries makes it extremely difficult to imagine that player being Drummond, barring a complicated three- or four-team deal. Yabusele is easier to fit from a salary cap perspective, but whether the Lakers can make an offer which is remotely appealing to the Sixers would be very much up in the air.

While this trade did increase the Lakers' need for players like Yabusele and Drummond drastically, it also complicated their pathway to actually getting a deal done with the Sixers specifically.


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