Burning Questions After Lakers-Mavericks Blockbuster Luka Dončić, Anthony Davis Trade

Yes, this is real.

Luka Dončić is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis is joining the Dallas Mavericks.

Naturally, we have questions. Plenty of them. More of them, certainly, than answers.

And so we are here, powering through shellshock and confusion, to ask as many of them as our bent brains can muster.

Because maintaining a burning curiosity amid the mayhem that is the NBA transaction cycle is what heroes do.

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has offered a smattering of viewpoints in the aftermath of shipping out a 25-year-old Luka Dončić for a 31-year-old Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 Lakers first-round draft pick.

Harrison has touted the importance of defense when winning championships. He has posited that AD fits the Mavs' timeline to win now and later. Sources who, let's face it, may be Harrison himself have expressed concern about Doncic's apparent affinity for inactivity and partially hydrogenated oils:

All the while, Harrison claims this is a move borne from his autonomy. Team governor Patrick Dumont laughed at him when he first brought it to the table. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka thought he was being Punk'd. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has nothing to do with the decision; he's just supporting it. Luka did not ask out, and Harrison says he did not open up the bidding to other teams.

None of this feels like enough, like the whole story.

Davis remains a superstar, but there is no world in which voluntarily trading a perennial MVP candidate only just entering his prime because you aren't happy with his BMI or thrilled at paying him like the top-five player he is makes sense. It makes even less sense when you're flipping him for someone around six years older and then prattling on about how this jibes with your plan to win later.

Harrison did indicate the team was worried about other suitors poaching Luka in 2026 free agency (player option). So, surely Dončić must have asked out. Or indicated he wouldn't sign a supermax extension this summer. Or is secretly an awful teammate. Or anti-casino legalization. Or actually dealing with an exploded calf.

Something else, anything else, other than "Harrison felt like it, so he did it" logic has to be driving this decision...right? Or is yours truly just underestimating the possibility and power of sheer incompetence and/or deluded confidence?

Luka Dončić has not played since Christmas Day while recovering from a strained left calf. The idea that this injury could be something more ultra-serious has been floated to try understanding just what the hell is happening in Dallas.

Well, if there is anything else at play, it apparently isn't Dončić's calf.

"Luka Dončić has been returning to basketball activities since that calf injury that he had, the calf strain," ESPN's Shams Charania said during a SportsCenter appearance. "He's had multiple calf strains over the last several years. He's had two calf injuries just this year. But he has returned to practice and, from what I'm told, the goal is for him to make his Lakers debut before the All-Star break."

Five games separate Los Angeles from the All-Star break:

• Tuesday, Feb. 4: at Los Angeles Clippers
• Thursday, Feb. 6: vs Golden State Warriors
• Saturday, Feb. 8: vs. Indiana Pacers
• Monday, Feb. 10: vs. Utah Jazz
• Wednesday, Feb. 12: at Utah Jazz

It sounds like we'll be seeing Luka in a Lakers jersey for at least one of these games. But which one will be his first? And how many reps will he get before the break?

Conventional wisdom suggests the Lakers will have him debut at home. That winnows the pool down to three options. And yet, his arrival itself is a smack-us-in-the-face-90-times-over surprise. Who's to say another curveball isn't coming down the pipeline?

LeBron James reportedly had no idea the Lakers were about to trade for Luka Dončić. That alone is potentially ominous.

The same goes for the initial framing from ESPN's Shams Charania. He made it a point to note that the Lakers view Luka as a bridge into the future, and that they were giving Anthony Davis a "win-now move in Dallas."

So, uh, does this mean that the Lakers aren't necessarily trying to win now? At the very least, it appears they pounced at the opportunity with both eyes locked on the biggest possible picture. Does that make it more likely that they move LeBron, who has a no-trade clause, by the Feb. 6 deadline? Or that they go their separate ways this summer, when he holds another player option?

Sources told ESPN's Dave McMenamin that LeBron will remain with the Lakers through Thursday. What about thereafter? ESPN's Brian Windhorst reiterated that LeBron has "dreamed" of playing with Luka. Will that aspiration extend to the Lakers structuring their present and future around Dončić's timeline rather than James' own?

Whether the Lakers are reorienting their timeline around Luka Dončić at the expense of Anthony Davis and LeBron James or plan to go full steam ahead from here, they are not done wheeling and dealing ahead of Thursday's trade deadline.

Jaxson Hayes, Christian Koloko and Christian Wood, who has yet to play this season, are now Los Angeles' only bigs. We can include Markieff Morris and Jarred Vanderbilt if we stretch the concept of "big," but that doesn't change anything.

The Lakers were on the hunt for another center before flipping AD. They arguably need two now. They could also use more three-and-D complements—preferably who can capably guard at the point-of-attack following Max Christie's exit.

It will be fascinating to see how much of Los Angeles' remaining assets are in play over the next few days. Are the Lakers willing to make a move that costs them their 2031 first-round pick, Rui Hachimura and/or Austin Reaves? Or will they prioritize minor swings before recalibrating over the summer?

And, oh, how does the lack of absolute certainty surrounding LeBron's future that we just discussed factor into this, if it even plays a role at all?

If we take Nico Harrison at face value, the Mavs are not hitting pause on this season. And with the team's window now contingent upon two over-30 stars, one of whom will be a free agent this summer (Kyrie Irving has a player option), more immediate moves will invariably follow.

What, pray tell, will be the Mavs' primary focus when making additions? Luka Dončić's departure leaves Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy as their primary ball-handlers after Kyrie. There is room for improvement here.

Three-and-D wings who actually check both boxes rather than skewing toward offense (Klay Thompson) or defense (Naji Marshall) loom as a need. Quentin Grimes isn't big enough to qualify as a playoff wing. At 6'6", Max Christie comes close. P.J. Washington can guard up or down on defense. Can he slide down on offense?

Who gets shipped out as part of these moves? The Mavs have big-man minutes to spare, even with Dereck Lively II on the shelf and the injured Maxi Kleber headed to Hollywood. Will they make Daniel Gafford available as they look to fill other needs?

Could Washington amble onto the chopping block now that a full-strength rotation effectively nudges him down to the 3? Are Grimes or Thompson more expendable now that Max Christie is in town?

Will the Lakers' 2029 first-round pick also be on the table? And what about the Mavs' own picks in 2025 and 2031? Jettisoning Luka and then mortgaging more of your future—Dallas does not control its own firsts from 2027 through 2030—seems counterintuitive. But they are painting Anthony Davis' acquisition as a win-now move. So, everything is in play...right?

Current reporting and public statements suggest the Mavs were uneasy, for whatever reason, about shelling out a five-year, $345 million supermax extension to Luka Dončić this coming summer. That can be interpreted one of two ways.

First off, and what many consider most likely, Nico Harrison is recklessly self-important and just made one of the worst trades in NBA history. This is not a shot at Anthony Davis. The Mavs got older without exhausting the Lakers' draft equity while dealing away the best player who (apparently) hadn't asked out. That is, at its most charitable, a negotiating failure.

Alternatively, Dallas' decision-making could be the harbinger of a new reality in which teams are raising the bar for supermax investments. Will more organizations follow the Mavs' lead and proactively ship out superstars ahead of their third contracts?

My two cents: This is an anomalous situation.

Indeed, the bar for supermax—or even regular max—contracts may be climbing. But that resonates more when talking about fringe All-NBA players (De'Aaron Fox) or All-Stars (Brandon Ingram) and aging megastars (Jimmy Butler).

If the standard for 35-percent-of-the-salary-cap paydays is higher than Dončić, then who are these windfalls actually for? Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo and...that's it?

I call bulls--t. And yet, we cannot technically rule out anything.

Not when the Mavs just did this.

Every year, league experts and insiders brace us for a dull trade deadline. With few exceptions, they are almost always wrong.

This time, though, was supposed to be different. Teams are still wrapping their heads around the luxury-tax-apron-era collective bargaining agreement. And the sheer number of squads in the tax itself—originally 14; now 12—lent itself to relative inaction, especially when weighed against the 2024 trade deadline. All of last season's most important business went down long before the 11th hour.

So much for that happening this year.

The Luka Dončić-for-Anthony Davis blockbuster changed everything. The De'Aaron Fox and Zach Lavine three-teamer did the same. Never mind wondering whether—and where—Jimmy Butler and Brandon Ingram will get traded. We need to journey further outside the realm of plausibility.

At the bare minimum, this entails preparing for surprise destinations. Do the Miami Heat send Butler to the Memphis Grizzlies out of spite? And what about the names and possibilities we aren't considering?

Will LeBron James finish Thursday as a member of the Golden State Warriors? Have the Mavericks emboldened the Warriors to embrace a reset themselves, in which case are Draymond Green and maybe even Stephen Curry fair game? Does Domantas Sabonis get flipped now that Fox is gone?

Do the Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards make win-now blockbusters? Will the Minnesota Timberwolves take calls on Anthony Edwards? Dump Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to completely duck the luxury tax, which they are into by more than $31 million?

Instead of landing another marquee name, could the Phoenix Suns trade Kevin Durant? Or Devin Booker? Is Jayson Tatum really untouchable in Boston? Does the Mavs erroneously thinking they're better off without Luka prompt similar thinking with the Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young? Or LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets? Do Dallas' actions convince the Milwaukee Bucks to shop Giannis Antetokounmpo if they can't make substantive upgrades?

Most of this feels outlandish. Then again, once upon a time, so did the idea of Dallas trading Luka.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.

Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac. Draft-pick obligations via RealGM.