Luka Doncic to Lakers, AD to Mavericks: The Fantasy Basketball Implications
The NBA world is on fire! According to ESPN's Shams Charania, a three-way trade was completed featuring guard Luka Doncic and center Anthony Davis.
Yes, this is real. Sources tell ESPN: Full trade:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
- Lakers: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
- Mavericks: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 LAL 1st
- Jazz: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 Clippers 2nd, 2025 Mavericks 2nd https://t.co/bltojdTaQj
The Los Angeles Lakers will receive Doncic, Maxi Klieber, and Markieff Morris while the Dallas Mavericks will acquire Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 Lakers first-round pick.
In order to make salaries work, the Utah Jazz entered the equation and will receive Jalen Hood-Schiflino, a 2025 Clippers second-round pick, and a 2025 Mavericks 2025 second-round pick.
Fantasy Basketball Impact of Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic Blockbuster Trade
The fantasy implications for this trade are immense. The Mavericks already have two solid big men in Derrick Lively and Daniel Gafford, though Lively is out for the season. Davis had been requesting that the Lakers add a center to the roster and he sort of got what he wanted. Davis will fortify the Mavericks' frontcourt, but will likely slide in at the power forward position next to Gafford. So in some ways, he got what he wanted. A rim protector who excels on defense will allow Davis to focus much more on the offensive side of the ball. Davis was already averaging 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.1 blocks in 34 minutes of action per contest.
The pick and roll game with Kyrie Irving is going to be very difficult for opposing defenses to stop. While I wouldn't be surprised if AD's rebounds see a slight decline with Gafford on the court, his opportunities on the offensive end should increase, resulting in more scoring. Without Luka on the floor, Davis is going to see a TON of opportunities. Anticipate his usage rate skyrocketing. LeBron James is a great facilitator, but he also takes a lot of shots, preventing AD from doing what he does best: score the basketball. Davis will be the No. 1 option in Dallas, not the 1A or 1B option. Expect his fantasy numbers to rise.
Although Davis may be happy with Daniel Gafford who can man the center position, Gafford's stats are likely to suffer a steep decline. The big man was balling out in Derrick Lively's absence as the primary center in Dallas. He was averaging 12.7 points, 6.7 boards, 1.4 assists, and 1.8 blocks in just 21 minutes per game. Over the last two weeks, Gafford had been particularly impressive. He's produced a double double in three of his last four games with a whopping 17 blocks over that span! And in his last 10 games, he was averaging 18.0 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 3.3 blocks per game, while converting 72.4% of his field goals and 79.2% of his attempts from the charity stripe. Although Gafford likely remains in the Mavericks' starting lineup, AD's arrival in the frountcourt puts a cap on Gafford's upside. He's still worthy of a roster spot due to his excellent shot blocking skills, his ability to corral rebounds, and convert field goals at a high clip, but Gafford is not going to be able to sustain his current level of production. Perhaps nobody is hurt more in this deal than Gafford from a fantasy basketball perspective.
However, Kyrie Irving is an absolute clear fantasy basketball winner once the dust settles from this blockbuster trade. Irving was already averaging 24.3 points, 4.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. Kyrie was already providing second-round value in nine-category leagues and is poised for a massive bump in usage rate without Doncic in the backcourt. Luka is one of just 10 players with a usage rate of 31% or more. Now that the European All-Star is in Los Angeles, Irving is going to be asked to shoulder more of the load. We should see more shot attempts and more playmaking opportunities from the championship-winning veteran guard with this new roster in place.
Another member of the Mavericks, PG/SG Spencer Dinwiddie, should see more opportonuties following the exit of Doncic. When Luka has been sidelined, Dinwiddie's minutes per game jumped from 19 minutes to 29 minutes per game. The veteran is still a capable scorer and can dish out dimes at a decent rate. Dinwiddie should be rostered in all formats unless you are in a very shallow league. He may not be a league-winning asset but he's worthy of a roster spot and will have his moments.
Meanwhile, Luka joins LeBron in LA. Wild! Luka is a freak of nature so triple-double numbers will continue from the legendary guard. It's hard to envision what will happen in Los Angeles with two ball-dominant players on the court at the same time. At 25 years old, we all know that Luka will be just fine.
Despite being sidelined recently with a calf injury, Doncic is still putting up spectacular numbers this season. He is currently averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.8 assists in 22 outings. The 6'6" guard is additionally converting 3.4 shots from downtown per game and has nailed 46.4% of his shots this season. His 2.0 steals per game are a career high. The only category he hurts fantasy owners in is turnovers, which is to be expected considering how much he handles the ball. However, teaming up with LBJ could result in a slight decrease in turnovers per game. Overall, expect much of the same from Doncic once he returns to the court.
LeBron James has not finished outside of third-round value in fantasy basketball leagues since his rookie season so it's hard to think that Luka's arrival will prevent James from continuing to stuff the box score. The future Hall of Famer just put on an absolute clinic at Madison Square Garden, dropping 33 points while adding 11 boards and 12 assists in 37 minutes for a triple double. Without AD, LBJ has averaged a whopping 32.6 points, 9.0 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.2 threes in five games this season. Those lofty numbers will not continue with the addition of Doncic. While I'd anticipate an uptick in rebounds, his scoring and assist numbers should decrease slightly. Overall, I don't envision his value changing much.
Without Davis, Jaxon Hayes becomes the new starting center of the Lakers. He's a worthwhile waiver wire addition in most formats. When starting, Hayes has averaged just more than 10 points, six rebounds, and a block per game. He's not going to produce All-Star numbers but fantasy owners in need of rebounds and blocks may find some value in Hayes. The biggest question will be how many minutes he plays as the Lakers are now lacking frontcourt depth.
Austin Reeves will see a downtick in production. The combo guard-forward will no longer handle the ball as much as he was before the arrival of Doncic. The 26-year-old out of Oklahoma was averaging career highs across the board (18.4 points, 6.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals). While I don't expect the points to see a significant drop-off, it's tough to envision Reeves continuing to average that many assists with both Luka Doncic and LeBron James dominating possessions. Reeves will remain the Lakers' third option on the offensive end of the floor but fantasy owners who were counting on Reeves to be a facilitator may need to rethink that.
Lastly, we have forward Rui Hachimura, who I'm worried will see his minutes and usage rate dwindle significantly. The Lakers recently brought in Dorian Finney-Smith, who already has a rapport with Doncic. Rui was averaging 34 minutes per game prior to Finney-Smith's arrival. This month, it dipped to 27.8 minutes per game (despite the injury to AD). Now with Doncic in the fold, the Lakers may reshuffle the lineup. I wouldn't be surprised if Hachimura's opportunities are more limited considering Finney-Smith is more than capable of playing the center position with small-ball lineups.
Overall, Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis are still going to be fantasy basketball superstars that deliver first-round value but this move has domino effects across the entire landscape of the league.
This is a developing story. More details to follow. Check back with Fantasy on SI for that latest on this monumental trade in the NBA.
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-93d081519425a2ac5afbaba6a5df6de3.jpg "Matt Brandon")
Matt Brandon has worked in the Fantasy Sports / Sports Media industry for over a decade including stints at Scout Media, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, DrRoto.com, Fantasy SP, FullTime Fantasy, and more. Brandon produced Top-10 rankings in FantasyPros’ nationwide contest three years in a row. He has taken down a few big DFS tournaments on FanDuel and DraftKings but his bread and butter is season-long fantasy football, fantasy basketball, and sports betting. Brandon bleeds blue for his New York sports teams: the New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, and New York Mets.