Just past midnight on February 2nd, the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers blew up the entire NBA by executing a three-team trade with the Utah Jazz that landed Luka Doncic on the Los Angeles Lakers and delivered Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks sent Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Lakers for Davis, Max Christie, and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick. The. Utah Jazz received Jalen Hood-Schifino, the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.

Mavericks’ general manager Nico Harrison and Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka changed the next decade of basketball with one single transaction.

No disrespect to future hall-of-famer, nine-time all-star, and 2020 NBA champion Anthony Davis, but the Lakers became a legitimate title contender by adding Doncic for a huge bargain. Davis still dominates when healthy, but he is almost 32, and the Lakers were able to acquire a generational talent for a dominant player whose best days are behind him.

Since joining the league in 2018, Luka, 25, has already been to an NBA final and has averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists. These numbers have not been produced by anyone besides Doncic’s new teammate and leader, LeBron James.

In addition to the Luka/AD trade, more disruption has occurred in the Western Conference prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, when the Chicago Bulls, the Sacramento Kings, and the San Antonio Spurs pulled off a three-way trade of their own that sent De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin to the Spurs, Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round and three-second round picks to the Sacramento Kings, and Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter and San Antonio’s 2025 first-round pick.

With the Fox era fizzling out in Sacramento, the Kings got a solid return for trading away their young star. LaVine is reunited with his former Bulls teammate, Demar DeRozan.

More importantly, Victor Wembanaya gets a legitimate all-star caliber teammate to help San Antonio make a playoff run. Fox is dominant on both sides of the ball, which will help Wemby improve his game. One of the biggest takeaways for the Spurs in this trade is that they were able to hold onto their 2024 first-round selection, Stephon Castle, who has been an impact player already.

What This Means for the Race in the West

The Sacramento Kings are currently in 9th. Expect them to stay in the play-in seeding range. They could have a chance at six seed if Lavine and DeRozan can reignite their past chemistry that brought the Bulls to the playoffs three times. It is also crucial that Sabonis keeps putting up numbers and facilitating the way he has

San Antonio currently ranks 12th in the West, but the Fox effect should help them to move into the play-in tournament.  Fox and Wemby are going to be fun to watch.  Castle will be a considerable factor if they want to make it to the postseason. The Spurs will also try to get every ounce out of Chris Paul to become a competitive franchise once again.

The Mavericks are currently in 8th place, with Luka only playing 22 of the 50 games this season.  Expect them to remain in the play-in tournament, but seeing what former champions Kyrie, Irving, Klay Thompson, and Anthony Davis have left in the tank will be fun. Is it enough to keep Dallas relevant?

And then there is the Los Angeles Lakers. As of right now, they are the 5th seed. The addition of Doncic raises so many questions. Is it championship or bust now? How will Luka and LeBron flow on and off the court? Will this extend LeBron’s career? Despite that, the Lakers must make one more move before Thursday’s deadline to strengthen their frontcourt—perhaps Nick Claxton on the Brooklyn Nets or Jonas Valanciunas from the Washington Wizards.

The West has been shaken up already, and expect that to continue in the next 36 hours.