The trade of superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers will forever go down as one of the most shocking deals in this history of the NBA, if not American sports period. The deal was so surprising, in fact, that most people didn’t believe it was real when initially announced, forcing many reporters to confirm and insist that this was indeed going down.
Details of the deal emerging did not help matters as everyone was even more shocked at what the return was for Doncic, a generational superstar just reaching his prime. As time passed the consensus was not only that dealing Luka was a mistake, but that the Mavericks didn’t receive nearly enough in return from the Lakers for their franchise player.
This thought process wasn’t just reserved for fans online as Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown called the Doncic trade to the Lakers one of the worst of all-time on the Netflix documentary “Starting 5,” via Underdog NBA:
Jaylen Brown's reaction to the Luka Doncic trade, via Starting 5 on @netflix:
"That might be like one of the worst trades of all time."pic.twitter.com/hjOWQjg8EM
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) October 1, 2025
Even months removed from the deal being announced, it still feels surreal that the Lakers traded for Doncic for the package that they did. There is a reason that Mavericks fans protested outside the arena following news of the deal and relentlessly booed general mamager Nico Harrison throughout the remainder of the season.
Brown is one of many who just can’t fathom trading a player as talented as Luka right as he is entering his prime. The Mavericks not wanting news to leak out that they were shopping Doncic was a major factor in them secretly only negotiating with the Lakers. That was a huge positive for L.A. who didn’t have to contend with bids from other teams that would have included a ton of draft compensation and other young players they likely couldn’t compete with.
Time will tell whether this deal indeed goes down as one of the worst trades ever and Brown, being a member of the Celtics, surely hates that the rival Lakers got their face of the franchise for possibly the next decade.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves thought Anthony Davis was joking about being traded for Luka Doncic
Even the players on the Lakers themselves didn’t believe the trade for Luka Doncic was real as Austin Reaves spoke about how everything went down on the night of and he thought Anthony Davis was joking when he texted his teammates that he was being traded.
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