In late January and early February, the NBA exploded with multiple unexpected trades, kicking off with the shocking tri-team exchange between the Lakers, Jazz and Mavericks that resulted in Mavericks megastar Luka Doncic moving to the Lakers mainly for Lakers center Anthony Davis, along with Max Christie and a first-round draft pick.
When Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards heard of the trade, he said: “If Luka got traded, anybody is able to be traded at this point,” — and he was right, as the rest of the league was launched into a whirlwind of changes. With the trade deadline being on Feb. 6, teams rushed to capitalize on the opportunity to expand their roster and rid themselves of any not-so-precious cargo.
Reworking the West
“Luka was ours,” read the front page of the Dallas Morning News on Feb. 2 — the day one of the most notorious trades in NBA history occurred. Despite receiving all-star center Anthony Davis in return, the city of Dallas was heartbroken over the loss of their star who had led them to an NBA finals against the Celtics last year.
Outside of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, fans gathered to mourn the loss of Doncic, leaving flowers and jerseys. One fan, decked in a Mavericks Doncic jersey, told NPR, “I’ve been a Mavs fan my whole life. This is the worst day in the history of my life. This is ridiculous … we went to the NBA finals! How are we trading the franchise player?” He demanded, visibly upset. “He’s supposed to have a statue!”
Most of the blame for the trade fell on Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who met only with Lakers’ manager Rob Pelinka to discuss the trade in the past few weeks. Without any notice to both players or anyone in the Mavericks coaching staff, the trade was processed, with Harris sending away the franchise’s 25-year-old generational superstar for a 31-year-old, injury-prone Davis. The Mavs main concerns about Luka claim to be with Luka’s conditioning issues — some reports claim that the star’s weight skyrocketed from 230 to 270 pounds in the last season.
Even if weight is a concerning problem, players could easily go through workouts to cut down. This shouldn’t be a valid reason to trade a franchise player, completely hindering the future and direction of the team.
Another rumoured reason Doncic was traded is due to him being up for a $345 million supermax deal with the Mavericks that the organization did not seem willing to pay. While this is a steep price, it’s also worth noting that other organizations in the NBA have made similar deals with players who — like Doncic — are invaluable to the franchise.
As the games following the trade rolled around, Davis showed out in his first game with the mavericks on Feb. 8, scoring 26 points, 7 assists and 16 rebounds in the first three quarters. However, in the fourth quarter Davis suffered an abductor strain and is going to be out for multiple weeks.
This injury immediately exposes Davis’s fragility, which has been one of the biggest concerns that teams and fans alike have had with Davis. Initially with the trade already heavily favoring the Lakers, this injury may have solidified the fact that the Mavs took a huge loss within this trade.
Luka, on the other hand, is now teaming up with LeBron James on a team that looks like a contender to compete in the West.
Jimmy Butler to the Warriors — a brilliant acquisition (so far)
Prior to the week of the trade deadline, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler was suspended indefinitely from the team for making comments regarding the Heat organization and his “lost joy of playing basketball” from the team. Butler has been on the Heat since July of 2019, and has led the team to two final appearances in 2020 and 2023.
With his team-killing attitude, many teams showed interest in acquiring Butler, including, at first, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have struggled the entire season, with Steph Curry leading the team by himself. With Curry’s rising age, the Warriors appear to finally have committed to building around Curry for a final run for a championship.
Initially, the Warriors were locked onto former Warrior Kevin Durant. A three-team trade was already in place, bringing Durant to the Warriors, Butler to the Suns and Wiggins to the Heat, but at the last second, Durant opted out, according to ESPN correspondent Shams Charania. It appears Durant had “no interest in a reunion with the Warriors.” This resulted in the Warriors immediately shifting their attention to Butler. Butler was their second choice, but so far it’s working out brilliantly. The Warriors are 5-1 with him as of Feb. 24.
Still, acquiring Butler and paying him $121 million in the next two years is a risky move, considering his past with his attitude toward his own teams’ management. Additionally, Butler and fellow tempestuous star Draymond Green may easily get into arguments, resulting in further trades or suspensions.
But if Butler performs the way he did in the 2020 Bubble during Covid, averaging 22.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 21 games in the 2020 playoffs, the Warriors are easily championship contenders, with the duo of Curry and Butler penetrating and shooting lights out every game. This, despite the 5-1 start, may not be enough vs. the best in the West such as Oklahoma City, Memphis, Denver and the Lakers. With Butler being 35, age may play a big role in restricting him from being the scorer he was a few years ago. Adding to the Warriors age issue is the fact that Curry is 36 and Green is 34.
Fox to the Spurs
Former Sacramento Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team trade between the Chicago Bulls, Spurs and Kings, which also landed former star forward and slam dunk champion Zach Lavine to the Kings. With Fox’s speed and aggressiveness, his play style would greatly impact the spurs, who have been rebuilding ever since the team drafted forward Victor Wembanyama in 2023.
Even with the addition of Fox, the Spurs are still a very young team with only two notable veterans — point guard Chris Paul and forward Harrison Barnes — so being regarded as title or even conference contenders may be a bit of a stretch. Despite this, the future of a team holds immense potential, and the Spurs may be seen competing for another championship in the next few years, something they haven’t done since 2014, with the team lead by hall of famer Tim Duncan. Additionally, with Wembanyama sidelined for the rest of the year with a blood clot issue, the team’s hopes are nonexistent.
Trade deadline date controversy
Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr was vocal about his disdain of the current date of the trade deadline, which occurs before the NBA All Star Game. “The league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break, just so you don’t have to face these games where guys are getting traded half-an-hour before a game and you’re trying to process the emotions and win a game,” Kerr said in a press conference after the decision to drop key players like Wiggins and Dennis Schroder to bring in Butler was announced.
The trade deadline is, as Kerr says, at an awkward point in the season. The current date sets the league up in a way that throws many teams into the deep end with new players. On the other hand, the hectic nature of the trade deadline also piques the interest of viewers who want to see a more chaotic environment.
Doncic’s first game with the Lakers against the Jazz saw a peak viewership of 2.55 million, a huge difference from the average NBA viewing of 1.9 million viewers. Doncic had a decent but not otherworldly game, yet ratings were still extremely high.
With NBA ratings declining recently, perhaps the trade deadline is the perfect way to get people interested in the league again. The allure of seeing Doncic in a Lakers jersey or Butler in Warriors one makes the NBA must-see-TV. As the All-Star break approaches, it’s evident that the way the key athletes who have moved around in these calamitous trades will have the opportunity to change the tides of this NBA season.
