Unexpected would be an understatement. Not just the NBA world, but the entire world of sports was rocked to its core just minutes after midnight EST on February 2nd when it was announced by ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania that the Dallas Mavericks would be trading 25-year-old superstar Luka Dončić, along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick. It was a three-team deal including the Utah Jazz, who acquired Jalen Hood-Schifino and two 2025 second-round picks. Dončić, a top-3 player in the league previously thought to be untouchable, will be taking his talents to LA to play with LeBron. Veteran star Anthony Davis will make the next stop of his hall of fame career in Dallas with Kyrie Irving. In light of the shocking swap, let’s take a look at some trades that not only made a major impact at the time, but left a lasting impact on the league.
10. Chris Paul to the LA Clippers (2011)
Full trade:
- Clippers receive Chris Paul, 2015 second-round pick
- Hornets (now Pelicans) receive Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon and Minnesota’s 2012 first-round pick
A lot of what makes this trade so memorable has to do with the initial trade six days earlier that would’ve sent Paul to the Lakers which was infamously vetoed by commissioner David Stern, a move Lakers fans to this day have not fully gotten over. Paul at the time was a 26-year-old point guard in the midst of what would be his fifth consecutive All-Star season. Five consecutive All-Star appearances would wind up being nine consecutive appearances, and although they never won a championship during his time there, Chris Paul became a staple of the Clippers franchise, turning them into a perennial contender and pioneering the “Lob City” era amongst teammates Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. New Orleans, on the other hand, looked to rebuild around newly acquired Eric Gordon, but injuries derailed his career and the Hornets never rebuilt the way they had hoped.
9. Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns (1992)
Full trade:
- Phoenix Suns receive Charles Barkley
- 76ers receive Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang
The Suns’ acquisition of Charles Barkley made major headlines in the summer of 1992. The 28-year-old Barkley was a six-time All-Star who had finished top-five in MVP voting three times before he was dealt to Phoenix from the Philadelphia 76ers, who Barkley wanted out from due to the team not being competitive at the time. Although it never led to a ring, Barkley led the Suns to a Finals appearance in 1993 and won an MVP with the team.
8. Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers (2014)
Full trade:
- Cavaliers receive Kevin Love
- Timberwolves receive Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and Thaddeus Young
- 76ers receive Alexey Shved, Luc Mbah a Moute and Cleveland’s 2016 first-round pick
After LeBron’s return to Cleveland, Love, one of the NBA’s best power forwards at the time, was the final piece of the puzzle for a team that would go on to make four consecutive Finals appearances, facing the Warriors every year from 2015 to 2018. Although they only won once in 2016, Love played a massive role in helping a city that hadn’t seen any of their sports teams win a major pro sports championship since 1964 become a perennial contender. The other big piece of this trade was Anthony Wiggins, who was expected to make a splash in Minnesota with Karl-Anthony Towns, but the Timberwolves only ended up winning one playoff game before Wiggins was shipped off to the Warriors in 2020.
7. Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks (2011)
Full trade:
- Knicks receive Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Sheldon Williams and Corey Brewer
- Nuggets receive Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, New York’s 2012 second-round pick, New York’s 2013 second-round pick, New York’s 2014 first-round pick and a pick swap with Minnesota in 2016
- Timberwolves receive Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph, New York’s 2015 second-round pick and cash
On February 22, 2011, in the midst of his fourth All-Star campaign, Carmelo Anthony was swapped to the Big Apple in a massive three-team trade. The effects of this trade have been long-lasting and controversial, especially for the Knicks. On the one hand, Melo went on to have six more All-Star appearances with the Knicks, etching his name in history as a franchise legend. On the other hand, the Knicks only won a single playoff series during his Knicks tenure. Was Anthony worth the price they paid for him? The former Knicks in the deal were not All-Stars, but ended up being reliable pieces in their roles on the Nuggets. The draft picks that New York gave up could have been used to draft players such as Jamal Murray, Khris Middleton, Bogdan Bogdanović, Caris LeVert, and more. Melo went down as a Knicks legend and likely a hall of famer, but it is interesting to consider how different the league would have looked in the 2010s had this trade not gone down.
6. Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers (2019)
Full trade:
- Lakers receive Anthony Davis
- Pelicans receive Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 draft, a 2022 first-round pick, a pick swap in the 2023 draft and LAL’s 2024 first-round pick (with right to defer to 2025)
- Wizards receive Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones, Moritz Wagner and LAL’s 2022 second-round pick
Shortly before the 2019 draft, the Lakers and Pelicans agreed to a swap with some major names involved, mainly Anthony Davis. Coming off his age-26 season, in which he made his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance, Davis was off to Los Angeles to join LeBron, where together they would win the 2020 NBA Finals in the COVID bubble at Walt Disney World Resort. Davis was a three-time All-Star with the Lakers before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2025. Lonzo Ball, a big name at the time of the Lakers-Pelicans swap, would leave New Orleans in the summer of 2021 for a sign-and-trade deal with the Chicago Bulls. Brandon Ingram became an All-Star with the Pelicans, and Josh Hart became part of a package to bring CJ McCollum to New Orleans.
5. Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers (2008)
Full trade:
- Lakers receive Pau Gasol and 2008 second-round pick
- Grizzlies receive Marc Gasol, Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie and 2008, 2010 first-round picks
A brother-brother swap obviously made major headlines in 2008. Pau Gasol would make three consecutive All-Star appearances during his time in Los Angeles, and was the perfect big man to complement Kobe Bryant as the Lakers won back-to-back titles and made the playoffs every year but one with Pau on the interior. Marc, on the other hand, would go on to be a three-time All-Star for Memphis, making the playoffs every year with the team from 2011 to 2017.
4. Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat (2004)
Full trade:
- Miami Heat receive Shaquille O’Neal
- Lakers receive Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, 2006 first-round pick and 2007 second-round pick
The summer of 2004 swirled with rumors of Shaq and Kobe Bryant no longer being able to play together. On July 14th those rumors were confirmed as O’Neal, an 11-time All-Star at the time of the trade, packed his bags for Miami, ending an era of a duo that led the Lakers to back-to-back-to-back titles from 2000-2002. Shaq led the Heat to a championship over the Mavericks in ’06, and Lamar Odom was a sixth man that came up big for the Lakers, helping them win back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010.
3. Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers (1965)
Full trade:
- 76ers receive Wilt Chamberlain
- Warriors receive Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann and Connie Dierking
Averaging 38.9 points as a 28-year-old, it seems to make no sense why Chamberlain was able to be acquired by the Sixers for three players that never averaged more than 12 points their entire career. But the at-the-time San Francisco Warriors were struggling financially, and Wilt was their reason why. By trading Wilt, they were able to save a lot of money and get rid of his contract. Wilt would go on to win three consecutive MVPs and a championship with Philadelphia before being traded once again to, of course, the Lakers.
2. Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers (2025)
Full trade:
- Lakers receive Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris
- Mavericks receive Anthony Davis, Max Christie and LAL’s 2029 first-round pick
- Jazz: Jalen Hood-Schifino, LAC’s 2025 second-round pick, and Dallas’ 2025 second-round pick
It is obviously too early to truly determine the legacy of this trade, but there is no denying its impact. Out of absolutely nowhere, a top-3 player in basketball has been traded to a Lakers team that has been catapulted to the league’s elite. In exchange, a nine-time All-Star veteran will join the Dallas Mavericks. If they wanted to, the Mavericks could have gotten so much more out of this trade. It sounds absurd to say, but settling for Anthony Davis might have been one of the worst moves Dallas has ever made. The only thing that will determine whether or not this ends up the biggest trade in history is time.
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers (1975)
Full trade:
- Lakers receive Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley
- Bucks receive Brian Winters, Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman and David Meyers
Even at the time, everyone knew how massive this trade was. Abdul-Jabbar wanted out of Milwaukee, and the at-the-time NBA champion, six-time All-Star, and three-time MVP got his wish granted in a deal that sent him to the Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar would go on to make thirteen All-Star appearances with Los Angeles, winning three more MVPs and five more championships as a Laker, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time who led one of the greatest dynasties of all time.
