The month of January is important for so many reasons. First month of the year, people pledging to add or subtract what they deem valuable, budgets are realigned, oh and don’t forget a plethora of NBA trade rumors as the February 6th deadline approaches. Teams that are truly competing are trying to find pieces to get over the hump, and teams that are obviously tanking are trading valuable assets for draft compensation in the near and distant future. And low and behold, like a thief in the night, The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks have pulled off one of the most notable trades in the history of all sports. The Dallas Mavericks have traded 5x All NBA 1st Team guard, Luka Dončić, to the Los Angelos Lakers for 10x All star and NBA 75th Anniversary Team member, Anthony Davis.

What I like about this trade: The Los Angelos Lakers have found their post Lebron era star. Its obvious that Lebron James is still in the business of winning, and it’s obvious that the clock is ticking. The man is 40 and it’s pretty harsh to think that at his age he can still carry a team for 82 games and multiple playoff rounds. Its basically elderly abuse and they have finally given Lebron an offensive juggernaut capable of being a clear cut number 1 option. Luka did just finish taking the Mavericks through the gauntlet in the west in route to a spanking by the reigning NBA champ Boston Celtics. Never the less, Luka has proven he can carry a team offensively.

What I like about this trade: Anthony Davis is free from the shadow of Lebron’s expectations and his addition makes the Dallas Mavericks a well balanced team. For the past few years AD has always expressed his desire to play power forward. This way he is not the primary post defender and gets to play the weak side shot blocker role he excelled in when he was with the Pelicans. With a few prime years left, Anthony Davis allows the Mavericks to play multiple lineups to start and end games. The most likely starting lineup will be Kyrie, Klay, PJ, Davis, and Gafford/Lively. To end games the Mavs will more than likely have a line up of Kyrie, Klay, Marshall/Martin/Christie, PJ, and Davis. This will be the best spacing he’ll have in games to operate in the low post since the Lakers squad that won the championship in the bubble. Now the question is can he stay available and healthy for the Mavericks and do they have enough fire power to compete with the rest of the west. Currently sitting at the 8th seed in the Western Conference standings I doubt they’ll be able to make a huge climb for a favorable match up come playoff time and are more than likely going to be competing in the play-in.

What I don’t like about this trade: The Lakers also received Markieff Morris and Maxi Kleber and neither of them solve the glaring needs on this roster. Luka is also coming to the Lakers with a ton of questions. He has proven year in and year out that he is a capable offensive player but he doesn’t guard a soul and his conditioning seems to be an issue over the last few years. He also is no guarantee to sign an extension with the Lakers, having a year and a half left on his deal. With no capable centers or perimeter defenders outside of Finney-Smith, defensively the Lakers will be sitting ducks unless they make more moves. Although they’ve traded for Mark Williams from the Hornets by giving up Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish, they still need at least one more athletic wing who can shoot and guard multiple positions. Let’s see what Pelinka can cook up before the deadline.