By Hamzah Amir Ahmed

Just like the transfer deadline day in European football, the NBA also has a similar system except it’s referred to as the trade deadline. Like football, teams in the biggest basketball league in the world scramble to make additions, or in some cases subtractions, that could make or break their season and, to put it simply, this year’s trade deadline will likely go down as the most dramatic in NBA history.

The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers sent shockwaves throughout the league as the Mavs shockingly traded five-time all-NBA player and superstar Luka Doncic for the Lakers’ multi-time all-star Anthony Davis. The Lakers also received Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris. While Dallas acquired Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick.

The trade was a three-team deal as Jalen Hood-Schifino and the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick and the Mavs’ 2025 second-round pick were sent to the Utah Jazz.

One of the main factors behind the surprise was this deal was done without Doncic or Davis even knowing. Even LeBron James, a player known to be consulted whenever the team he is playing for is making trades, was also unaware of the situation.

NBA Analyst, Alister Albert, described the trade as “…a very historic, monumental and blockbuster trade that went down.” Albert described his own reaction as “totally totally flabbergasted” when he saw the news.

While the news reverberated throughout the basketball and sporting world, one of the biggest questions that has been raised is how will the Lakers now fair? Doncic, 25, is known to be very ball-dominant and now, partnered with James, how will the two coexist? This is not only a question on the offensive side of the ball but also the defensive side, as James, now 40-years-old, has taken a step back from defensive duties and Doncic isn’t known to be defensively stout either. Even though the Lakers now appear to have their future safe with Doncic, head coach JJ Redick, may have a tough job in the interim.

What about Dallas? Well, Albert says the Mavs are now “…a really good balanced team.” Davis not only complements all-star guard Kyrie Irving, but he has a history with head coach Jason Kidd. Kidd worked with Davis and his now former team, the Lakers, as their assistant head coach during their 2020 title-winning season.

Albert describes Davis as a “phenomenal talent” in addition to praising his overall game. “Many argue at his peak [he] has been a perennial top-5 player in the world, when fully engaged and healthy.

“His defensive prowess and offensive capability and versatility bring the team the much-needed toughness they believed they sorely missed…His versatility also moves them away from being a predictable offence that will be run on the dwindling shot clock magic of Luka, to a more wide-open set of options that Davis brings to everyone on the court.”

On paper, the fit for Davis looks very appetizing, but it has shortened their window to win an NBA championship as Davis is now 31, while Irving is 32. Albert mentions that they have moved from “…a long time spanning the length of Luka’s upcoming prime years of his career to a now concentrated 3-4 year window.

“The Mavericks are not done competing for championships, they are just now devoid of the magic that was Slovenian-bred. That hope now rests on the unibrow, wide shoulders, skill and injury risk of the top-75 all-time, future Hall of Famer, Anthony Davis, his mercurial teammate Kyrie Irving and the hopeful magnificence of the outside shooting of Klay Thompson and the rest of the players rounding that roster out!”

Doncic and Davis weren’t the only blockbuster players to move. Sacramento Kings sensation, De’ Aaron Fox, was traded to the San Antonio Spurs and will team up with the incredible youngster Victor Wembenyama.

The Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler saga finally came to an end as the Heat struck a late deal with the Golden State Warriors. Butler now teams up with top-75 player and four-time champion Stephen Curry to form a formidable force. After capturing his fourth ring, Curry and the Warriors have struggled and, fearing that Curry’s remaining years as one of the league’s best, could be wasted the Warriors have acted. Curry along with Butler and Draymond Green will definitely make noise in the Western Conference.

In the Eastern Conference, it is the end of an era for Khris Middleton as his time with the Milwaukee Bucks has come to an end. The Bucks traded have Middleton for 29-year-old, Kyle Kuzma. Middleton will go down in Bucks history as he was instrumental in helping the team win their second NBA title back in 2021.

Despite having one of the best dynamic duos in the NBA in the form of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’s been a rollercoaster season for the Bucks. With an aging team, the organisation needed to make moves to try and maximise their championship opportunity with Lillard and Antetokounmpo.

The 2025 NBA trade deadline has been like no other. At no other point in American basketball history, has this array of talent been moved in such a short period of time. With approximately 30 games left until the playoffs, there is a palpable excitement that the best of the 2025 season is yet to come.