Western Conference Blockbuster Trade
Saturday, 1 February, the NBA world was shaken by one of the most insane trades in NBA history: the Los Angeles Lakers are sending Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris, with the Jazz involved for Jalen Hood-Schifino, the Clippers’ and Mavericks’ 2025 second-round picks.
Two players who were arguably considered untouchable are now involved in a trade that will drastically change the scope of the league—not just for these two teams, but for the nature of NBA trades themselves. Blockbuster trades seemed to be a thing of the past, at least trades of this scale, as they have been dormant for the past several seasons. Now, with the trade deadline coming up next week, I expect teams to be inspired and at least try for some drastic change. De’Aaron Fox is likely on the move, maybe Zion; Butler is a fascinating situation, and considering the nature of this trade—where LeBron was left completely in the dark until finding out at a family dinner—he could be on the move as well.
As for who won the trade, it is difficult to say. However, on paper, it appears unwise to trade a 25-year-old superstar who took his team to the Finals less than one year ago for a 31-year-old who, granted, is playing some of the best basketball of his career, but has been extremely prone to injury and whose number of seasons left in the league is unknown.
This trade is absolutely baffling. The Mavericks are completely committed to a win-now attitude, as their ‘big three’ of Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and now Anthony Davis are all into their 30s. This lineup’s shelf life in the league is not considerably substantial.
As for the Lakers, the combination of LeBron James and Luka Dončić—provided the Lakers don’t move on from James—could either be sensational or a complete miscue. Dončić is still out with injury yet was expected to return before the All-Star Game. This time on the bench may actually be the best case for Los Angeles, giving Luka a chance to find his footing, gain an understanding of the team chemistry, and adjust to his newfound role alongside the greatest of all time.
This is an unbelievable way to start deadline week—let’s hope the excitement doesn’t stop here.
All-Star Reserves Announced
This past week saw the announcement of the 2024–2025 All-Star Reserves, following the announcement of the starters last week.
Coming off the bench in the West are Anthony Edwards, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr., and three players making their first career All-Star Game in Jalen Williams, Alperen Şengün, and Victor Wembanyama.
Meanwhile, off the bench for the East are Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam, Damian Lillard, Darius Garland, and three first-timers of their own in Evan Mobley, Tyler Herro, and Cade Cunningham.
Every season there are All-Star snubs, and every season certain players are going to be disappointed. This year, the big names are Domantas Sabonis, Trae Young, Tyrese Maxey, LaMelo Ball, Devin Booker, and Norman Powell. It is physically impossible for every player to receive the attention they deserve, and it is even more difficult for players to experience the All-Star Game with the new round-robin tournament-style system.
This year’s All-Star Game is important for the NBA, and while fans are never completely pleased with the results of the teams, this season feels slightly more unappreciated. Perhaps it is a pre-established negativity towards the new format the league is pushing. However, if things go well for the weekend, this could be the system in place for the foreseeable future.
Adam Silver Considers 10-Minute Quarters
Adam Silver recently remarked during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show that “as we get more involved in global basketball, the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes, and I would be a fan of four 10-minute quarters.” This suggestion comes with an interest in not only increasing NBA viewership but also retaining viewership for an entire game, wherein a two-hour format is considered by Silver as “much more consistent with modern television habits.”
Silver proceeded to make comparisons to Olympic Basketball and College Basketball, both of which are 40-minute games and run under two hours, while the average NBA game has run for 2 hours and 16 minutes so far this season.
While the change to 40-minute games may improve consistent viewership, it would likely completely eliminate the possibility of NBA records ever being broken, which makes storylines significantly less interesting and eliminates the NBA’s use of their favourite word: ‘historic.’ This change would be a completely unprecedented shift in the game of basketball in both major and minor ways.
As Silver and the league continue to consider ways to make the game more captivating and to reduce the number of three-point attempts, my suggestion is to change the three-seconds-in-the-key rule to five for both offence and defence. Allowing teams two extra seconds to establish a play inside the paint—rather than early congestion, solid man-marking, and settling for a three—could have a meaningful impact.
The league is still at least a whole season away from significant change such as this, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the game is going to go through rule or format changes, perhaps drastically, sooner rather than later.