The Big Lead

Magic Johnson's opinion of the Lakers' Luka Doncic trade is worth a double-take

By J.P. Hoornstra

Nov 25, 2024; Lahaina, Hawaii, USA; Former professional basketball player and Michigan State alumni, Earving “Magic” Johnson, center, watches the Colorado Buffaloes take on the Michigan State Spartans in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at Lahaina Civic Center.
Nov 25, 2024; Lahaina, Hawaii, USA; Former professional basketball player and Michigan State alumni, Earving “Magic” Johnson, center, watches the Colorado Buffaloes take on the Michigan State Spartans in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at Lahaina Civic Center. / Marco Garcia-Imagn Images
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Magic Johnson has seen quite a few NBA trades in his lifetime. Like a lot of us, he'd never seen anything like the deal the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks consummated Saturday night, sending Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and Anthony Davis to Dallas.

The three-team blockbuster swap sends Doncic, center Maxi Kleber and forward Markieff Morris to the Lakers and Davis, guard Max Christie and a 2029 L.A. first-round pick to the Mavericks. The Utah Jazz receive guard Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers and two 2025 second-round selections.

ESPN's Shams Charania, who broke the news on Twitter/X, even posted a follow-up to his original post (which has 103,000 reposts as of this writing) just to make sure readers knew his account wasn't hacked:

Johnson reacted with similar disbelief.

"I’ve been associated with the NBA for 45 years and this Luka and AD trade is the biggest trade I’ve seen between two superstars essentially in their prime! With Luka, the Lakers are getting a 25 year old superstar; this is a great long-term move for the Lakers franchise after LeBron retires," Johnson wrote.

Longtime followers of Magic's Twitter/X account know he is equally prolific at stating the obvious and using exclamation marks while doing so. His declaration of the Lakers as the winner of the most lopsided trade this season (if not ever) is par for the course.

The age difference between the 25-year-old Doncic and the 31-year-old Davis all but assures the Lakers of getting more of Doncic's prime than the Mavericks will get from Davis. And that's what stands out about Johnson's take — the use of the word "essentially." It's doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

No sane Mavericks fan in Dallas is boasting about getting a superstar in his prime after this deal. But let's be honest: Johnson is a Lakers guy whose diversified business interests (he's a co-owner of MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers and the NFL's Washington Commanders) leave him several paces removed from the pulse of the Dallas Mavericks' fan base.

For all of Johnson's lived experience in basketball, this is something less than an unbiased evaluation of the "biggest trade" of his lifetime. And none of us should be surprised by this.

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