Every generation in Los Angeles has arrived by trade, not draft luck — Wilt Chamberlain in 1968, Pau Gasol in 2008, Anthony Davis in 2019. On February 1, 2025, the Lakers made the same call again, sending Davis to Dallas for Doncic, and training camp opens with a franchise built around the outcome.
A Franchise of Trades
Five times the Lakers have remade themselves by trade rather than by draft. Wilt Chamberlain arrived in 1968 after Elgin Baylor and Jerry West had already lost six Finals to Boston. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came next, once Chamberlain retired. Pau Gasol followed in a trade that returned the club to the Finals, a series lost to Boston in 2008. Anthony Davis arrived in 2019 and delivered the 17th championship the following year. On February 1, 2025, the pattern repeated: Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick went to Dallas, and Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris came back in a three-team deal that also involved Utah.
An Era Changes Hands
The last time the Lakers turned a page this fast was 2016, when Kobe Bryant retired, or 2011, when Phil Jackson stepped away and opened the franchise's longest playoff drought. This offseason brought another hinge: LeBron James left for Philadelphia in free agency, closing the book on the James-Davis era that won a championship in the 2020 bubble. What's left is a team built solely around Doncic, with Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler and Quentin Grimes as the supporting cast heading into camp.
The Bill Still Owed
Trades like this one carry a price tag. Los Angeles owes a protected first-round pick to Memphis in 2027, a conditional second to Brooklyn, pick swaps in 2028 and 2030, and a first outright to Dallas in 2029 — the going rate for a franchise player, much as the Gasol and Davis deals once cost picks and players of their own. The Lakers still measure themselves against Boston, tied at 17 championships since that 2020 title, and every deal since has been made trying to get back ahead.
When did the Lakers trade for Luka Doncic?
On February 1, 2025, sending Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to Dallas in a three-team deal with Utah that also brought back Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris.
Did LeBron James leave the Lakers?
Yes, James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency this offseason, ending the James-Davis era that began in 2019.
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