Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.

The Dallas Mavericks deciding to trade Luka Doncic will likely go down as the most shocking trade in NBA history. And of all teams, they had to send him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Luka Doncic is now expected to make his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night against the Utah Jazz, coach JJ Redick says. Doncic hasn't played since Christmas due to a strained left calf.