Updated NBA Championship Odds for Lakers & Mavericks After Doncic-Davis trade

• The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers kick off trade season with a blockbuster Saturday night
• The primary pieces are Luka Doncic going to LA, with Anthony Davis and a 1st round pick to Dallas
• Read below for updated championship odds, and if the Lakers or Mavs are worth a title wager

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The NBA world was officially rocked Saturday night, with a blockbuster trade so unbelievable the news across social media was believed to be a hack to basketball’s breaking news guru, Shams Charania.

Well, the dust has cleared, and it’s a deal still hard to imagine. Dallas is dealing all-world star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, for a package that includes Anthony Davis and a 1st-Round draft pick.

Not surprisingly, LA’s title hopes just got a jolt in the recently updated NBA Championship odds.

2025 NBA Championship Odds

The Lakers started the day with the same odds as the Mavericks, at +2500, but the trade has the books sending each team’s fortunes in the opposite direction. LA is now a Top-5 contender in the title chase, at +2000.

Dallas, meanwhile, has tumbled to 10th spot, at a distant +3000 odds.

Let’s break down this deal and see if either of these teams should be considered a title wager.

Odds as of February 1 at DraftKings. Be sure to check out the best DraftKings promo code before placing a futures bet for an NBA Championship.

Can Doncic Deliver Title With LeBron?

The totality of the deal, as of Friday night, has Luka, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris off to LA, with AD, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick Dallas-bound. The Jazz are also involved in the deal and they will receive Jalen Hood-Schifino, the Clippers’ 2025 second round pick and the Mavs’ 2025 second round pick.

Doncic, who hasn’t played since Christmas as he deals with a calf strain, is expected to be back in the lineup before the All-Star break, which is a couple of weeks away.

BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell @ShamsCharania. Three-team deal that includes Utah. pic.twitter.com/joU6bXqnBJ

— ESPN (@espn) February 2, 2025

When he went down, the 25-year-old Doncic was averaging 28.1 points per game, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists, and is undoubtedly considered a Top-5 player in the NBA. He’s been an All-NBA first-teamer five years running.

For big-picture outlook, this is a massive win for LA, as their succession plan post-LBJ was always in doubt, but now they have the superstar to build on for years to come.

In the present, pairing him with LeBron is going to be must-watch television, but it’s hard to see how the Lakers as currently constructed can compete with the NBA’s other title contenders.

Luka must’ve demanded a trade to the Lakers, right? This is beyond shocking. I really thought I was dreaming or even died

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) February 2, 2025

Davis, who’s been out for two games with an abdomen injury, is one of the premier, do-all bigs in basketball. Just after the Lakers’ 128-112 win over the Knicks Saturday, James praised him in a postgame interview with Lisa Salters, essentially that AD covers up for so much of what LA does defensively.

Doncic is a lot of things, but he’s not a plus defender, and other than Jaxson Hayes, there are no other big bodies that can protect the rim.

This is all speculation, but it leads me to believe the Lakers must have more in store before the trade deadline.

Are the Mavericks or Lakers Bet-Worthy?

From the Mavericks’ perspective, they have swapped a star for a star, and Davis brings a major defensive presence and inside scoring force that very few teams in the league can match.

Better yet, Davis will eventually have Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford to absorb the big man matchups at the 5-spot, something AD asked LA to deliver, to let him play at his preferred power forward position.

Still though, with an older Kyrie Irving and no true, young vibrant star waiting in the wings, Dallas will be likely be gutting things out defensively, hoping Kyrie and AD pick-and-rolls in the clutch can carry them home.

The new-look Mavs and Lakers lineups could be special 👀 pic.twitter.com/ezeOkTSEZI

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 2, 2025

While it’s not perfect, currently constructed, I like what the Mavericks have done. They will be a menace protecting the paint, and this is now Irving’s team to orchestrate. We’ll see if he can carry that weight that he wanted to badly when he left LeBron to forge his own path.

That doesn’t mean they’re a title contender. And they did have to give up Luka Doncic (!!) to do it.

This will definitely be remembered as the the most stunning trade in NBA history, but, unless LA adds some frontcourt defense and an active body to defend elite point guard play, perhaps it will also be viewed as a deal that left both teams right where they started — still a few pieces away from contending with the NBA’s big boys.