• It’s for real. LeBron James and Luka Dončić are teammates. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
• He’s not playing. But Luka Dončić is the building for Tuesday’s Lakers-Clippers game.
• Mavericks fans, understandably, are upset about the Luka Dončić trade. And there are reports that the Mavericks have actually offered refunds to some of those upset season-ticket holders.
• For more, click the photo:
• Mavericks fans made their feelings known with a Luka Dončić memorial in Dallas. (Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
• An inside look at Luka Dončić’s subdued Lakers introduction from Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill.
• Click on the photo for story:
• Lakers general manger Rob Pelinka and Luka Dončić field questions at Dončić’s introductory news conference. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sources: Jimmy Butler’s camp has repeatedly told Heat he’s in shape, healthy and ready to continue his career and move past this immediately. Their messaging to Heat has been to negotiate best deal possible and once in red zone, if that team is granted permission by MIA to speak…

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 4, 2025

• Luka Dončić was introduced on Tuesday as the newest member of the Los Angeles Lakers, following Saturday night’s shocking trade from the Dallas Mavericks that shook the NBA.
• Sitting on a dias alongside Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, Dončić said he would “take the high road” in response to comments about him from the Mavericks after the trade was made.

“At some point, I knew this was going to happen, but I always take the high road,” Dončić said. “I had my amazing moments in Dallas with my teammates, coaches and, most importantl,y the fans. They always supported me. It was an amazing journey.”

“That first day was really hard. I felt like this last 48 hours was one month … Today was much better. I’m just very happy to be here.”

– Luka Doncic on his emotions after being traded to the Lakers pic.twitter.com/MRYrfT1LCj

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 4, 2025

• Dončić said he has always looked up to new teammate LeBron James and called it “a dream come true” to play with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Though he said he hasn’t had much time to think about basketball since the whirlwind circumstances of the trade, Dončić has thought about how he and James will work together on the court.
• “I’m excited to learn from him,” he said. “We both make our teammates better. Our IQ is very high.”
• Read the full story here.
• Only a few days removed from the stunning trade that sent Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards remains shocked and bewildered that a deal of that magnitude could go down.
• Dončić, who turns 26 later this month, is a five-time All-NBA First Team player and last season’s scoring champion, among other accomplishments. To Edwards, he still can’t get over the fact that the Mavericks would be open to moving a player on that level.

“They say that nobody knew about the trade. That’s crazy,” Edwards said following Minnesota’s loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday. “At 25 [years old], they traded probably the best scorer in the NBA. And he didn’t know about it. There’s a lot more digging somebody’s gotta do to find out why he got traded. Because you don’t just trade him at 25. He just went to the Finals. I feel bad for Luka, man.”

• The reaction across the basketball world has been a mix of anger and disbelief. Mavericks fans are upset that general manager Nico Harrison believed this was a trade to make for a 26-24 team that sits eighth in the Western Conference. Some protested the move on Sunday by staging a mock funeral and spray-painting messages directed at Harrison. Dončić’s own father slammed the organization, saying his son “absolutely doesn’t deserve this.”
• Read the full story here.
• Michael Porter isn’t going anywhere.
• Nuggets coach Michael Malone insisted on Monday night that, despite rumors to the contrary, the team won’t be trading Porter before Thursday’s deadline.

“No because we’re not trading Michael Porter,” Malone said on Monday, via ESPN. “So I’m not touching base with anybody on that … And if there’s something coming obviously [Nuggets GM Calvin Booth] will talk with me and I’m sure we’ll communicate with whatever players. But Michael is a really important piece, he helped us win a championship.”

• Porter has averaged 18 points and 6.4 rebounds per game this season. He had a season-high 36 points in Monday’s 125-113 win over the Pelicans, too.
• We have a pick swap on Monday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder received the Charlotte Hornets’ 2030 second-round draft pick (which originally belonged to the Denver Nuggets) in exchange for their 2029 second-round draft pick (which originally belonged to the Phoenix Suns.
• We’ll see what this leads to, if anything …

The Thunder have acquired Denver’s 2030 second-round draft pick from Charlotte in exchange for Phoenix’s 2029 second-round draft pick.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 4, 2025

• The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James isn’t a young man anymore. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
• LeBron James was out for dinner when news his Los Angeles Lakers had traded for Luka Dončić took him by surprise, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. It is hard to believe that James was blindsided by the news, since the agent he shares with Anthony Davis, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, was reportedly alerted to the proposal in the days before a deal; but it makes some sense, because this deal is not about James.
• This trade was about the opportunity to acquire a 25-year-old perennial MVP candidate at half the cost.
• It was not about this season, either. The Lakers are not winning a championship with James making 35% of their salary cap. It will be incredible theater for James and Dončić to share the floor together. If Dončić adopts James’ conditioning regimen, the Lakers will be better for it, but James is 40 years old; he cannot sustain the kind of peak two-way performance they need from his $48.7 million for an entire playoff run.
• Which is why the Lakers should trade James now.
• The Golden State Warriors have been linked to Jimmy Butler, whose relationship with the Miami Heat has been quickly deteriorating as Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline approaches.
• On Monday, ESPN’s Shams Charania shed some light on what the Warriors are looking to do to give future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry a chance to extend his championship window. And it’s apparently more than just looking at Butler.
• Whatever the Warriors decide to do, it’ll be fascinating to see it unfold.
• With the NBA trade deadline approaching, some teams who are traveling on Thursday are reportedly making contingency plans for any major trades. A few teams have rearranged their itineraries to avoid being in the air while the deadline passes, per Chris Haynes — avoiding any potentially awkward situations mid-flight.

In light of major NBA movement recently, a few teams that are scheduled to travel on Feb. 6 of the trade deadline have adjusted itineraries after realizing the team would be in the air when the deadline passed. This is to prevent a potential awkward flight.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 3, 2025

• Several teams will be flying out to play games on Friday. One of these is the Miami Heat, who travel to Brooklyn for a game against the Nets on Friday; the Heat are trying to find a landing place for Jimmy Butler amid an ongoing saga as Butler seeks a trade. Other teams that will be traveling on Thursday include the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz — all of whom could try to make moves ahead of the deadline.
• The Golden State Warriors, at least for now, are out on Jimmy Butler. The Warriors ended trade talks with the Miami Heat on Sunday night after he told them that he’s not willing to sign an extension there, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

The Heat’s Jimmy Butler has communicated to the Warriors that he’s unwilling to sign an extension there & therefore trade talks to send him to Golden State have ended for now, sources told ESPN.

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) February 3, 2025