The Los Angeles Lakers opened the 2026-27 NBA season with a strong 127-105 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Luka Doncic led the way with 28 points on 7 of 18 shooting from the field, along with eight rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in 30 minutes. Austin Reaves added 23 points on 6 of 11 shooting, while Walker Kessler dropped 26 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks, going a perfect 12 of 12 from the floor in his Lakers debut.
The season opener immediately showed why the Lakers were right to bet on Kessler in the offseason, and continue building around Doncic as their franchise centerpiece. But now just two days after the win, attention has again turned to the trade that sent the Slovenian superstar to Los Angeles to begin with.
On Friday, Sam Amick of The Athletic described the Dallas Mavericks' efforts to justify the deal as a "smear campaign behind the scenes," arguing that even Doncic's harshest basketball critics recognized his greatness, but the Mavs worked hard to justify their decision to trade him anyway.
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Dallas sent shockwaves across the basketball world in February 2025 when they decided to move on from Doncic in exchange for an aging Anthony Davis, along with Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick. The Lakers also received Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, while the Mavericks lost the very player who had just taken them to the 2024 NBA Finals.
Doncic was one of the league's premier young superstars when he got traded. But there were negative reports about his conditioning, weight, work habits, and off-court lifestyle. Those reports started circulating after the trade, though, which is part of what made the deal so surprising to begin with because up to that point nothing negative had been said about Doncic.
The blockbuster trade never made much sense any way you look at it. Dallas gave up a 25-year-old franchise cornerstone for an older, injury-prone star and limited draft compensation. General manager Nico Harrison argued that defense was the priority, but the backlash continued for months before Harrison was fired in November 2025. Davis, the biggest piece on the trade, was dealt to Washington soon after, and only appeared in 29 games across two seasons in a Mavericks uniform.
The Lakers, meanwhile, finished 53-29 last year, Doncic's first full season in LA, and he was an MVP candidate for much of the year, leading the NBA with 33.5 points per game. The Lakers reached the Western Conference semifinals before getting swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they're already off to a hot start this season, and Doncic has proven he's still one of the most talented players in the sport.
Dallas, meanwhile, finished 26-56 last season, and is now rebuilding around Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in 2025 and reigning Rookie of the Year, along with a first-year head coach in Dusty May. The Mavs fell in their season opener against the Rockets, losing 128-110 in Houston.
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