Explaining the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis NBA trade in cricketing terms 

The National Basketball Association (NBA) took the sporting world by storm on an otherwise quiet weekend on Sunday, February 2. Dallas Mavericks sensation Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in a rare and stunning superstar-to-superstar swap in the middle of the 2024-25 season.

With the all-star game fast approaching and both players sidelined by injuries, the enormity of this trade has everyone concerned like none before in the modern sporting era. As surprising and sudden as Davis being traded from the Lakers was, it paled in comparison to Doncic parting ways with the Mavericks.

The 25-year-old had just led the Mavericks to the NBA final last season and the conference final in the 2021-22 season. Even in the 22 games Doncic played before the injury, he averaged a stellar 28.1 points per game with 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists.

Meanwhile, 31-year-old Davis, who helped the Lakers win their last championship in 2019-20, was in the middle of an impressive 2024-25 season, averaging over 25 points and 11 rebounds in 42 games.

The trade became such a headline that even cricket fans in India and elsewhere pondered something like this happening in a hypothetical world in their sport. Before we draw hypothetical parallels from cricket to make sense of the Doncic-Davis trade, let us set the context right for what just transpired in the NBA.

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Context

Doncic led Dalls to the NBA final at just age 25 last season [Credit: Getty]

To understand the context and magnitude of the earth-shattering trade in the NBA, let us look at Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis and the construct of their respective former teams in generalized terms.

Doncic is 25 and entering the prime of his career, having led the Mavericks to the NBA final last season. Many have already proclaimed him to be among the greatest offensive players of all time and certainly among the top two offensive players currently.

However, his defense remains suspect and his ability to dominate the ball makes the pairing with his co-star Kyrie Irving slightly redundant. With the acquisition of Davis, who is a big man, the fit with Irving looks better for the Mavericks now.

While Davis' overall status in the league isn't as high as Doncic's, he is a better all-round player due to his effectiveness on offense and defense. It makes it clear that the Mavericks are in a 'win now' mode, with Irving and Davis at a similar age (low 30s) and other pieces being more complimentary to Davis' style than Doncic's.

As for the Lakers, Doncic's arrival means they have the ultimate building block potentially for the next decade. It is not common place for a franchise to land a 25-year-old superstar and a top-three player currently at the peak of his powers.

With Lebron James possibly playing his final or penultimate season, the Lakers' trading for Doncic can be seen as a futuristic move rather than one that may pay dividends this season.

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The IPL Trade similar in magnitude

Hardik Pandya was back with MI in the last IPL season [Credit: Getty]

The impact of a star player in the NBA outweighs anything in cricket, due to the difference between a 5-player and 11-player sport. Yet, the IPL saw a trade that was similar in magnitude but not from the other perspectives when a three-team trade saw Hardik Pandya move to the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Cameron Green shift to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

While the difference in age similarities between Hardik and Davis to Green and Doncic are obvious, the comparisons end there. While Hardik can be a cricketing parallel to Davis in almost every way possible, Green still hasn't hit the stature of a Doncic in the cricketing realms.

A mini-monumental IPL trade that took place in 2009 was when Shikhar Dhawan was traded for Ashish Nehra in a Mumbai-Delhi trade.

However, these trades compare to the Doncic-Davis swap only in magnitude and star power, with factors like the team concept and other intangibles removed.

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The hypothetical International cricket and IPL trades mirroring the Doncic-Davis move

What would India give for Pat Cummins at No.8? [Credit: Getty]

Here's a thought exercise - What would be a near-identical hypothetical trade in international cricket and the IPL that mirrors the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis exchange?

While trades between countries are never going to happen, imagine a scenario where a top three batter or bowler in world cricket who is in his mid-20s gets traded for an older all-round world-class cricketer. We also must ensure both teams in the trade solve a missing piece to their puzzle with the incoming player.

In international cricket, let us take the top two teams - India and Australia. It is not rocket science that the entire selection dilemma in Indian cricket has stemmed out of a lack of a pace-bowling all-rounder, who is more bowler than batter. As for Australia, the retirement of David Warner has them searching for a world-class opener to partner Usman Khawaja and Travis Head in the Test and white-ball formats, respectively.

It begs the question of how a Yashasvi Jaiswal or Shubman Gill being traded for Pat Cummins would look for both teams. Jaiswal, like Doncic, is a top-three batter in world cricket at the moment, while still only scratching the surface of his prime at 23.

Meanwhile Cummins, like Davis, is a veteran and superstar bowling all-rounder who can also more than hold his own with the bat at No.8.

Cummins can also take over as the team leader once Rohit Sharma retires, similar to a passing of the baton between Lebron James and Luka Doncic for the Lakers.

As for the IPL, if we assume MS Dhoni to be Lebron James and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the Lakers, Ravindra Jadeja could be the closest to Anthony Davis. Hence trading Jadeja for a young and star Indian middle-order batter, an area of concern for CSK, would be identical to what the Lakers did.

So, who is that young middle-order star Indian batter similar to Doncic? Tilak Varma from the Mumbai Indians (MI) might fit the billing perfectly, considering his incredible recent T20I form.

CSK will receive a 22-year-old entering his prime to overcome their middle-order frailties, while MI will mask their area of concern, which is the lack of a spinner at No.6 or 7 - a role Jadeja has made his own.

While Tilak will prolong CSK's winning window in the future, Jadeja will be in line with the age of MI's superstar players like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya for a win-now situation.