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Los Angeles Lakers Odds: +1200 to win NBA Championship after Luka Doncic trade

The Los Angeles Lakers traded for superstar guard Luka Doncic, and their outright odds shortened drastically as a result.

The Lakers (28-19) are now +1200 to win it all after having been +5000 last week. They sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks (26-24) in order to acquire Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris.

Doncic is 25 years old and has career averages of 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 34.8 percent from three. He'll team with LeBron James to form a new superstar duo in Los Angeles.

The seventh-year guard won the 2018/19 Rookie of the Year Award and the 2023/24 scoring title, and he has five All-NBA honors and five All-Star appearances. He has played in just 22 games this season due to a calf injury but is set to return to play ahead of All-Star Weekend, which takes place from February 13th-16th.

Doncic shined in last season's playoffs as he led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals. In 22 games, he averaged 28.9 points, 9.5 boards, 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 32.2 percent from three and 44.6 percent overall. It was his first postseason averaging below 30 points, but it was the longest playoff run of his career to date.

The Mavericks, who were +2000 outright last week, are now +3500 to win it all after the trade.

In the market to win the Western Conference, the Lakers are +600 after the trade while the Mavs are +1800.

The main piece of the Lakers' trade package for Doncic was Davis, who is averaging 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game this season. AD has been injury prone for most of his career, but last season was his first time playing over 70 games since 2017/18 and he's played in 42 of 47 games this season.

Davis is one of the best defensive players in the league. He allows opponents to shoot just 44.7 percent from the field when he's the nearest defender, which is 11th-best among centers to appear in at least 30 games.

Mavs GM Nico Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd will have to determine if they want to use AD as a power forward or center. Dallas' current center platoon of Daniel Gafford and Derrick Lively II is one of the league's most efficient, but one of those players could bring in a nice return if traded before Thursday's deadline.

The Lakers, meanwhile, now lack a proven interior defender. Despite the star power of LeBron James and Doncic, the team's talent on the defensive end has taken a big hit.

Jaxson Hayes is the only healthy seven-footer on the roster now, and while the 24-year-old is solid on defense, he doesn't impact games in nearly as many ways as nine-time All-Star AD does. And even with AD, the Lakers ranked 19th in defensive rating with 114.8 points allowed per 100 possessions.

Lakers fans will not be too concerned with that, though, as they now have two players in Doncic and James who can drop 30-8-8 with ease.

Read the latest NBA news on site.

Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.

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