During the twilight hours of Saturday night, two direct rivals of the OKC Thunder took part in perhaps the biggest blockbuster in recent memory.
As initially reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis, Maxi Kleber, and a 2029 first-round pick.
Though the star power being swapped around in this splashy exchange is overwhelmingly exciting and truly jaw-dropping, in an ironic turn of events, there's a highly reasonable argument to be made that the biggest winner of the night is, in fact, Oklahoma City.
Thunder ultimate winners of Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic blockbuster
With this trade, it's quite clear that while the Mavericks are bringing back one of the biggest names in the game today in Anthony Davis, the drop-off in status and star power between him and Luka Doncic is quite evident.
Considering AD is six years his senior and is far more of an injury risk (has played in over 56 games just once over the last four seasons), it's easy to make the case that, at least from a long-term potential standpoint, Dallas has clearly limited themselves with this move.
Being the Mavs have been viewed as one of the biggest threats to Oklahoma City's title pursuits following last postseason's ill-fated matchup and during their four-game regular season series this year (one where Luka and co. won 3-1), this should be music to the Thunder's ears.
As for the Lakers side of the equation, sure they find themselves swapping out the aging Davis for the younger and, frankly, far more versatile Doncic, but now they will have to work through the inherent concerns that come with the five-time All-Star.
Frankly, this alone may be the biggest reason why the Thunder should be considered the biggest winners on the night.
Doncic now finds himself heading to LA to team up with LeBron James as his direct 1B option. While the offensive potential with the two running alongside one another is certainly exciting to think about, the defensive limitations will almost certainly be painful to watch.
Even with the perennial All-Defense selection and DPOY candidate Davis in tow, the Lakers still find themselves ranking in with the 10-worst defense in the entire league.
Losing AD's efforts for Doncic's on this side of the ball could be potentially catastrophic for Los Angeles.
On top of this, per follow-up reports by Charania's ESPN cohort, Tim MacMahon, one of the biggest reasons why the Mavericks opted to part ways with Doncic was that there were "major concerns" with the superstar regarding his "constant conditioning issues," something that, be it with cardio or dieting, has been buzzed about for quite some time.
With this in mind, essentially what the Lakers have done is added a player in Doncic who, though unbelievably talented (a regular MVP candidate and All-Star who averages 28.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game for his career), reportedly struggles to keep up with conditioning, fairs poorly with help defense, and requires the ball in his hand to be most effective and is being tasked to run alongside LeBron James who also is a poor help defender and needs the ball in his hands.
Unless there's something we don't know about James potentially being headed outbound in a subsequent deal, this seems like the Lakers may have created yet another fake contender in the Western Conference (something they've been known to do over the years) while the Mavericks have drastically lowered their window to push for a championship.
All of which seem to be like major boons for the Thunder as they aim to claim their first title since moving to the Sooner State.