Getty Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic. If the Los Angeles Lakers could go back in time to the 2025 NBA trade deadline, they would make the same Luka Doncic trade 100 out of 100 times. It was a no-brainer move to make. However, the Lakers may have been victims of their own success following the Doncic trade. Not many expected the team to compete for a championship due to some roster issues, but the team played so well with Doncic that many started to believe they could win it all.