In response to the conditioning rumors, Dončić said it was a “big motive” to prove the Mavericks’ brass wrong this season, and he could get his first chance as soon as Saturday when the Lakers host the Indiana Pacers. It would mark the first game the five-time All-Star has played in since suffering a calf injury on Christmas Day.

Now for the fun part. The construction of this trade is pretty technical because both teams were in the luxury tax at the time of the deal. The Mavericks set it up to get out of the tax, but the Lakers were constrained by being over the collective bargaining agreement’s first apron and capped at the second apron.