LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Dallas Mavericks are sending star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for big man Anthony Davis in a stunning three-team National Basketball Association (NBA) trade reported Saturday by ESPN.

The deal will see Slovenian star Doncic, a 25-year-old five-time All-Star who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, join forces with 40-year-old superstar LeBron James in Los Angeles.

Doncic’s arrival gives the Lakers an eventual heir to James, while ESPN cited Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison as saying their acquisition of Davis gives Dallas a much-needed strong defensive presence.

“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison told ESPN regarding motivation for the trade. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance.”

“We’re built to win now and in the future.”

ESPN reported that the Mavericks will also get guard Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick, while the Lakers will also receive Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris.

The Utah Jazz, the third team in the deal, will get Lakers guard Jalen Hood-Schifino.

Reports of the trade surfaced shortly after the Lakers — with Davis sidelined by an abdominal muscle strain — beat the Knicks 128-112 in New York.

“According to people inside the Lakers’ locker room not authorized to speak publicly, the trade was a complete shock,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

“This deal materialized in the shadows,” Shams Charania, the ESPN reporter who broke the news, said in discussing the trade on the network.

“LeBron James had no idea this was coming. Anthony Davis had no idea this was coming. I’m told Luka Doncic is still stunned about this trade.”

Doncic has been sidelined since Christmas with a calf injury.

He is averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game for the Mavericks, where he has played since he was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2018 and immediately traded.

Doncic led the league in scoring last season with 33.9 points per game and was a finalist for the Most Valuable Player Award.

However, several injuries in recent years have seen his fitness called into question.

ESPN cited unnamed sources in saying the Mavericks were concerned about Doncic’s trouble staying in shape. He has played in just 22 games this season.

He would have been eligible to receive a super-max contract extension worth more than $300 million after this season.

Davis, 31, has spent six seasons with the Lakers. A nine-time All-Star, he won a title with the Lakers in 2020. In Dallas he’ll join a team that features two other veteran stars in point guard Kyrie Irving and shooting guard Klay Thompson.

Davis is averaging 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game this season and James noted after the Lakers’ victory over the Knicks that Davis’s absence made for a big defensive void.

“Without AD it’s got to be a collective group, not one of us can do it by ourselves,” James said. “We damn sure can’t take up all what AD does — he covers for all of us.”

James delivered a master class at Madison Square Garden, scoring 33 points in a triple-double as his Los Angeles Lakers ended the New York Knicks’ five-game NBA winning streak.

James added 11 rebounds and 12 assists, Austin Reaves added 27 points and the Lakers kept Knicks All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson in check, despite the absence of Anthony Davis with a strained abdominal muscle.

The Nuggets fueled by reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic’s 22nd triple-double of the season, fended off a furious late rally by the Hornets to triumph 107-104 in Charlotte.

Serbian star Jokic scored 28 points with 13 rebounds and 17 assists, but it almost wasn’t enough as the Hornets erased a 17-point first-half deficit and took a 104-100 lead with 51.6 seconds remaining on back-to-back baskets by Miles Bridges.