(CNN)Some NBA trades are simple transactions. One team gets this player or draft picks and in return, the other franchise gets a player, or players, or draft capital.
But other NBA trades have a ripple effect across the league, impacting a multitude of teams in perhaps unusual ways.
This looks to be the case for the recent trade of Kyrie Irving who, earlier this week, was moved from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks.
In compensation, the Nets received guard Spencer Dinwiddie, forward Dorian Finney-Smith and three draft picks. The Nets also sent big man Markieff Morris to Dallas in the trade.
At first glance, Dallas gets an extra offensive weapon and Brooklyn shifts a wantaway star, but look closer and Irving's trade doesn't only have implications for the Mavs and the Nets: it also most notably impacts the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sharing the load
Luka Doncić couldn't do it all on his own -- try as he might.
The Mavs star has almost single-handedly driven the team's offense this season in absence of any other star players following Jalen Brunson's departure to the New York Knicks in the offseason.
Many of Doncić's stats have increased this year -- his points, field goal attempts, field goal percentage and usage (defined as "the percentage of team plays used by a player when they are on the floor") have all reached career highs -- it's as if he's Dallas' own Hercules.
Despite all his hard work, the Mavs are just a few games above a .500 winning percentage, facing a stiff test to climb up the Western Conference rankings.
A key problem has been the time when Doncić hasn't been on the floor, with no players to handle offensive responsibilities and take some of the load off of the 23-year-old's shoulders when he's resting.