With the NBA postseason reaching its final days, there’s already some exciting news for next season with a high-profile exhibition matchup now scheduled under the bright lights of the City of Sin. A superstar out for revenge will take on his former team and the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks — plus the top pick — on October 15 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The exhibition game looks like a marquee matchup with plenty of storylines to follow.
Of course, the big-market Lakers draw eyes wherever they play thanks to the star power of James and Doncic. The team sits top-eight in 2025-2026 Finals winner futures on DraftKings Sportsbook with +1700 odds, and with some offseason moves, they should move up a couple notches on the leaderboard.
For Doncic in particular, the revenge game narrative will always be present any time he takes on the Mavericks, the team he spent six years with before the shocking trade which sent him to Los Angeles back in February. It’s a similar situation for Davis, who won a title with the Lakers in 2020 but was shipped out in that Doncic trade.
Outside of the obvious grudge match for both sides of that transaction, this meeting looks like it’ll be the first one between Dallas’ previous franchise player and their next one.
The Mavericks won the 2025 Draft Lottery and hold the rights to the No. 1 selection in the upcoming draft. Presumably, that pick will be used to take Cooper Flagg, a superstar prospect out of Duke with -20000 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook to go first overall. If the Mavs do select Flagg, he’ll be expected to step into the massive shoes left behind by Doncic as the organization’s greatest hope for the future. As past and future collide, this should present an interesting narrative to follow.
Of course, the very location of the game itself remains another key point for fans, and potentially the NBA itself. Whispers of league expansion have only grown in recent years, and it’s no secret that Las Vegas looks like a prime candidate to host a permanent team. The basketball world flocks to Sin City for NBA Summer League each year, and with plenty of eyes on this exhibition matchup, it feels like yet another test run for hoops fandom in desert.
There’s still multiple months to go until this matchup, but as it approaches, stay tuned to DraftKings Sportsbook for the latest betting opportunities regarding the NBA Draft and even game lines for the exhibition.
