PHILADELPHIA ― Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said he was having phone problems Saturday night, and as he was walking in the downtown area here a fan approached him with some news that was briefly unsettling.
“He was like, ‘You, you heard about the trade?’ ” Porzingis said. “I was like, ‘What happened? Did I get traded?’ And he was like, ‘No, Luka [Doncic] to the Lakers.’ And [I] was like, ‘Yo, no way.’ Then I got my phone back and read all about it. Honestly, I can’t believe it. I think this is the craziest trade in NBA history. Unbelievable.”
Doncic, the Mavericks superstar, was traded to the Lakers in a package centered on Lakers superstar Anthony Davis. This seismic deal stunned players, executives, and coaches around the league just as much as it rattled fans.
Celtics forward Sam Hauser said it was the talk of the team’s breakfast Sunday morning.
“It was pretty crazy,” Hauser said. “Shocking, obviously.”
Forward Al Horford called it one of the biggest transactions in NBA history, comparing it to when Cavaliers star LeBron James signed with the Heat as a free agent in 2010. Horford said he was asleep when the Doncic news broke just after midnight, but one of his brothers alerted him early this morning.
“We were all in disbelief,” Horford said. “We didn’t think it was real.”
Porzingis played with Doncic in Dallas for 2½ seasons and said it was hard to fathom the idea of trading the 25-year-old who might not have even hit his prime yet. He said he did not know what might have taken place behind the scenes to lead to the Mavericks' decision, but he said it left him “speechless” nonetheless.
Porzingis also believes Doncic, who has faced criticism for sometimes not being in top shape, will benefit from playing alongside James, the remarkably durable superstar who remains at the top of his game with the Lakers at 40.
“LeBron’s a big fan of Luka’s and Luka has obviously played a lot of basketball in his career, but he’s still only 25 years old,” Porzingis said. “So I think the main thing for him is he’ll be able to learn a lot from LeBron. That could really benefit his career and there’s somebody that, how he takes care of his body, the length of his career and all this, I think there’s a lot of things he’ll be able to learn if he wants to.”
The Celtics defeated the Mavericks in the NBA Finals just eight months ago. Now, Dallas has already decided to move on from its cornerstone.
But the Mavericks are not simply starting a rebuild by adding a collection of draft picks. Dallas added a 10-time All-Star in Davis who will instantly reshape its defensive identity.
“I think that [Davis] will probably just be featured a lot more in everything that they’re trying to do,” Horford said. “Looking from afar, I’ve always heard that he wants a big man next to him. And now he has two really good players in [Daniel] Gafford and [Dereck] Lively. So, guys that can really take pressure off of him and it’s something that I think for him it’s going to be very good. And then him working with Kyrie [Irving], and that part of it is going to be really good for them.”
Hauser said the trade showed any player can be traded at any time, regardless of star power.
“Maybe [Dallas] just had a different vision for this season,” he said, “and I guess they decided to make a move that shook up the whole world.”
Plenty of NBA people had stunned reactions Sunday before the Celtics rallied to beat the 76ers, 118-110, but Boston coach Joe Mazzulla was not among them. When Mazzulla sat down at the podium for his pregame press conference, he offered a succinct and direct message.
“Don’t ask me about the trade,” Mazzulla said. “I don’t really care.”
Pritchard out ill
Celtics guard Payton Pritchard missed the game because of an illness. The 76ers were without Paul George (finger), Joel Embiid (knee), Caleb Martin (hip), KJ Martin (foot), Andre Drummond (toe), and Eric Gordon (knee).
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.