The Los Angeles Lakers just traded for Luka Dončić in his prime. Some are saying it’s the most stunning trade in NBA history.

But you shouldn’t be shocked. Those that have been paying close attention to a certain basketball event saw this — LeBron James teaming with Dončić — coming. I’m talking about the NBA’s crystal ball: The All-Star Draft.

Yes, the gimmick to drum up interest in the All-Star festivities, which ran from 2019 to 2023, has had a shockingly high prediction rate when it’s come to seismic blockbuster deals in the Association.

Don’t believe me? Let’s run the tape.

Let’s go back to the very first televised NBA All-Star Draft in 2019. West captain LeBron James’ first pick of the reserves was none other than a certain New Orleans Pelicans big man named Anthony Davis. One person who wasn’t happy with that was the East captain, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who cracked, “Isn’t that … isn’t that tampering?” To which LeBron said, “Tampering rules don’t apply on All-Star weekend.”

That really happened.

Some important context there: Before the 2018-19 season, Davis hired James’ agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports to take over his representation, which many believed was a signal that LeBron was trying to lure him to Los Angeles. Once LeBron drafted him in the All-Star Game, the message was received. It turned out to be no laughing matter for the rest of the league.

Sure enough, a few months later, the Lakers traded for AD. LeBron got his guy.

That’s just the beginning.

Let’s look at what happened a few minutes later in that same 2019 All-Star Draft: LeBron made sure he selected Russell Westbrook. During the following season’s All-Star draft, LeBron picked Westbrook again. Message received. A year later, Westbrook reunited with James, this time for real, after the Lakers acquired him in a blockbuster five-team trade. LeBron got his guy.

Flash forward to the 2021 All-Star Draft when LeBron was at the helm of the West All-Stars again, this time facing Kevin Durant, who was then with the Brooklyn Nets. It was Durant’s choice as the East captain that forecasted the NBA future. Durant made sure he got his guy, picking Devin Booker with the seventh pick of his reserves. The next season in 2022? Booker again, this time as the first pick of the reserves. Message received.

KD obviously wanted to play with Booker. So much so that later that year he demanded a trade out of Brooklyn and put Booker’s team, the Phoenix Suns, on his reported list. Before long, KD was a Sun, officially teaming up with Booker. Yep, message received.

But wait, it gets crazier.

In 2023, Giannis Antetokounmpo, while running the East team, shocked the national audience with his first pick of the reserves. It seemed totally out of left field considering that his champion teammate, Jrue Holiday, was in the pool of players waiting to be selected.

Antetokounmpo went with someone totally unexpected: Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers.

LeBron was visibly flustered. “I knew for sure his first pick was gonna be Jrue,” LeBron said during the broadcast in reaction to Giannis’ stunner. “So I don’t know what’s going on with Giannis. OK, OK, you messed up my whole draft board now.”

Message received. Less than a year later, the Bucks traded Holiday for Lillard. Giannis got his guy.

So, how does this relate to this weekend’s stunner?

Because LeBron James has been leaving Luka-shaped breadcrumbs in the All-Star Draft for years.

In 2021, the first time that Luka Dončić was eligible for the All-Star draft, LeBron selected him as one of his starters. The next season, Dončić wasn’t voted a starter so he went into the reserve pool. In 2022, the first two picks of the reserves went like so:

KD selects Devin Booker.

LeBron selects Luka Dončić.

Because of course they did. Now they’re both teammates.

It continued. In 2023, James made sure he got Dončić again, selecting him as one of his starters. Three straight years, James got his guy.

What happened in 2024? The NBA ditched the All-Star Draft. So we never got a chance to see if James would pick Luka a fourth time in a row. Maybe we wouldn’t need it to know.

Because in 2025, LeBron got his guy again. This time, for real, after the Lakers traded Davis to Dallas for Dončić in a three-team trade involving the Utah Jazz.

The Lakers received Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris from the Mavs. Dallas acquired Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick. The Jazz netted Jalen Hood-Schifino, the Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick and the Mavs’ 2025 second-round pick.

Just as it happened with James/Davis, James/Westbrook, Durant/Booker and Antetokounmpo/Lillard, James will be teaming up with Dončić, the apple of his (All-Star draft) eye.

The NBA All-Star Draft may seem like nothing more than an exhibition sideshow, something not to be taken seriously. But these players are human beings and they only have so many levers they can pull to reveal their personal preferences to the world without catching flack from their teams’ fans. The NBA All-Star Draft, evidently, is one of those avenues.

James has not exactly hid his respect for Dončić and he has lavished praise on Dončić outside of his All-Star draft picks. In the summer of 2022, James made a point to compliment Dončić’s game on his then-HBO show “The Shop.” James praised Dončić: “His size. I mean he’s gigantic. A 6-8 point guard. He’s 225 pounds. He has the ball on a string. And more importantly, his vision. That’s why I love him.”

You could see the breadcrumbs in 2023 as we foretold on Basketball Illuminati podcast. Back in September of 2023, I predicted on my Substack that a LeBron/Luka partnership would happen in the next year (it took a year-and-a-half, to be exact) because the All-Star festivities seemed to foretell the NBA’s major moves. And don’t forget that one of the key moments of the 2019 All-Star Game was when cameras caught KD and Kyrie Irving closely talking in the hallway of Charlotte’s arena. Sure enough, that summer, KD and Irving signed with Brooklyn and that conversation was never seen the same again.

We all remember the infamous shot of Nikola Jokić sitting by himself on the 2023 All-Star Draft stage, neglected by his All-Star peers. It’s proven to be dripping in symbolism considering that Jokić has yet to team up with any All-Stars in his 10 seasons in his career. Perhaps next week’s trade deadline changes that, but the All-Star draft rarely lies.

Unfortunately, the NBA All-Star Draft is no longer, at least not in the format we all remember. In an effort to spice up the festivities once again, the NBA has decided that the 24 All-Stars will be drafted among three teams led by GMs Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. That will take place on Feb. 6. (The fourth team will be the Rising Stars game winners).

I’ll be watching. You should, too. And so should the NBA’s general managers and owners. The next seismic trade might just be in the works.