On Saturday evening, the NBA world was in disbelief upon reading the news that the Dallas Mavericks had traded their generational superstar, Luka Dončić’ to the Los Angeles Lakers for 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis.
This marks the first time in NBA history that two players averaging 25+ points per game were traded for each other mid-season. The blockbuster deal sent shockwaves through the league, leaving everyone with one pressing question: why?
Why would the Mavericks trade their 25-year-old franchise cornerstone—who has already made five All-NBA First Teams (more than Stephen Curry), won last season’s scoring title averaging 33.9 points, and just led them to the NBA Finals? No matter what explanation Mavericks General Manager and President of Basketball Operations Nico Harrison provides, it doesn’t sit well with NBA fans—especially Mavericks supporters.
Reports suggest that concerns over Luka Dončić’s conditioning played a major role in the decision, but many find that reasoning baffling.
Luka Dončić, Nico Harrison, and Jason Kidd
“I don’t care what he does, he still goes out and gives you 33-9-9 every night,” one All-Star told ESPN. A rival NBA coach added, “How do you say this now when every year you’ve praised how great he looked coming into camp?”
Harrison was reportedly unwilling to offer Dončić the supermax extension, which he would have become eligible for this spring. The deal was worth $345 million over five years, making it the richest contract in NBA history.
“I do believe that we’ve positioned ourselves to win now and also win in the future. And that’s ultimately the goal and why we’re here. It’s my job to make the tough decisions that put our goals first and foremost,” Harrison stated in his latest press release.
To claim the Mavericks are now better positioned to “win now” is absurd. They were already contenders, having just made their third NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. Trading away the primary reason for that success hardly improves their chances.
This move is so shocking from Dallas’s perspective that it raises the question: what really happened behind the scenes to make this trade even a consideration?
It all starts with the two men who orchestrated the deal—Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison—who share a long history.
Before becoming the Lakers’ general manager, Pelinka was a high-profile NBA agent in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His most famous client? The legendary Kobe Bryant. Their relationship extended far beyond business—Bryant once described Pelinka as family.
Meanwhile, Harrison spent over two decades at Nike, eventually rising to Vice President of Global Basketball Operations. When Bryant signed with Nike, Pelinka and Harrison became close friends.
Kobe Bryant, along side with Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison
According to an ESPN article, over the next decade, “Pelinka and Harrison traveled the world together with Bryant on official Nike business and joint family vacations. They were members of Bryant’s inner circle, and they leaned on each other when Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash in 2020.”
Given their deep-rooted friendship, it’s no coincidence that the biggest trade in NBA history was orchestrated between these two. Until someone speaks out, we may never fully understand the true reason behind Luka Dončić’s stunning departure from Dallas.
