The Luka Doncic trade that rattled the Dallas Mavericks is over a year old at this point, but new details keep coming out.
It's been well over a year since the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, and since then, Dallas has moved on from Anthony Davis, the centerpiece of the deal.
While the Mavericks can tout drafting Cooper Flagg as a happy consequence of the deal, Nico Harrison pulled off the trade in the dead of night without the NBA Draft Lottery in mind. He was trying to build a title-worthy roster, and thought Davis--not Doncic--was going to be the centerpiece.
While Flagg looks well on the way to being a franchise centerpiece on an excellent Mavericks team, the fact of the matter is simple: Doncic led the team to the Finals the year before, and even with all of the optomism surrounding Flagg, with the San Antonio Spurs and OKC Thunder positioned to dominate the West, it's unclear if Flagg will ever be able to punch the Mavericks' ticket.
The Lakers were keenly aware that swapping Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick for Doncic was highway robbery, and they tried to keep it under wraps as much as possible until the deal was done.
Former Lakers' Owner Reveals Truth Behind Trade
Since the trade went down, the Buss family sold their controlling stake to Mark Walter for $10 billion, although at the time of the deal, Jeanie Buss was acting as the Lakers' owner.
Buss has long trusted Rob Pelinka to call all of the shots when it comes to roster building, but just like her father, Jeanie is one of the more hands-on owners in the NBA. She and Davis had a rapport, but cutting ties with him in exchange for Doncic was well worth it.
When Harrison suggested the loose outline of the deal, Pelinka, Buss, and the Lakers' brass couldn't believe what they were being offered. They knew they had to keep the deal quiet, lest Mark Cuban and other influential Mavericks figures talk some sense into Harrison.
"In order to trade somebody like Anthony Davis, it would have to be with approval," said Buss on Pretty Tough with Maria Sharapova, hinting at her involvement. "And certainly getting a player of Luka's caliber and being at the beginning of his career was just an extraordinary opportunity, but it required a lot of strategy and a lot of small steps in order to pull it off. Rob Pelinka was able to do that, all with it out leaking to the media, because I think Mark Cuban might have jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening."
Cuban has since been vocal about regretting selling his stake in the Mavericks to the Adelman family, as he doesn't think team governor Patrick Dumont understands much when it comes to team building, basketball, or maintaining a relationship with the fans. After the last two seasons, it seems like Cuban is right.
The former Mavericks' owner has made it known that he never would have signed off on trading Donciuc and would have done everything in his power to keep the deal from going through, so Buss's comments on Pretty Tough do track.
Is having Flagg worth losing Doncic? Most fans would say yes, but knowing that their chances of winning the lottery in 2025 sat at only 1.8 percent, Dallas was playing with fire.
Only time will tell if the gamble works out.