Luka Doncic’s big night vs. Mavs again confirms Lakers won this fishy trade in a blowout

April 9, 2025

Something still stinks about the Luka Doncic trade several months after the NBA deadline, and I can’t quite figure out what it is. Other than, of course, the Mavericks.

Doncic returned to Dallas on Thursday, erupting for 45 points and embarrassing the franchise that has tried time and again to justify just giving him to the Los Angeles Lakers for the injury-riddled Anthony Davis and parts.

It may not just go down as one of the most stunning trades in NBA history. It will likely go down as among the most lopsided.

The verdict on this night was Lakers 112, Mavs 97, and a whole lot of Dallas fans being utterly disgusted with their own team. Not the players, mind you, but the morons in charge. Never before has a chant demanded that a GM be fired, over and over and over. So in that sense, Mavs GM Nico Harrison is making a little history of his own.

Trading Doncic was among the worst decisions this league has ever seen. Factor in that Harrison talked with no one but the Lakers? That’s where this still seems … well, really odd, even months later.

Did NBA commissioner Adam Silver know about this deal ahead of time? Was he somehow involved? Did the networks that just paid the NBA billions in the new media rights deal want this to happen?

It all sounds very conspiracy theory, yes. But surely the Mavs’ new ownership isn’t this stupid. They had to have some help along the way, right?

Yes, Doncic will be eligible for a supermax contract. He deserves one and will get one. But let’s say all the rumors are true. They say that the Mavericks didn’t like Doncic’s work ethic, or his approach, or whatever, and that is why they traded him.

But to talk only to the Lakers? And not get anything great in return? That makes you think that something fishy is going on behind the scenes.

Then again, guess what? This is the NBA, and basketball struggles as a business sometimes. Ever heard of the “frozen envelope” conspiracy, based on the New York Knicks winning the first draft lottery in 1985? Many still think today that the lottery was rigged, assuring that the largest market received the draft’s biggest prize (Patrick Ewing).

Was the Doncic trade manufactured by the league? I won’t say yes. But I won’t say no. All I really know is the Lakers won in blowout fashion. Wednesday night was just the first example of it. For the Mavericks and their poor fans, it’s only bound to get a lot worse from here.