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Inside the top-secret trade negotiations that made Luka Dončić a Laker

Fred Katz, Joe Vardon and Sam Amick

Feb 3, 2025

94

The Los Angeles Lakers walked away from the most stunning trade of the century with an unexpected bonus. The Lakers now employ 25-year-old Luka Dončić, and they didn’t even have to part with both of their tradeable first-round picks to land him.

Late Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks agreed to send Dončić to the Lakers for 10-time All-Star and defensive anchor Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ first-round pick in 2029. In the process, the Lakers held onto their 2031 first-rounder.

The Mavs, desperate to find Dončić a new home as soon as possible, did not press for it.

The Lakers’ logic, according to league sources, was that parting with both of their first-rounders would be too perilous. Dončić’s contract can expire in 2026 when they couldn’t know his interest in re-signing. And they had no chance to find out before pulling off an exchange that shook the NBA.

The Lakers could not talk to Dončić’s agent, Bill Duffy, about the trade because both sides, Dallas and Los Angeles, wanted to keep negotiations a secret. Mentioning the behind-the-scenes details to agents would put the information at risk of becoming public, which the Mavericks especially thought would be too flammable. If a trade didn’t materialize, then they believed the prospect of being left with a disgruntled franchise centerpiece could be disastrous.

Though Mavs general manager Nico Harrison seemed to indicate in a news conference Sunday that he spoke only to the Lakers about Dončić, Dallas called at least one other team to inquire about a deal that would flip Dončić for another star, league sources told The Athletic. But the Mavericks didn’t enter deep negotiations with anyone but the Lakers. Harrison, who was once the longtime Nike representative for the late Kobe Bryant, already had a strong relationship with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, who was Bryant’s agent for the entirety of his career.

At Harrison’s news conference, he praised Pelinka’s ability to keep talks quiet, even as they went on for weeks, though concealing the availability of a young star was in Pelinka’s interest, too. If the rest of the league learned the Mavs wanted to move Dončić, it could flood Dallas’ inbox, possibly with offers that bested the Lakers’.

So without the ability to gauge Dončić’s appetite to remain in L.A. long term, the Lakers expressed they couldn’t go all the way in for him, league sources said. And the Mavericks acquiesced, eventually agreeing to deal Dončić, along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris for Davis, Christie and one first-rounder. For salary-cap reasons, the Jazz also took on Jalen Hood-Schifino and two second-round picks.

Now that the trade is official, answers are emerging. Dončić is ecstatic about joining the Lakers, and all early signs point to a long-term future with the team, a league source said.

Harrison hinted during his news conference why the Mavericks were so eager to unload someone of Dončić’s caliber, picking 31-year-old Davis as the running mate for 32-year-old Kyrie Irving rather than the younger, generational talent who was third in MVP voting last season. He mentioned “the culture we wanted to create” and added “we believe (the players we are bringing in) exemplify that,” a contrast to his thoughts on Dončić.

The specifics behind why the Mavericks drifted away from Dončić, beyond vague questions about his conditioning and off-court habits, remain in question.

The team is under fresh ownership now, as well, with Patrick Dumont taking over for Mark Cuban, who now holds a minority stake in the team and is no longer a primary part of the decision-making process.

“There’s some unique things about his contract that we had to pay attention to,” Harrison said. “There’s other teams that were loading up (to acquire him as a free agent). He was going to have to make his own decision at some point of whether he wants to be here or not, whether we want to supermax him or not, or whether he wants to opt out. So I think we have to take all that in consideration and feel like we got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous year. ”

But in recent NBA history, this trade has no comparison point — a player as young and as good as Dončić, dealt to a conference rival without even asking to be traded. A league source close to Dončić said he wanted to be in Dallas his entire career, which Dončić himself essentially said in the goodbye note to the city he posted to social media on Sunday: “I thought I’d spend my career here and I wanted so badly to bring you a championship.”

“He wanted to be like Dirk (Nowitzki),” the source said, referencing the Mavericks legend who played 21 seasons in Dallas and was NBA Finals MVP for the team’s lone title in 2011.

If the Mavericks were at all motivated by a belief that Dončić wanted to eventually head elsewhere, the source close to him insists that was not the case. This was not Dončić rejecting the Mavericks; it was Dallas rebuking him, and doing so in an unorthodox manner.

To the extent that NBA stars of Dončić’s caliber are traded at all, the return haul often includes a truckload of draft picks because a rebuild is on the horizon.

Brooklyn traded 34-year-old Kevin Durant to the Suns in 2023, and it cost Phoenix four first-rounders along with key role players, whom they traded for more picks. The Blazers dealt 32-year-old Damian Lillard to the Bucks and received an unprotected first-rounder, multiple first-round swaps and All-Star guard Jrue Holiday, whom they immediately flipped for more first-round picks. Nearly three years ago, when the Utah Jazz moved Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in separate trades, they received a combined seven future first-rounders.

In each of those cases, the teams trading away their main star (or stars) were starting over. On Sunday, Harrison, and coach Jason Kidd, insisted the deal to acquire Davis was made to win now and in the future, with one eerie caveat.

“The future to me is three, four years from now,” Harrison said. “Ten years from now, I don’t know. They’ll probably bury me and J(ason Kidd) by then. Or we bury ourselves.”

Dončić would have been eligible for a supermax extension this summer had the Mavericks held onto him. Yet, Dallas was worried about handing him that much money, league sources said.

An extension for Dončić could have reached $345 million over five years, starting with a salary that’s 35 percent of the cap, the largest contract a player can receive. Davis is already on a 35-percent max contract that kicks in next season. If Dallas were to extend him in a year and a half, when he’s eligible, it would presumably be handing him another 35-percent max, which would run until his age-37 season.

The dollars are essentially the same for either Davis or Dončić. In that sense, the Mavericks’ logic wasn’t to avoid handing out a supermax. This was Dallas proclaiming it would rather have a mid-30s Davis than a 20-something Dončić for the same price.

The Mavericks believe the acquisition of Davis will give them another defensive backbone, though it’s not like Dončić prevented them from elite defense during their NBA Finals run a year ago. Dallas ranked seventh in points allowed per possession following midseason trades for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington and shut down elite attacks for three rounds before running into the juggernaut Boston Celtics and falling three victories short of a title.

It might not be done adding to this year’s roster.

To complete the deal, Davis waived his $5.9 million trade kicker, a bonus he was due if the Lakers flipped him to another squad. The money would have come out of Los Angeles’ pocket but would have counted against Dallas’ cap sheet. Now that it doesn’t exist, the Mavs have breathing room.

Though they didn’t do this deal to get out of the tax, the trade takes the Mavericks beneath the luxury-tax threshold and $6.2 million below the first apron. In fact, it’s possible they crest back above it before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Creating that room below the first apron opens up more types of moves to make over the next three days and even beyond. They can now take in more money than they send out in a trade and can also sign buyout players, neither of which would be legal if they were above or dangerously close to the first apron.

The Lakers, on the other hand, preserved their valuables. Not only did they keep their 2031 first-round selection; they also held onto 26-year-old Austin Reaves, an 18-points-per-game scorer. Most importantly, they can now build around Dončić instead of James — a first not only for the Lakers in their seven seasons with him but also for James in his decorated, 22-year career.

James is 40. You wouldn’t know it by his statistics — averages of 24.0 points, 9.1 assists and 7.6 rebounds on 38 percent shooting from 3-point range — but he is pondering retirement. He has not said when his last season will be, but sources close to him acknowledge it could be within the next two years.

For at least the last decade, dating back to his second stint in Cleveland, James almost yearly demands the team he’s playing for to make upgrades to the roster. He offered a similar sentiment last month (as did Davis, for that matter), and the Lakers stunned both of them by trading Davis.

In a way, the Lakers did exactly what James asked, and with more shock and awe than at any other time in James’ career when a team has yielded to his demands. The Lakers now have two ball-dominant, brilliant scorers, dazzling passers and playoff performers in Dončić and James.

That’s why James was not upset by the trade, a league source said. He was shocked when he was informed of the trade by his agent Rich Paul, who also represents Davis, while at dinner with his family in New York after recording a triple-double in a win over the Knicks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. James’ chief concern, according to the same league source, was Davis’ emotions following the trade. Otherwise, James viewed it as a “business decision” the Lakers needed to make, and not just because he wanted roster changes. The future will soon be here in which James is no longer involved.

The Lakers, sitting at 28-19, fifth in the Western Conference, looked at their roster and did not believe whatever player they could get for the two first-rounders would provide enough to vault them to championship level. So they went the opposite direction.

They know trading away Davis, a perennial All-Defensive contender, will crush their ability to protect the rim. They understand there will be nights of high-scoring bouts with the current roster — though an offense with James and Dončić can pulverize opponents, too.

The Lakers could now use a big man, someone to protect the paint, but not many centers whose names are prevalent on the market appeal to them, league sources said. And just as they wouldn’t part with the 2031 first-rounder for Dončić, they have no plans to give their best remaining draft asset away for a patch-up role player.

They will be resistant to long-term money. Trading Davis means Los Angeles can now target max cap space in the summer of 2026, which could have a packed free-agent class. As of now, they have only Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht and Bronny James under contract for 2026-27, when Dončić has a player option, as does Reaves. The Lakers could hold onto both and still have enough room to sign another star.

At that point, Dončić will be only 27 years old.

Contrast that with the post-James possibilities before they made this trade.

Davis is eligible for a massive extension in 2026, one that would take him through his age-37 season. But the Lakers had reservations about handing him so much money into his late 30s. Could a high-paid, post-prime Davis have kept the Lakers competitive by himself?

Now, Los Angeles has a top-five player. The post-James future looks different — as does the post-Dončić one in Dallas.