A Look At How The Lakers Pulled Off One Of The Best Heists In NBA History

Ron Jenkins. Getty Images.

Now that the initial shock of the Luka/AD trade has started to wear off and you come to grips with the fact that last night was not a dream and that blockbuster deal did in fact happen, we've reached the part where now the details around the move are starting to come out. With any big trade, and certainly with this one specifically, the details are pretty important. What was the motivation? What was the plan? How did it all unfold? Those are the important context questions that help make sense of a deal like this. Even if you don't agree with the reasoning, at least having some sort of understanding of the process helps put the pieces together.

So what do we know? Well, we now know these conversations began around a month ago

How are those quotes real life? That's what a trade conversation around Luka Doncic sounds like? I have more in-depth trade conversations in my 2K Dynasty for crying out loud. That sounds like every single fantasy football trade you've ever made, and in reality, it's one of the biggest trades in NBA history. There's something very funny about that. I'm not sure what I thought those conversations sounded like, but it certainly wasn't that. 

Let's just go back to the timeline of all this. Luka Doncic got hurt on Christmas and has been out ever since. One month ago brings you right around the first week of January. So, did something about that injury prompt them to start this process? Everyone passed their medicals today so I couldn't be that bad, but do the Mavs still make this trade if that Christmas Day injury doesn't happen and the Mavs are a top 4-5 seed? So right off the bat while it's interesting to know when this started, it does provide more questions. 

Initially, a lot of the reporting around this move was the fact that the Mavs were tired of Luka being fat and didn't think he could lead them to a title given how terrible his defense is

And while this is also both very funny and very accurate, it still didn't make total sense. You don't give up on a 25 year old generational player because he's out of shape and doesn't try on defense. I've seen a lot of insane shit when it comes to the NBA, but you do not move that caliber of player for only those two reasons. Almost always, there's a financial component. As Nico Harrison explained

“We really feel like we got ahead of what was going to be a tumultuous summer, him being eligible for the supermax and also a year away from him being able to opt out of any contract,” Harrison said. “And so we really felt like we got out in front of that. We know teams, they’ve had it out there, teams have been loading up to try to sign him once that comes available.”

This is why you always have to remember to look at the contract side of things. This is what Luka is currently playing under

Given he already qualified for the supermax last year, the Mavs were put in a position where they had to offer it this upcoming offseason. If they didn't, Luka is then essentially playing on an expiring deal after this season. Not offering Luka that supermax I imagine would piss him off, so you run the risk of him demanding a trade while having all the leverage. It would basically be the Jimmy Butler contract situation we're currently watching all over again. Luka could say fuck it and turn down his player option in 2026-27, leave for nothing, and then hit the market to sign whatever max deal he wants, or the Mavs would be bullied into trading him at some point next season where his value would not be the highest given the uncertainty he would re-sign with whoever traded for him.

Once they made the decision they were not going to pay Luka the supermax, you have to do a deal immediately given the fact that your leverage will never be higher than it is at this moment. The longer you hold onto Luka, the less your return becomes.

The thing is, that's the next part of this whole thing that still makes zero sense. 

I go back to that quote from above where Nico Harrison talks about how much interest Luka has around the league. If that's the case, what we still don't really have an answer for is why the Mavs didn't at least make a few phone calls? Just to get an idea of what might potentially be out there? I can understand trying to be stealthy, but you're always going to have the Lakers offer there. They only had to give up 1 pick! Even if Shams leaks it, who cares? The Lakers gave up the bare minimum to pull this off, they aren't pulling their deal from the table if word gets out that Luka is being shopped. They're already getting an insane price.

Imagine what the Spurs might have paid to pair Luka with Wemby? All their young assets and all the picks you could handle. How does OKC not even get a call? They could offer you 10 1st round picks and not even feel it. 

This is where the thought process goes off the rails. If you know you're not keeping an asset, why would you not do everything you could to maximize that asset to best set your team up for future success? Isn't that the whole point of roster building?

Then you go to the next piece of this puzzle. Why only the Lakers? Well, Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison are close

Could this be another Danny Ainge/Kevin McHale situation of a friend helping a friend built his basketball team by getting his best player at a good price? That's certainly possible. In business and in life, relationships matter. Some might even say in the business of basketball, it's everything. 

A personal relationship is really the only thing you can think of that would explain not taking Luka Doncic to the market. I see this as being the same thing as a pocket listing when you're trying to buy a house. You get the first chance to buy an asset for a great price if you're interested, and if not, the team is going to the market for the highest bidder. You don't pass up that opportunity in real estate and you don't pass up that opportunity when you can add a 25 year old perennial All NBA/MVP candidate.

It sure feels like that's what Nico Harrison did for his buddy. Pelinka was the only one who knew Luka was available and the only one negotiating so he could lock in a great price. The game is the game and that's a hell of a way to play it.

OK, so what do we know up until this point?

1. The Mavs wanted to part of being in the Luka Doncic business

2. Talks started right around Luka's injury

3. They wanted to sure up their defense

4. They had to make this move before the offseason to maintain their leverage

5. The personal connection between Rob Pelinka/Nico Harrison definitely played a role

In my opinion, there still has to be more to this story that will eventually come out. The timing part of it has me very curious about his health and what the Mavs know about how Luka may be projected to heal/play moving forward. If it's not the health, what happened behind the scenes that not only led the Mavs down this path, but then also trashing the shit out of him on the way out? That's kind of bizarre as well. Have we ever seen a team pull a 180 on their franchise player who just led them to the Finals like that? There has to be something at play there, and it's only a matter of time before someone drops that scoop.