NBA fans are trying to process one of the most shocking trades ever. Struggling to make sense of the Dallas Mavericks shipping Luke Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, some have turned to a conspiracy theory.
Late Saturday night, the Mavericks traded their 25-year-old superstar a year after making the NBA Finals. Anthony Davis and a 2029 first-round pick are the major pieces going back to Dallas in a seemingly light return for a generational talent in his prime.
After the news broke, stunned fans wondered why the Mavericks would abruptly trade Doncic to the Lakers. At the very least, why didn’t they promote his availability to commence a league-wide bidding war?
Desperate for an answer, some fans decided — without any evidence — that the NBA made the Mavericks trade Doncic to the popular franchise to increase ratings.
“Absolutely love the conspiracy theory that the NBA forced the Luka Doncic trade because ratings are in the toilet,” Savage Sports said.
“This was the most obvious forced NBA trade to save dwindling ratings I’ve ever seen,” a fan claimed. “Actually disgusting.”
“Adam Silver forced this as the NBA ratings are tanking,” a fan wrote. “Trade the face of the league to the #1 franchise.”
“It’s a forced trade. The compensation is the Adelson’s getting their NBA Team & Casino in Vegas,” a fan theorized regarding new Mavericks ownership.
NBA ratings have noticeably declined early in the 2024-25 season, but this conspiracy is almost certainly not true.
Most Mavericks fans won’t find this explanation satisfying, but they apparently didn’t want to invest in Doncic long-term.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the Mavericks had “major concerns” about giving Doncic a supermax extension because of conditioning issues. He would have been eligible to receive a five-year, $345 million contract this summer before his current deal expires after the 2025-26 season.
Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison told the Dallas Morning News‘ Brad Townsend that it’s “my job to make the tough decisions.”
“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.”