The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the biggest trades in NBA history this deadline, and did so completely behind closed doors. With absolutely no rumors leaking, general manager Rob Pelinka swapped Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. It signaled a seismic shift in the NBA, and was done with no one in the loop.
Only Pelinka, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and the two team owners knew about the deal. Not any of the players or their agents. This meant leaving out both Davis and his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, despite him being one of the most powerful agents in the game today. Harrison and Pelinka both explained that deals of this magnitude don’t happen once they become public knowledge.
Paul got the chance to speak about the trade and his client getting moved from Los Angeles to Dallas. And while he too was kept completely in the dark on the deal, he had a surprisingly positive outlook about the whole thing, via Gil’s Arena podcast with Gilbert Arenas:
“99.9 percent of the time, I’m going to know what’s going on. The one time I didn’t was the one time we all didn’t, per se, know what was going on. It was a shock to everybody. Who was in it was a shock. I always knew the affinity that was had for AD from Nico’s perspective, so the destination wasn’t really a shock. The timing of it was a shock, and obviously who was involved was a shock. But you don’t move mountains with everybody knowing. You can’t. And so, I’m glad I didn’t know, and I’m glad that whoever else didn’t know, because it probably wouldn’t have happened if you did know. Because now you start to open up the opinions and conversations and different cans of worms. So you can’t get those things done with people know.”
While many have criticized the Mavericks for moving on from Doncic at all — but especially the process behind it — Paul didn’t seem all that surprised once he knew all the details. And for his client in Davis, Dallas is a place where he will be completely supported given that relationship with Harrison.
So with all the hindsight, Paul is glad the trade was able to go through and applauded Pelinka and Harrison for staying discreet enough to get a deal of this magnitude done.
Luka Doncic unlikely to have minutes restrictions moving forward
Luka Doncic had a strict minutes restriction in his first two games as a Laker, but after the All-Star break, head coach JJ Redick no longer anticipates the need for that. He said that Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets is unlikely to see restricted minutes for Doncic.
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