Luka Doncic was reportedly pushing 270 pounds when Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison ended talks on a $345 million extension with the franchise cornerstone to pursue Saturday night’s historic trade with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Officially, it was concerns over Doncic’s defense that prompted Harrison to swap the 25-year-old offensive wizard for 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, rising guard Max Christie, and a future first-round draft pick.
‘I believe that defense wins championships,’ Mavs general manager Nico Harrison told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, who originally reported Doncic’s 270-pound heft. ‘I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.’
Doncic did not push for a trade, according to long-time NBA insider Marc Stein. Rather, Stein reports, the two sides were headed towards that five-year, $345 million extension until Saturday. And as sources have since revealed to MacMahon, the Mavs ‘had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Doncic due to his constant conditioning issues.’
Unfortunately for Doncic, he’s no longer eligible for that extension, according to former Brooklyn Nets assistant general manager and current ESPN salary cap analyst Bobby Marks. What’s more, Doncic and his $43 million salary now go from Texas, where there is no state income tax, to California, where citizens can see up to 12.3 percent of their wages go to the state. For now, he remains signed through the 2025-26 season and has a player option for 2026-27.
Nearly everyone was blindsided by the news, including Doncic, Davis and LeBron James, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. What’s more, James was out to eat in New York with family after beating the Knicks on Saturday when he first learned he was losing Davis, who sat with an abdominal strain.
Luka Doncic has been battling injuries since Christmas amid questions about his conditioning
LeBron James has slammed claims that he wanted Anthony Davis to leave the Lakers
There has been reporting that James had grown tired of playing alongside Davis, with whom he won a title in 2020.
Bill Reiter, the NBA Insider for CBS, told his channel he heard talk last year within the Lakers organization that James was growing frustrated with Davis, who has battled a series of injuries in Los Angeles.
‘It wasn’t that AD was going to be traded, it was just something to keep an eye on – that LeBron is frustrated with AD and doesn’t think that it is working,’ Reiter said of what he heard in 2024.
James, 40, hit back abruptly on X, replying to the video clip with a Pinocchio emoji and a clown emoji plus the comment: ‘You a fkn lie!!!’
Davis is signed to Klutch Sports, the agency owned and run by James’ agent and close friend, Rich Paul.
A 6-foot-8 point guard from Slovenia, Doncic guided the Mavs to the NBA Finals alongside Kyrie Irving this season but has never shaken criticism about his conditioning. Still, he finished third in last season’s MVP voting and is still considered among the best offensive talents in the game.
Per Charania, the Lakers are sending Davis, a 2029 first-round pick and Christie to the Mavericks, in exchange for Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris.
The Jazz are also receiving Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers, a Mavericks 2025 second-round pick and a 2025 Clippers second-rounder via the Lakers, as Charania posted to X after midnight on the East Coast.
Charania said ‘yes, this is real’ in a subsequent tweet, as he acknowledged fans’ bemusement at the astonishing deal.
Davis is also having a highly productive season for the Lakers, averaging 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, though he is significantly older than Doncic at 31 years old.
Davis missed his team’s win against the Knicks on Saturday night with an abdominal injury, while Christie played and scored 15 points.
James angrily hit out at a reporter who said he had grown frustrated with teammate Davis
Slovenia’s Luka Doncic and his fiancée Anamaria Goltes are pictured on social media
Marlen Davis (L) and US basketball player Anthony Davis attend the Vanity Fair Oscars Party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills in 2024
Meanwhile, Doncic hasn’t played since Christmas Day after exiting his team’s game against the Timberwolves with a calf strain.
Doncic, who has played professionally in Spain, is currently engaged to longtime girlfriend Anamria Goltes. The son of Sasa Doncic, a basketball coach and former player, and Mirjam Poterbin, a former model and salon owner, Luka has $152 million in career earnings.
The trade comes less than a year after the Mavericks made the NBA Finals led by Doncic and Irving, before falling to the Boston Celtics in five games.
The Lakers, meanwhile, are fifth in the Western Conference but have struggled to contend for a championship after winning the title in the 2019-20 season.
The move stunned the sports world, with many fans and media wondering if Charania had been hacked.
Meanwhile, the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson asked if it was ‘April Fools’ while the Pacers Tyrese Haliburton said ‘Shams got hacked?’
That shock also applied to quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who wrote ‘I’m sick rn….’ after the deal had broken.
Doncic will get a chance to face his old team when the Lakers host the Mavs on February 25.
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