NBA insider Tim MacMahon closely followed Luka Doncic’s career with the Dallas Mavericks and released a book about it titled “The Wonder Boy: Luka Doncic and the Quest For Greatness.” MacMahon has been promoting his book recently and spoke about Doncic being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sitting Courtside.
“Luka got his butt kissed by the organization for six years, and I think you can argue rightfully so from a strategy perspective,” MacMahon said. “He’s that level of a superstar. After getting his butt kissed for 6 years, he got stabbed in his back midway through his seventh season and that’s just simple fact of the matter. That’s what happened.
“He got traded in the middle of the night, intentionally blindsided,” MacMahon continued. “[He] was shocked by it because they felt like we can’t let this leak. We can’t let Luka have any idea this is coming. Can’t let his agent, Bill Duffy, have any idea this is coming.”
MacMahon added that Doncic would have never been traded if Mark Cuban were still the majority owner. Cuban had thought that he would still be in control of basketball operations after the sale, but that wasn’t the case. He no longer had any say whatsoever, and GM Nico Harrison was the one running the show.
“Nico Harrison had all the power,” MacMahon stated. “Nico managed up and convinced Patrick Dumont that this supermax for Luka would be a bad investment. I’ve had a difficult time finding anybody around the NBA who would agree with that assessment. That’s what happened.”
The Slovenian would have been eligible for a five-year, $345 million extension this offseason. It was reported that Harrison did not want to give Doncic that supermax over concerns both on and off the court. The executive believes his body will break down and that the contract would turn out to be a disastrous one, years down the road.
Harrison realized, though, that he could not afford for it to get public that the team was looking to trade its biggest star. So, he offered Doncic to the Lakers in secrecy, and he has received a lot of pushback for that. Harrison has made himself the public enemy No. 1 in Dallas with this move, and he’s unlikely to ever win over the fanbase again.
Tim MacMahon On The Moment When Luka Doncic’s Happiness Was No Longer A Priority For The Mavericks
Cuban selling his majority share in the Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families in December 2023, for an estimated $3.5 billion, is the moment that MacMahon believes changed everything. He stated that was when the organization stopped catering to Doncic, during an appearance on Locked On Mavericks.
“If you want to pinpoint the precise time that it was no longer the top organizational priority, you’d have to go back to when Mark Cuban sold majority control of the team,” MacMahon said.
Cuban has stated that the Mavericks would have never traded Doncic if he were still in charge. He was willing to go to great lengths to ensure that the five-time All-Star was happy, but Harrison and the new ownership weren’t interested in doing that. Doncic was unceremoniously shipped out of town, and you can’t help but think this will go down as the worst trade in NBA history.
Doncic is a generational talent and had just led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals. You do not trade a player of his caliber, and the Lakers are so grateful to have him on board. The 26-year-old is averaging 27.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game for his new team and will keep dominating in the years to come.
