The trade that sent Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers will live in infamy, as the deal saw a five-time All-NBA selection get traded at age 25 for an older, more injury-prone, and worse player in Anthony Davis. There wasn’t enough draft compensation in the deal to justify it either, with the Mavs picking up one worthless draft pick now that the Lakers have Luka for the foreseeable future.
The deal was so bad that even the current US President Donald Trump has been made aware of what a lopsided trade that was. Houston Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta revealed to fans of the Houston Cougars that he discussed the ‘dumbass’ trade with President Trump in the Oval Office.
“I was in the White House, the Oval Office, with the Prime Minister of Italy and the President (Trump) last Thursday. We talked about the Houston Cougars for at least a minute and a half. And then we talked about that dumbass Luka Doncic trade that Dallas did.”
SHOTS FIRED 😂
At a Houston Cougar season celebration, Rockets owner, Tilman Fertitta spoke on how he recently had a chance to speak to President Trump about his Coogs.
He followed that up with:
“And then we talked about that dumbass Luka Doncic trade Dallas did” pic.twitter.com/RpzV10Q8Fj
— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) April 24, 2025
The Mavericks moving on from Doncic should be great news to Fertitta, as it guarantees his team doesn’t have to compete against Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama to be the best team in Texas.
They earned that title on their own this season with a 52-30 record and the No. 2 seed in the West, with Wembanyama getting hurt and Doncic being shipped to the Lakers.
Even though Doncic isn’t in Fertitta’s division, he won’t be happy to see him remain in the Western Conference for arguably the most popular franchise in the NBA. It allows the Lakers to continue their rich history of having the best active players in the NBA, creating a direct line of succession from the LeBron James era to the Luka era.
Fertitta was among the donors to President Trump’s election campaign from the NBA. He gave $420,000 to PACs backing President Trump.
His contributions were dwarfed in comparison to what the owners of Doncic’s former team gave. The Mavericks, owned by Miriam Adelson, put about $100 million behind her Preserve America political action committee backing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Imagining President Trump’s thoughts on the trade would be hilarious, but it’s clear that Fertitta likely painted a negative enough picture for the President for even him to start wondering why Nico Harrison still has a job, just like almost everyone in Dallas.
