In an appearance on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast (Gil’s Arena), top NBA agent Rich Paul set the record straight on his involvement in the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. According to Paul, not only did he not know about the trade, but he believed it might never have happened had anyone found out in advance.
“99.9% 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,” said Paul. “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 who was involved was a shock. But you don’t move mountains with everybody knowing. You can’t. So I’m glad I didn’t know. I’m glad whoever else didn’t know because it probably wouldn’t happened if you did know because now you start to open up the opinions and the can of worms. So you can’t get those things done with people knowing.”
When the Lakers traded Anthony Davis earlier this season, it came as a shock to pretty much everyone across the sports world. Nobody trades a superstar at 25 years old but that’s what the Mavericks did and many are still looking for a reason why.
Rich Paul is primarily known for being the agent of LeBron James (40), but he also represents Anthony Davis (31) and has huge ties to the Lakers. As one of the most powerful men in the world at his position, Paul is normally the first to know when big trades are in the works, especially when they involve one of his clients.
In the case of the blockbuster Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade, not even Paul saw it coming. At least, that’s what he claims. Other reports claim that Paul knew about the trade 48 hours in advance. Regardless, the talks never got leaked and the trade was allowed to happen behind closed doors, where no media or fans could speak their minds.
It’s no secret that the Doncic deal has caused mass outrage across the NBA community and Mavericks fans have already made it known that they disapprove of the team trading their favorite player.
The scene around Dallas has been borderline toxic and if word had gotten out that the Mavericks were even considering dealing Luka, people would have gone crazy to get GM Nico Harrison to avoid making the trade. Instead, the two sides met privately and kept negotiations tight for weeks to not let anyone spoil the deal.
Teams are still pissed they never got to bid but in the end, the Lakers and Mavericks got what they wanted. For the Mavericks, it’s a champion and defensive-first big man who better fits their culture while the Lakers got a young offensive superstar to lead their next era of prosperity.
The Mavericks see it as a win-win but it’s clear that the fans don’t agree. They have been doing everything in their power to reverse the trade but there’s no going back now. Luka Doncic is a Laker and he’ll have the rest of his career to take revenge on the Mavericks for giving up right when he hit his peak.
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