Rob Pelinka pulled off one of the biggest heists in NBA history, bringing Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks.
The deal was completed in absolute silence as not even the players involved knew about it. Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison commended Pelinka for keeping quiet while they negotiated the deal to the finish line over the span of a few weeks.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the trade was what the Lakers gave up as it only took Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to acquire Doncic. While Davis is an All-NBA player headed to the Hall of Fame and Christie is a young, up-and-coming two-way player, the Lakers were able to keep Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht and their 2031 first-round pick. Acquiring a player of Doncic’s caliber while not giving up all of your assets is a massive win for L.A.
As it turns out, Pelinka and the Lakers were able to convince Harrison and the Mavericks that there were risks involved for L.A. and the package needed to be lighter, per Fred Katz, Joe Vardon and Sam Amick of The Athletic:
Late Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks agreed to send Dončić to the Lakers for 10-time All-Star and defensive anchor Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ first-round pick in 2029. In the process, the Lakers held onto their 2031 first-rounder.
The Mavs, desperate to find Dončić a new home as soon as possible, did not press for it.
The Lakers’ logic, according to league sources, was that parting with both of their first-rounders would be too perilous. Dončić’s contract can expire in 2026 when they couldn’t know his interest in re-signing. And they had no chance to find out before pulling off an exchange that shook the NBA.
The Lakers could not talk to Dončić’s agent, Bill Duffy, about the trade because both sides, Dallas and Los Angeles, wanted to keep negotiations a secret. Mentioning the behind-the-scenes details to agents would put the information at risk of becoming public, which the Mavericks especially thought would be too flammable. If a trade didn’t materialize, then they believed the prospect of being left with a disgruntled franchise centerpiece could be disastrous.
So without the ability to gauge Dončić’s appetite to remain in L.A. long term, the Lakers expressed they couldn’t go all the way in for him, league sources said. And the Mavericks acquiesced, eventually agreeing to deal Dončić, along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris for Davis, Christie and one first-rounder. For salary-cap reasons, the Jazz also took on Jalen Hood-Schifino and two second-round picks.
Kirk Goldsbury also confirmed on the Bill Simmons Podcast that the deal originally would have included more assets from the Lakers before Pelinka talked Harrison into a lighter package:
“One of my sources inside the Lakers was indicating that the deal was bigger…that there were two 1sts and there was Dalton Knecht and the deal got whittled down because I think Rob Pelinka was able to convince the Dallas Mavericks that Luka is a lot of risk. That you guys are right for trying to look at this this way, because this guy his drinking or his weight problem or whatever it is…this was a weeks long process…this fell in Rob Pelinka’s lap and then he was able to reduce the outward Lakers assets to such a degree.”
Pelinka deserves a lot of credit not only for getting this trade done, but for doing it while maintaining assets to make other roster upgrades ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
Rob Pelinka welcomes Luka Doncic to Lakers
After the got done, Rob Pelinka spoke about what Luka Doncic will bring to the Lakers organization.
“Luka is a one-of-a-kind, young global superstar who will lead this franchise for years to come,” Pelinka said. “His killer instincts and commitment to winning championships will be a driving force for the team. We will be relentless in building a roster around the on-court vision Coach Redick has for this basketball team and there is an unwavering commitment to that work to serve our loyal and dedicated fans. We are grateful for today and look forward to what’s next.”
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