🇸🇮 Attempting to Make Sense of the Unthinkable

Luka to the Los Angeles Lakers shocks the world.

Welcome back to the Boardroom, fam. It’s so nice to hit all of your inboxes on probably the most depressing Sunday I have personally experienced in some time. Sure, 2025 has been a wild ride for all of us to date. But this might take the cake in terms of what sports means to fans. Specifically Dallas Mavericks fans. Yes, that might sound a tad bit dramatic but let us explain…

Why do we love sports? It’s an escape away from our realities. It’s a chance for the general public to marvel at how the cream of the crop can handle fame and conquer adversity, injuries, scrutiny, etc. en route to accomplish the ultimate goal…winning championships for themselves, their team, the organization, and of course the city they play in.

But what also makes sports so interesting is the journey towards that ultimate goal. You feel a connection with the athletes you cheer for because following their journey is so entertaining, hard, and hopefully satisfying.

It’s why we, as Mavs fans, are feeling this distinct pit in our stomachs. That feeling of helplessness. The feeling of sadness, anger, and confusion that their 25-year old superstar, Luka Doncic, was traded to one of the NBA’s most storied organizations…the Los Angeles Lakers. So enough about my feelings. Because to be honest, I’m still processing this emotionally (yes, I get it — drama queen alert!). But since this is a sports business newsletter, let’s examine why it’s so crazy to do this for a multi-billion dollar business.

What was the Mavericks brass thinking?

• Let’s back up even more. Last year, we wrote about how the Mavs’ longtime owner, Mark Cuban, agreed to sell the majority of his basketball baby to the owners of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire (headed by billionaire, Miriam Adelson) for a reported estimate of $3.5 billion.

• A couple years prior to that sale, Cuban shook up the franchise even more by hiring Hall of Famer and former 2011 Mavericks champion, Jason Kidd, as Head Coach and former Nike executive (and close friend to Kobe Bryant), Nico Harrison as General Manager.

  • Seeming like smart moves at the time, the point was to bring in coaches and front office members how had relationships throughout the NBA and have won at the highest level.

• But to answer the above question…we have no idea. We’ve heard rumors that Luka’s conditioning was the issue, that defense wins championships, and the Mavericks were nervous about the upcoming super max extension (more below).

• What’s even crazier is the fact that apparently this deal was in the works for a number of weeks, with Nico Harrison really only contacting the Lakers and their General Manager, Rob Pelinka (who happened to be Kobe Bryant’s former agent).

  • So why would a General Manager only contact 1 team throughout those weeks? No idea. There are plenty of current and upcoming stars in the NBA. You don’t just go to one car dealership to buy a car. There’s a term in business and life called…negotiating.

  • The only thing that makes sense is that they were eyeing 1 player.

How could a multi-billion dollar business afford to lose their star?

• It’s as good of a question as any. And to be frank, who knows if the Mavericks leadership and front office will be able to last the next couple of years. Especially once Luka starts to collect MVPs and championships.

• But one of the more interesting questions is why didn’t new ownership step in with Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont? This is a new, shiny toy for them. They’ve now been majority owners for just over a year.

  • It’s fun for billionaire owners to flaunt to their billionaire friends that they own a sports franchise. But they also go into this knowing this is an investment.

• Luka is currently the 6th top selling jersey throughout the NBA, and has been in the top 10 for the last 6 years! That right there already tells you how popular he is around the world. Which means you’re devaluing your investment if you’re shipping off a top performer and global icon.

• What increases value in your investment? That’s right Susie, WINNING does! So clearly, the thought was this was a better win-now move than sticking with their superstar who led them to the Finals just a year prior!

  • But what’s even more concerning is this trade led to the current roster’s age increasing. Which means, the timeline to win just got shorter.

  • As the timeline shortens, the heat only gets hotter for those seats that the Mavericks leadership sit on.

What were the ramifications of this trade?

• Ultimately, this trade will end up costing Luka Doncic over $100M. Why is that?

• Well…he’s moving from one of the country’s lowest-tax states (Texas) to its highest (California). But the biggest reason, Luka will no longer be eligible for a super max extension.

• That extension would have awarded Luka the largest contract in NBA history at 5-years, $346M. But because he was traded prior to being “extension eligible”, he can now only sign for a 5-year, $229M deal in LA, (that’s a $117M difference just because of the trade).

To be honest…this could all lead to Dallas winning a championship. Which is what you want your favorite team to do. But I can guarantee not many Mavericks fans will feel that same joy — even if the Larry O’Brien trophy is raised in American Airlines Center. Fans no longer have a lasting connection with the remaining players on the roster. They haven’t seen them go through the trials and tribulations together. The story arc of this franchise is in disarray and the only way we were able to cope with it in the past is the hope that a generational talent wanted to be apart of Dallas glory.

Unfortunately, that has all changed because a few leaders within the Mavericks “believed” this was the right thing to do. What’s even more puzzling is this move might have been a worse decision from a business perspective, more than an on-court basketball decision 😔.

So on behalf of the Unsportsmanlike Boardroom, we’ll miss you Luka. You deserved better than this.

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