How A 20-Year Relationship Ended Up Sending Luka Doncic To The Lakers
This newsletter explains how two of Kobe Bryant's closest allies quietly put together the biggest trade in NBA history.
I don’t typically send newsletters over the weekend, but we can make an exception today. That’s because the Dallas Mavericks set off a bomb last night when they sent Luka Doncic, a 5-time All-NBA player and the league’s reigning scoring champion, to the Lakers in exchange for ten-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer Anthony Davis.
This is a big trade with huge ramifications. For starters, the move will cost Luka Doncic over $100 million. That’s because he’s moving from one of the country’s lowest-tax states (Texas) to its highest (California), and Doncic will no longer be eligible for a super max extension. That extension would have awarded Doncic the largest contract in NBA history at $346 million over five years, but now he’ll only be eligible for a five-year, $229 million deal in Los Angeles, a $117 million difference due to the trade.
Doncic will make some of that up in endorsements and probably still finish his career with nearly $1 billion in earnings. That’s why the logistics of how this trade came together is more interesting. We are talking about relationships that span more than two decades, a month-long negotiation, and enough trust to keep things quiet. This story involves billionaires, an agent, Nike, and two franchises looking for a change.