Mavericks' latest reasons for trading Luka Doncic to Lakers make no sense

The intel leaking out of the Mavericks' front office just doesn't get any better.

Feb 25, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles the ball past Dallas Mavericks guard Max Christie (00) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks continue to leak reasons as they try to justify trading Luka Doncic away at 25 years old for a minimal package to the Los Angeles Lakers over three weeks ago. And none of them make sense. Recently, we've seen that Jaylen Brown did such a good job of defending Doncic in the Finals that Dallas didn't feel comfortable keeping him, but he still averaged 29.2 PPG while dealing with injuries. We've also heard things about his conditioning, his weight, and not wanting to give him a supermax extension.

But reasons keep coming out. Marc Stein reported on Tuesday before the Lakers and Mavs met for the first time since the trade that Nico Harrison just didn't want the Mavericks to revolve around Doncic anymore.

"Whispers via league sources suggesting that Dallas' decision-makers, most notably general manager Nico Harrison, no longer wanted Planet Mavericks to orbit around Dončić and had grown determined to trade him by this summer at the latest."

READ MORE: Kyrie Irving's 3-word explicit reaction to playing against Luka Doncic in Lakers-Mavs

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles the ball past Dallas Mavericks forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (8) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

It doesn't clarify if the Mavericks (Harrison) didn't want the team's gameplan revolving around Doncic or if they didn't want the marketing revolving around him. There have been criticisms about Doncic's heliocentric style of play, forcing every player on the roster to conform to his style, but the Mavericks finally had a team that was a perfect fit alongside Doncic. And Kyrie Irving has now played at least 39 minutes of six of the eight games since the trade, and has taken an average of 21.3 field goal attempts.

But that's not even the only reason given recently. Sam Amick of The Athletic released an article following the Lakers' 107-99 win over Dallas that said Doncic's affinity for "beer and hookah" has been a concern among "NBA types" since he entered the draft in 2018 as if every Eastern European doesn't have a taste for those.

And Donic still averaged 34/10/9 last season even with all of these "concerns," has been All-NBA First-Team five times in his first six seasons, and led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season. The more reason that Dallas puts out about the trade, the more embarrassing of a look it is for them.

READ MORE: Luka Doncic makes emotional admission after Mavericks-Lakers

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