NBA Rumors: Insider says Luka Dončić -Trade ‘came from above and beyond’ Mavs GM | News, scores, highlights, statistics and rumors

Dallas Mavericks’ inexplicable decision to trade Luka Dončić to Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 election may have been an ownership call.

Colin Cowherd said Tuesday under his podcast that a person who has known Mavs’ General Manager Nico Harrison for over 20 years said the decision to act Dončić “came from above and beyond general manager,” (2:00 Mark) .

So why did Mavericks exactly want to get out of the Dončić business? Why do a five-time first-team all-NBA election that just led you to the NBA final during his first year?

Monday, Espn’s Ramona Shelburne and Tim Macmahon reported that “Mavericks’ frustrations with Dončić’s habits on and off the field were well known in league circles. Head coach Jason Kidd often expressed concern about public and direct with Dončić about his conditioning, weight fluctuations and constant Krangel with officials. Dončić had mostly taken the criticism Without complaint, but it never resulted in a significant change in his habits.

The most feasible explanation of trading in him is that Mavericks was concerned that Dončić may not be aging well considering his conditioning habits and would not saddle himself with the five-year-old, $ 345 million supermax extension he would have been entitled to to sign this summer.

As Shelburne and Macmahon reported, team Governor Patrick Dumont Trade as “a business decision that would preserve Mavericks’ financial flexibility in the long term, said team sources, and he trusted Harrison’s vision of how Davis would be a cultural-set and give team a team New defense -minded identity.

They added that “Team sources say they were just as scared that Dončić signed (Supermax) deal that they were not of him.”

Still, Harrison could have advocate for opening the trade negotiations behind just the secret conversations with Lakers. He could have created a bidding war for Dončić rather than settling down with a lonely first round pick and a 32-year-old star who will shorten the team’s window to compete for titles. And he could have kept Dončić in the loop rather than blinding him with the trade, a decision that could come back to bite mavericks in the future when other superstars have to decide whether to adapt with Harrison and the team’s ownership. Agents have long memories.

In the short term, perhaps the duo of Kyrie Irving and Davis will do well together, and maybe Mavericks has more features in mind. Currently, the decision to trade Dončić – as the decision it was ultimately – was handled in a questionable way.