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The Secret Culprit in the Luka-A.D. Trade

You’re not going to believe it…

Luka Doncic
As the R.S.N. business continues to crater, the local media environments in both markets certainly played a part in this deal. Luka, after all, was on pace to demand a five-year $345 million deal this summer. Photo: Joshua Gateley/Getty Images
John Ourand
February 4, 2025

Early Sunday morning, shortly after the Lakers defeated the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, ESPN’s Shams Charania broke a stunning piece of news: The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks were swapping their all-league players, Anthony Davis and Luka Dončić, with the Jazz participating in the deal to make the economics work. Quickly, the normally overreactive NBA hype machine went into full-blown overdrive, wondering aloud on social media who knew what, and when.