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The Dallas Mavericks do not appear to have thoroughly shopped Luka Dončić before trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis on Saturday night.
Multiple NBA teams said the night of the trade they had “no idea Luka was available,” according to The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo.
Russillo @ryenarussillo
Just taped emergency pod with @BillSimmons and @RobMahoney
Heard from multiple teams tonight that said they had no idea Luka was available. You want to trade Luka, ok, but you start a bidding war. There was no reason to accept this deal so early.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the trade took place after Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, backed by team owner Patrick Dumont, decided “to pursue Davis and pretty much no one else.”
Stein reported that the Mavs “did not make Dončić available to interested teams for the richest possible haul of draft picks.”
According to Stein, the Mavericks believe Davis is “a top-10 player in the league.” The chance to acquire him alongside Max Christie and a 2019 first-rounder was apparently enough to keep Dallas from publicly putting Dončić on the trade block.
This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.
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