President Trump jumped into the controversy over the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade Luka Dončić during the GOP midterm convention in Texas on Wednesday.
During his two-hour barnburner speech, the president revisited one of the Mavericks’ worst moves, blasting the team for trading Dončić to the L.A. Lakers in 2025.
The trade of Dončić, who played in the very arena in which the GOP convention was being held, perplexed the president.
“I must tell you, I don’t understand the trade. That trade is not good,” Trump said from the stage during his tour de force address.
“Maybe we could redo that trade,” Trump quipped. “I redo deals all the time. … I understand deals. But that one, I didn’t quite get.”
The decision was hard to understand, even then. Dončić had only just helped lead the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals when he was traded, the New York Post pointed out.
The deal was also controversial because Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made it with the Lakers’ Rob Pelinka so quietly that no other NBA team even knew the Mavs were offering the player for a trade.
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