When word broke two weekends ago that the Mavericks were trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers, one theory quickly emerged — perhaps Dallas had learned Doncic would hesitate to sign the five-year super-max extension (worth a projected $345MM) that he would’ve been eligible to receive during the 2025 offseason.
Asked about that theory during his introductory press conference as a Laker, Doncic said he had “absolutely not” given the Mavericks any reason to believe he wouldn’t accept such an offer. Agent Bill Duffy echoed that message and said he’d expected to discuss a potential super-max deal with the team this summer.
Based on all that’s been reported in the past two weeks, it seems as if any hesitation over the super-max was on the Mavericks’ side, not Doncic’s. Christian Clark, Mike Vorkunov, and Fred Katz of The Athletic confirm as much within an in-depth feature on Dallas general manager Nico Harrison, reporting that Harrison and the Mavs were “never going to offer” Doncic that record-setting super-max contract.
We’ve seen potential super-max eligibility factor into teams’ decision to trade players in the past, but that typically occurred in instances where a club was concerned about having to pay big money to retain a second- or third-tier star — the Kings traded away DeMarcus Cousins in 2017 after consecutive All-NBA Second Team seasons, for example, rather than hanging onto him and having to make a decision on a super-max extension offer during the following offseason.
Doncic, on the other hand, has five consecutive All-NBA First Team nods under his belt and finished third in the MVP voting last season. Super-max contracts – which allow a player to earn a salary worth 35% of the cap before he has reached the required threshold of 10 years of NBA experience – were designed to reward superstars like Doncic and to put their teams in a better position to hang onto them.
But, as has been reported ad nauseam since word of the blockbuster trade broke, the Mavericks were concerned about making that sort of financial commitment to Doncic due to concerns about his injury history and work ethic. According to Clark, Vorkunov, and Katz, Harrison was worried about the possibility that Doncic’s body would “break down possibly sooner than anyone would suspect.”
If the Mavs had retained Doncic and declined to make him a super-max offer in the offseason, would he have been willing to accept something below the 35% max or would he have balked and looked to join a team that valued him higher? We don’t know for sure, but that uncertainty explains why Harrison said shortly after making the deal that he believes he and the Mavs avoided a “tumultuous” summer by trading Doncic when they did.
“There’s some unique things about his contract that we had to pay attention to,” Harrison said at the time. “There’s other teams that were loading up that he was going to be able to decide, make his own decision at some point of whether he wants to be here or not. Whether we want to super-max him or not, or whether he wants to opt out. So, I think we had to take all that into consideration, and I feel like we got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”
Harrison hasn’t spoken to the media since Doncic’s introductory presser as a Laker, so reporters haven’t had an opportunity to ask him about Luka’s comments on a potential super-max deal.
Doncic is no longer eligible for a super-max contract this summer with the Lakers as a result of being traded.
The one rule in basketball is you pay your superstars. Nico Harrison has no business being a GM
You pay the ones you believe in. And have earned it. Fans cry all the time of being overpaid. And the crazy teams that pay them money. I wouldn’t pay hero ball. But I would of gotten another pick.
Okay dude. You be the contrarian for the sake of it. It is was and always will be a universally panned move and Dallas will most likely be Nico’s last stop for a LONG time once this inevitably falls to pieces. Another pick? Laughable. This was straight up Anthony Davis for Doncic until or even if the picks hit. That’s pushing 5-10 more years of people talking about this being the worst trade ever. You can’t run down reality. Nico looks like a complete goober.
If they didn’t believe in Luka, they were right to trade him rather than just do what was expected of them. It’s a huge commitment. You can’t go into it with doubts.
What Nico did wrong was in having a private sale to the Lakers rather than simply owning the decision publicly and letting the other 29 teams make offers. Nico screwed Mavs fans by not getting full value for Luka. For that reason he should be fired.
You consider yourself a basketball fan. Yeah ok.
If you think this was about trading one of best 4s ever. At the top of his game. For the next star of the L, maybe for next 10 yrs. Then not only don’t you understand this game. But you have no respect for it. You a Luka fanboy. Then that’s what you are, Own it.
Two #1 picks and Christie a future 2way starter. Is how real teams are built. You can cry all you want about AD being hurt. And thats a valid point. One way Hero ball isn’t worth 350 mill. So again, I would of asked for another pick. You can keep LokoLuka ……
“And have earned it.”
lmao at thinking Luka hasn’t “earned it”. Five straight All-NBA First Teams, tons of MVP votes, took his team to the Finals less than a year ago. “hero ball”, ridiculous. The Mavs might be the only team in the league that wouldn’t have paid Luka a max contract if given the chance.
Agreed. Luka has earned it. They may see him as overweight or not fit enough, but the guy has proven he can ball, and he took a team that has no business to go that far all the way to the WCF. His accolades speak for itself.
But if the Mavs didn’t like him as a person. They don’t trust him. They don’t think he will take care of their investment in him. He is childishly irresponsible with his gifts. I get it.
They should have held an auction. That was Nico’s fireable offense – getting much less than market value.
Says the guy who thinks he Knows the Knicks. You may think all teams would pay him. But if one of top franchises doesn’t want to pay him. All you can do is hate on them for it. Thats real impressive. But why would I expect different from a guy that doesn’t understand the value of OG. Still haven’t learned what defense means in basketball. Hero Ball is what wagoneers consider stars. Anyone who can praise a player for things he can do. And not understand or worse overlook things he can’t do. Doesn’t get what winning takes in the NBA. Its a 12 man roster. And its 5 on 5 both ways. LokoLuka spends more time arguing and complaining to refs. Than actually TRYING to play D. Hes certainly not worth 350 mill to me. Lakers only have to give him 250 mill. No one is worth 1/4 of the cap to me. You think Quickly is worth more than OG and Precious. So I understand.
Most of the NBA plays Hero ball..
Not Herro
Spoken like a true fan. Please explain to me what a team does. When the other team has the ball. And why would you even watch this.
Luka has earned the right to get a max contract. That much is very clear.
Hero ball, well 2 of the all-time, fairly recent greats are hero ball ……. MJ and Kobe – so, you wouldn’t agree to paying max for MJ or Kobe?
Now, if these huge contracts don’t correlate to the quality of the product, the quality of games, etc, this is a different thing, different discussion altogether.
Obviously he has not with Cavs. Don’t take this personal ok. Most here complain about money and players all the time. About the game not being good anymore.. Yet have no issues giving a one way star the most money ever. Theres a word for that ……….
You are right about that. Difference is. MJ was a furst team defense. So was Kobe. And both learned winning was More important than hero ball. MJ learned it sooner. Comparing LokoLuka to those two is disrespectful……..
Just you and me here, eh Al? I agree, Nico knows Luka and knows he was never gonna win in Dallas. Maybe LeBron gets through to him and he starts to take better care of his body, but if not, I think history will be kind to Nico.
Just ridiculous as a fan. Not looking at both sides. Its always about blame and hate here. Mavs know him better than us. I know he complains more than he plays D. I never give him most money in the NBA. At 26 maybe he does change.
It’s not his fault. It’s Cuban’s fault to selling majority interest in the team. The new owners told the GM to make the trade. That or get fired. What would you do? Either him or someone else, but it was going to happen.
Man he cooked that s*** up with Palinka the owner just signed off, maybe for bad reasons. Nico did that s*** aint no owner pulling his puppet strings.
Orrrrr maybe you aren’t a Mavs team doctor. There is no reason to believe they wouldn’t pay him unless there were serious issues. You want the Mavs to be the 76ers, locked into the worst superstar street clothes benchwarmer in the league, Embiid?
Whether or not the Mavs were right to trade him is up for debate, but the concerns they had are legit. Anyone who watched Luka’s first game for the Lakers could see it – he was the worst defender on the court, and easily fell into his old habit of quitting on live plays just to jaw at the refs. LeBron can get away with that in LA – he bought the city a ring already, but Luka doesn’t have that social credit.
He’ll still put up amazing box score numbers, but basketball is a two-way game, and the fans in LA are ruthless. They’ll quickly tire of a guy who can’t defend because he’s 40 pounds overweight.
He’s averaging 2 steals per game and over 8 rebounds. Jokic has the same type of physique and nobody is saying the Nuggets should trade him. Luka got traded because the Mavs new ownership are beyond toxic. Period.
Luka and jokic do not have the same physique they are totally different players. If Jokic played the way Luka did yes fans would complain too. Period.
Or option C: trade him and get a much better return. No amount of spin should allow them to save face here.
To be fair, fans can spin things however they want – it has no bearing on what really matters, and that’s whether the Mavs win or lose going forward.
Leading the league in “saving face” won’t do much.
I agree pay him. But mannn 340 mil for 5 years is WILD.
That’s a testament to how awesome he’s been already. Lots of ways to wriggle around the hard cap if you’re loading up a competitive team. Golden State did it for years with 3-4 max players and huge tax numbers. Money should never stop a team from chasing a championship.
Not everyone thinks like you. The new owners want to make money. Many owners do, that’s why they don’t win titles. It’s a business to the new owners. Business owners want to be profitable.
But that’s what crazy. There’s been plenty of studies that have found that owning a sports team isn’t profitable… UNLESS you become winners, in which case your franchise can become highly profitable. Teams like the Lakers have become profitable BECAUSE they have had a long history of winning. That’s all it takes. And that Doncic for Davis trade was not gonna help your franchise win, in the short term or long term. It’s short-sighted and terrible asset management.
But it stops all but a few
GSW didnt actually do it for that much of the peak dynasty. Remember they had cap room for KD, mostly because Steph had bad ankles and got a sub par contract they had him on along with Dray/Klay being still on their early career “fun max” extensions. 17-18 Steph 34, KD 25, Klay 17, Dray 16, and Iggy 14.
So the GM once again demonstrated he is an idiot and should be fired.
Maybe nico is a genius. Maybe he told luka “yo we injured right now, we love you. Let’s keep this hush hush and we will let you go play with lebron before he retires. And then come back to dallas and you will have AD here.”
Man I wish. Giving Nico too much credit though.
For Luka to even consider it, Dirk & Dragic & Modano & Mahomes would have to buy the franchise from the Adelsons and hire his dad Sasa or reinstate Donnie Nelson as GM for the wounds to heal enough.
nice spin…dallas is trying their best to cover up their true intent of wanting gambling.
they rather pay Max to Nicos homies instead in Kyrie and AD.
This is why any fan who actually wants to hold ownership accountable and voice their displeasure for the Mavs trading Luka is to contact their state congressman and senator and tell them to vote no on gambling. Unlike other states in Texas it requires a constitutional amendment which means the vote threshold to make gambling legal is much higher.
lets see if they pay Kyrie the Max this summer or if they will ask for a discount…this will tell all.
They aren’t paying Kyrie the max. You should already know that. With his history? Come on dude. Maybe 3 years $120M.
They have no choice if he walks they have no replacement for a primary creator. No Kyrie and this is a lottery team. He will get max money max years and maybe a player option on the final.
He’s not worth the money to me. He’s a 1way player. Who is all about hero ball on offense. You can’t build around that. Plus the rumors about his weight, his drinking. He’s 26 and still doesn’t have an NBA body. Lakers wanted him cause. Once he got traded. That 350 mill max. Went down to 250 mill max for Lakers. As of right now Christie is having a better run on Mavs. I 100% believe you sign the wrong star. And you are done for yrs after he leaves. Look at Harden, Kyrie, KD, Jimmy, Beal, Zach, Kawhi, PG13. Look at all nax guys. And half if not more are bad investments for your team.
IMO no one is worth 1/4 or 1/3 of your teams cap. They can make it up on endorsements by playing like a star. This way you can field a better team. Luka is a pudgywudgy. Still has his baby fat. Cause all he wants to be is Phat ……
If not Luka, then who?
Shai? Giannis? Jokic? Curry?
Franchise guys don’t grow on trees. Not sure beggars can be choosers…
No one is worth 1/3 of cap….
Or 1/4 of cap. I think I said it already. Pay two other players or 3-7 more. And have a real team. Real stars can make it up outside of NBA.
MJ was not even top 5 in salary for yrs. On his team. Thats how you field a real team. Brunson has done it too. Why would you pay a OneWay player. The most money in NBA in a 2way sport.
MJ had the record for the highest contract for 20 years
Search engine …..
@Knicker ……. IMO many, including myself, will agree that a single contract shouldn’t take up a 1/3 of an entire team’s cap.
It’s like making the noose that eventually will kill you, it constricts (no pun intended) how you fill-up the rest of the roster.
But it’s the CBA bro – no matter how fans think it was badly made and constructed, in the end it was decided and agreed upon by the majority of the owners and the players assocs.
Yes but teams have to navigate it now. As we can see. Many want Luka. Then they complain about players being overpaid. I rather build around committed players. That get playing and winning is about team ball. Bad contracts is why NBA is headed to no guaranteed contracts like NFL. Not against players making money. But there are 12 man rosters. And all top teams use 7-8 players as their best. Money should reflect that. Stars akways have the opportunity to make more. Look at Shaq, Barkley, Grant Hill.
^ Commitment is subjective, averaging 27/8/7.5 last season is not.
I don’t doubt those cons against Luke, they’re real. The eye test suggests that he’s not as conditioned as possible, but he was putting up historic numbers …… the same eye test, suggests he’s a clutch player as well. Luka’s in his prime to boot.
I agree these various max contracts are too big, too constrictive, counter-productive to having the best product possible on the floor, but it’s the CBA that the league majority agreed too.
I agree that these contracts aren’t, won’t be sustainable in the long run …… some correction is inevitable, something like the amnesty provision in the early 2000’s.
MJ is irrelevant in the discussion because he played in a different era with different contract rules. If he played today, he’d be a max player.
There has never been a championship team without a Hall of Famer in their prime. That is the commonality.
“Plus the rumors about his weight, his drinking. He’s 26 and still doesn’t have an NBA body.”
He’s literally a top five player in the league and has been for half a decade and you’re prattling on about rumors and “body”. What a silly opinion.
He literally complains and cries more than he plays D. You can keep him.
Like I said. I would have asked for another pick. Unlike you. I know what I can do with that ——-
AD. Christie, two #1 picks ……
Yes cry about AD not playing neither is Luka.
LokoLuka one way wonder …..
“Look at Harden, Kyrie, KD, Jimmy, Beal, Zach, Kawhi, PG13”
All the guys you listed have had serious injuries and have cause major problems for the teams they played for
Well stars won’t go there.
Stars go where they can win. Only thing that matters
Nico needs to stop talking. This is yet another statement that makes him look even more inept than he did previously.
Whatever the FO’s position was on an extension it needed to be communicated to Doncic and his agent before deciding on the next course of action. That’s true, whether that position was a continuation of Cuban’s tongue out, butt kissing position or Nico’s supposed tough guy “never” position. Luka’s response would make the team’s options clear, and they could implement the one they prefer with a clear and open purpose. And NO, it would absolutely not hurt the team’s trade leverage, because the 29 other teams would provide enough market participants for a liquid market without them. The only thing a team trading a superstar can do to hurt their trade leverage is limit the number of market participants, or create or allow the circulation of bizzare narratives that might have market participants believing there might be something that’s not being disclosed. Nico did both in the extreme.
I agree he does need to stop talking. And start showing results. AD not playing suxx. But only Mavs have a shot at a ring next 4yrs.
Either Nico is retconning to save face or was stupid beyond belief.
Every time I see some new spin come out from the Dallas FO I can’t help but think, “The lady doth protest too much”.
So let me get this right. The Owner told Nico not to extend Luka and trade him. Nico trades him for a equally injured center who averages the same ppg, who can do more for your team like:
Play the 4
Play the 5
Block shots
Steals
And you guys are tearing up Dallas over this? You guys act like you got a scrub. If teams thought they could get A.D straight up one for one they would have been burning up the phone lines.
But you’re trading a 25 year old for a 32 year old
AD is done. Trading a franchise GOAT for a injury prone older player is the dumbest trade since OKC got the biggest heist in moving PG.
You think BK Luka will be the best laker to ever play for them. Hahahahahaha
You never watched Dirk, did you?
I did and he will always be the Mavericks GOAT now, but Luka was better than Dirk was as a Maverick. The Dirk title was a lockout season too. I don’t think Luka will be the greatest Laker or even be top 5 historically on that team, but that team has the greatest list of legends to wear that uniform.
Dirk title season was not a lock out season.
Guaranteed if the Mavs don’t win the chip this year, that GM is GONE!!
DAL looking pretty bad here, right?
I mean, BOS had no qualms in giving the supermax to lesser players like JB & JT… giving the supermax to Luka is a no-brainer!!!
DAL is on the way down!
Both the GM and the owner must be fired asap!
Burger King Luka is going to make a lot of people wrong about this trade. Poor defense, poor attitude, tubs…. he’s not worth a super max.
Cheapskate owners
I get LokoLuka lokofans …….
Not taking his issues seriously. Only means you don’t take NBA seriously. No one is above the GAME to me.
link to google.com