The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off one of the most consequential trades in NBA history when they acquired Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks. President Donald Trump now wants to renegotiate it — for Dallas.
Speaking Wednesday night at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention, Trump interrupted his remarks to criticize the Mavericks’ decision to trade Dončić to Los Angeles in February 2025.
The setting added another layer to his comments. Trump was speaking inside American Airlines Center, where Dončić spent his first 6½ NBA seasons and carried Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals.
“I must tell you, I don’t understand the trade,” Trump said. “That trade is not good.”
Trump then suggested the deal could be remembered as something larger than a basketball mistake.
“It’s not going to go down as the greatest trade in the history of sports,” he said. “It might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports.”
After acknowledging that the Boston Red Sox’s sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees probably remains the most infamous transaction in American sports, Trump jokingly offered to help the Mavericks recover their former superstar.
“Maybe we can redo that trade?” Trump said. “I redo deals all the time.”
Trump’s proposal drew cheers in Dallas. Lakers fans can rest easy: Completed NBA trades cannot simply be renegotiated 19 months later.
Lakers Landed Their Next Franchise Star
Los Angeles acquired Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris in the three-team trade. The Lakers sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and their 2029 first-round pick to Dallas, while the Utah Jazz helped facilitate the transaction.
The deal stunned the NBA because Dončić had not requested a trade and was only 25. Dallas also negotiated exclusively with the Lakers instead of opening talks across the league and creating a bidding war for a perennial MVP candidate.
Then-Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison believed Davis would give Dallas the defensive foundation needed to contend for a championship. He repeatedly defended the decision, arguing that “defense wins championships.”
The vision never materialized. Dallas fired Harrison nine months after the deal amid poor results and persistent outrage from Mavericks fans.
Davis is no longer with the Mavericks, either. Dallas traded him to the Washington Wizards in February 2026 as part of an eight-player deal, leaving Christie and the 2029 pick as the primary remaining pieces from the original return.
Luka Dončić Trade Looks Better for Los Angeles
Dončić has given Los Angeles exactly what it envisioned: a superstar capable of leading the organization beyond the LeBron James era.
Through his first 92 games with the Lakers, Dončić averaged 31.9 points, 8.1 assists and 7.8 rebounds. He has become the face of the franchise while Dallas has been forced into another organizational reset.
The Mavericks finished last season 26-56 and have since hired Masai Ujiri as team president and Dusty May as coach. Their future now revolves around Cooper Flagg, whose emergence has provided hope after Dallas won the 2025 draft lottery despite having only a 1.8% chance.
Flagg could become a star without changing the verdict on the Dončić trade. Dallas did not acquire the No. 1 pick from Los Angeles; it received that stroke of lottery fortune after the fact.
Trump’s comments reopened an old wound for the Mavericks. For the Lakers, they served as another reminder of just how thoroughly the franchise secured its next era at a historically discounted price.
Donald Trump Makes Surprising Luka Dončić Proposal to Lakers