Luka Doncic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers shook the entire NBA, with the longtime Dallas Mavericks hero arriving in LA back in February this year. The Lakers acquired Dončić (plus Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris), while Dallas received Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
Now, it turns out that an unlikely Jewish holiday in the form of Shabbat played a major role in holding up the trade. Per noted NBA journalist Yaron Weitzman‘s book A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers, Mavs GM Nico Harrison had only told Lakers GM Rob Pelinka about Doncic’s availability, via Forward.
Pelinka in turn only informed Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to avoid leaks that could potentially collapse the talks. However, the Lakers first needed to do a separate trade with the Utah Jazz in order to make space for the Slovenian international.
The Jazz took back Jalen Hood-Schifino and two future second-rounders as part of the three-team framework which also involved the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers received Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills in exchange of PJ Tucker, Mo Bamba and other assets, which in turn allowed the Jazz to complete the trade with the Lakers.
However, a final administrative snag paused the multi-team chain until after Saturday night: Patty Mills’ agent, Steven Heumann, was observing Shabbat and had to attest to contract terms before a related deal could be completed.
The franchises involved therefore waited until after sundown Saturday to finish the adjacent deal with both Pelinka and Harrison agreeing to maintain silence on the negotiations until then. One of the most stunning trades ever made in the NBA, Doncic’s arrival was eventually confirmed on Sunday, February 2, after being in the works for almost a week.
While all the franchises understandably moved quickly to get the deals done, the stakes were especially high for Pelinka and company, considering the number of teams that could have tried to hijack the trade had they known about Doncic’s availability.
