Is there any connection between President Donald Trump and the shocking Luka Doncic trade? Probably not, but that hasn’t stopped some people from trying to find a link.
Since news of the Dallas Mavericks trading Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team deal involving Anthony Davis going from LA to Dallas broke after midnight Sunday, people have been trying to figure out the team’s motivations. The Mavericks have cited Doncic’s conditioning issues and a seeming lack of desire to offer him the supermax contract extension when he would have been up for it in 2026. Those aren’t worthy enough explanations for many fans and media members.
How does Trump get brought into this? Well, first of all, new Mavericks controlling owner Miriam Adelson is an ardent supporter of the president, having reportedly donated $100 million to his campaign in 2024.
Over the weekend, Trump signed an executive order implementing tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, set to go into effect this week. The move, which consists of a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China, has drawn criticism from economists, politicians and opponents of the Republican Commander-in-Chief.
Getting back to Doncic: There are some people on social media floating the idea that Adelson commissioned the unpopular Doncic trade to get some of the heat off of Trump for his tariffs.
“Okay, my off the wall Luka trade theory: Miriam “maga” Adelson decided at some point recently that she was sick of Mark Cuban and his anti-Trump views. She wanted to exact some revenge and destroy the one thing he truly loved, the Mavs. Tinfoil hat theory? Of course. But…” one person said.
“This Luka trade is a masterful distraction by the Trump administration,” a second person added.
“my cousin been tryna convince me for 12 hours that trump’s dei policy n the luka trade are related,” a third person said.
“Tin foil hat guy should be saying that because Trump started a trade war with Canada and Mexico, he asked his friend & Mavs owner Miriam Adelson to distract from his failures and make a big trade. But tin foil hat guy would never admit that Trump is failing,” a fourth person chimed in.
“Trump paid Mark Cuban to trade Luka and get our attention off the tariffs. That’s the only reasonable explanation. I don’t care that Cuban hates Trump,” a fifth person said, apparently ignoring or unaware of the fact that Cuban is no longer the Mavs’ principal owner.
As far as internet-based conspiracy theories go, this one is pretty harmless, but it’s still far out there.
More than likely, the Mavericks have somehow convinced themselves this is the best long-term move for the franchise. It seems incredibly foolish, but hey, we see professional sports teams do dumb things all the time.
It doesn’t take the leader of the free world interfering for that to happen.
Related: LeBron Makes Decision On Future With Lakers After Luka Doncic Trade