“It must have been painful for them to do it” – Wyc Grousbeck says Patrick Dumont should’ve called everybody before trading Doncic to get max value originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Like everybody else, former Boston Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck was shocked when he first heard the news that the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. During his recent appearance on Jeff Teague’s “Club 520” podcast, Grousbeck said his first reaction was like most of us: “What the fu–?”
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Talking further on the deal, Grousbeck added that if he were in the shoes of Mavericks team governor Patrick Dumont, he would have shopped Luka first to the other teams before deciding on where to send him.
“I don’t want to really pick on anybody, but I’ll give you an honest answer,” said Grousbeck. “I think if we traded somebody of that level, which we’re not, but if we were, we would call everybody. And it would probably leak out, but you just got to take it. And then you get five picks back. Or six. I mean, Bane got four picks and a swap. And they got like one pick—or maybe two.”
The Mavs could’ve shopped Luka around the league before trading him
When the Mavericks traded Doncic, general manager Nico Harrison first said he did not talk to anybody except good buddy Rob Pelinka. Harrison defended their actions by saying they specifically wanted to get Anthony Davis because “defense wins championships.” But in doing so, the Mavs only got Max Christie and one future first-round pick as a kicker.
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However, many agree that had Dallas put Luka out on the open market, a bidding war would have ensued, and they could have gotten a lot more first-round picks than the Lakers gave them. As Grousbeck mentioned, the Memphis Grizzlies got four first-rounders and a pick swap for Desmond Bane this offseason. Imagine how much more Doncic could have pulled.
“So, I mean, it just feels like, you know. Now they’re ending up with Cooper Flagg, but it’s not, it’s not all connected really that way. I don’t know. I guess I feel like it must have been painful for them to do it,” he added. “So, they didn’t want to let everybody know about it, probably. And that’s kind of human nature, I guess,” he added.
Fortune favors the bold
Harrison’s decision to hand over Luka to L.A. without a fight made him public enemy no.1 in Dallas in an instant, with the Mavericks faithful asking for his head. Things turned from bad to worse when AD got injured in his Mavs debut, while Kyrie Irving tore his Achilles trying to carry the squad in Davis’ absence.
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The Mavs missed the playoffs after making the NBA Finals a year ago. However, their fortunes changed when Lady Luck smiled on them and they won the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery.
“I was extremely surprised,” Harrison told local media at the team’s practice facility after the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. “All my Draft prep up to that point was us being in the 11th position. But you know, things happen. Fortune favors the bold, so exciting things fell our way.”
Sure, the Mavericks were probably short-changed in the Luka trade, but even if they were, they landed Cooper Flagg in the 2025 NBA Draft. As Wyc said, those two are not related. However, given what they are after the Draft, the Mavs may be in a better position to win the title when complete than with Luka.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 5, 2025, where it first appeared.