President Donald Trump on Wednesday weighed in on the Dallas Mavericks’ infamous Luka Dončić trade, which happened over a year and a half ago.Trump, who spoke at the American Airlines Center in Dallas as part of the Republican midterm convention, said the Mavericks’ decision to send the perennial MVP candidate to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and one first-round pick in February 2025 “might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports.”“This is a big Dallas Mavericks team, which is going to be hopefully good,” Trump said. “I must tell you, I don’t understand the trade. … I would say that’s not going to go down as the greatest trade in the history of sports. It might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports.”Have Lakers built Luka a contending roster?Dan Woike and Jeshua KiddFormer Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who orchestrated the trade, was fired nine months after making the deal.
“Maybe we could redo that trade,” Trump said. “I redo deals all the time. … I understand deals. But that one, I didn’t quite get. Somebody from Dallas, I’m sure, can explain it to me.”While Trump professed Wednesday that he doesn’t pay close attention to the NBA — saying, “What do I know about basketball?” — he does have close relationships with multiple NBA owners, including Miriam Adelson, who purchased the Mavericks from Mark Cuban in December 2023.Adelson donated $250 million to help Trump defeat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. In an appearance on stage alongside Trump in December 2025, Adelson said that she would donate another $250 million if Trump considered running for an unconstitutional third term in 2028.“I met (former Harvard law professor) Alan Dershowitz,” Adelson said. “And he said the legal thing about four more years. And I say, ‘Alan, I agree with you.’ So we can do it. Think about it.’”New York Knicks owner James Dolan has also financially backed Trump’s political ventures. In June, Trump accepted Dolan’s invite to attend the New York Knicks’ game against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, making him the first sitting U.S. president to attend an NBA Finals game.After criticizing the Dončic trade, Trump then clarified that he didn’t consider it the worst trade in professional sports. In his mind, that distinction goes to the Babe Ruth trade in 1919, when the Boston Red Sox agreed to send the pitcher and slugger to the New York Yankees for $100,000.“At that time, that was like $10 million, I guess,” Trump said. “Because Boston needed money. Babe will always be the worst trade.”
