Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory!? Well, sports fans who love conspiracy theories are in for a treat after the Dallas Mavericks shipped superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. 

There are other aspects to the trade, but the keys are the two players mentioned above. The biggest conspiracy floating around is political. As OutKick’s Mark Harris pointed out earlier Sunday, some think that U.S. President Donald Trump had a hand in the trade to distract from his recent decision to impose tariffs on Canada. 

While that’s probably an absurd conclusion to draw, there are other conspiracy theories – unrelated to politics – that appear to have more credence. 

The reason people are coming to the conclusion that there’s more at play here than simply two teams (three, technically, but the main players are the Mavericks and Lakers) making a trade. 

First, the trade came out of nowhere. There were no reports that Dončić wanted to be traded or that the Mavericks were looking to deal one of the best players in the NBA. That’s odd, considering leaking a potential Dončić trade would, theoretically, increase the return the Mavericks would receive. 

That’s something OutKick founder Clay Travis noted Sunday. 

Not only that, but both Dončić and LeBron James, the biggest star in the NBA, seemed to be completely shocked that the trade happened. James is known to be very involved in the Lakers’ decision-making – hence the team drafting and playing James’ son, Bronny, who is clearly overmatched in the NBA – so his lack of knowledge is shocking. 

How does a massive trade like this go down without either of the two biggest stars on their teams knowing about it? Seems strange. 

Fox News host Will Cain, a noted Mavericks fan, raised a few important questions that suggest something deeper might have been involved here – mostly, the NBA’s falling television ratings. 

However, Cain raised an additional theory: salary implications. 

Former NBA general manager, and current NBA analyst, Bobby Marks pointed out that the trade means Dončić is no longer eligible for a super-max contract, which would have come with a hefty $345 million price tag for the Mavericks. 

The super-max exists to encourage players to remain with their current team rather than jump ship via free agency to another team. However, it might discourage teams from retaining players because they have to pay a higher price. 

But the return for Doncic doesn’t make sense. He’s a likely Hall of Fame player who is in his prime, traded for an aging star and a first-round pick. 

Something seems off here. And when something seems off, something is usually off. Will we ever know what really led to this shocking trade? 

Stay tuned.