When Shams Charania broke news of the Dallas Mavericks agreeing to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package centered upon Anthony Davis, the widespread instant reaction was whether his X account had been hacked. Because the trade came from seemingly nowhere late on a Saturday night, both fans and league insiders were shocked. Charania was similarly in disbelief when sources leaked the information to him.
"I mean I thought my phone was hacked when I got the text messages with the details of the trade and when I got wind of the deal," said Charania on Get Up on Monday morning.
The trade was negotiated exclusively by Nico Harrison of the Mavericks and Rob Pelinka of the Lakers. The talks eventually reached the ownership level with Patrick Dumont and Jeanie Buss being looped in to give their approvals.
The trade came shortly after the Lakers defeated the New York Knicks without Davis.