How the Jewish holiday held Luka Doncic’s trade
Luka Dončić‘s the trade to the Los Angeles Lakers shook the entire NBAwith long-standing Dallas Mavericks hero who arrived in LA in February of this year. The Lakers acquired Doncic (plus Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris), while Dallas received Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick.
Now it turns out that an unlikely Jewish holiday in the form of Shabbat played a major role in holding back the trade. Per noted NBA journalist Jaron Weitzman in the book Hollywood End: The Dreams and Drama of LeBron Lakers, Mavs GM Nico Harrison just said Lakers GM Rob Pelinka on Doncic’s availability, via Forward.
Pelinka, in turn, only informed Lakers owner Jeannie Buss to avoid a leak that could potentially derail the negotiations. However, the Lakers first had to make a separate trade with Utah Jazz in order to make room for the Slovenian international.
The Jazz brought back Jalen Hood-Schiffin and two future second-rounders as part of a three-team deal that also included the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers received Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills in exchange for PJ Tucker, Mo Bamba and other assets, which in turn allowed the Jazz to complete the trade with the Lakers.
However, a final administrative hurdle halted the multi-team chain until after Saturday night: Patty Mills’ agent, Steven Heuman, was observing Shabbat and had to confirm the terms of the contract before the related business could be completed.
The franchises involved therefore waited until after sunset Saturday to complete the adjacent deal, with both Pelinka and Harrison agreeing to remain silent on the negotiations until then. Doncic’s arrival was finally confirmed on Sunday, February 2, after almost a week of work.
While all the franchises understandably moved quickly to make a deal, the stakes were especially high for Pelinka and company, given the number of teams that could try to robbed the store if they knew about Dončić’s availability.
2025-10-21 14:22:00
