It’s been three months since the Slovenian sensation Luka Dončić donned the purple and gold. But the Dallas Mavericks’ controversial trade of Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers still stirs strong emotions in the basketball world.
With the Mavs’ struggles since the deal, fans are left questioning the team’s future. Now, former Dallas mayor (2007-2011) Tom Leppert is the latest to voice his outrage, calling the trade not just a blunder, but a “betrayal” that will haunt the city for years.
Ex-Dallas Mayor Calls the Luka Dončić Trade a ‘Betrayal’
In his recent commentary for the Dallas News, Leppert did not hold back his criticism of the Mavs’ front office. Reflecting on the trade, he shared his deep frustration, a sentiment echoed by many fans in Dallas.
“But like so many Mavs fans, I’m still deeply frustrated personally by the trade of Luka Dončić,” he wrote. “And as a former mayor and a business leader in our city, I know it is going to keep hurting because it came at an enormous long-term cost to Dallas.”
Leppert highlighted how Luka’s presence gave Dallas a sense of identity, especially after the departure of Dirk Nowitzki. He called Luka a “generational talent,” one that teams are meant to protect and build around. The former mayor didn’t hold back, saying:
“There are trades that reshape teams. There are trades that reset franchises. And then there are trades so reckless that they fracture a city’s trust. The decision to trade Luka belongs in the last category.”
To further emphasize his point, Leppert explained that this wasn’t just a basketball decision gone wrong, but a failure in leadership.
“More than just a basketball blunder, this trade represents a staggering failure of leadership at every level,” he stated.
He continued, blasting the Mavs’ front office for placing more loyalty to their industry contacts than to the team’s future.
“Dallas fans deserve better than a front office more loyal to its industry contacts than its players,” he said, suggesting that the trade felt like an abandonment of the “unspoken moral contract” between a team and its community.
The former mayor called the trade a “betrayal” and argued that it should be difficult for the Mavs to rebuild the trust they lost with their fan base. “This wasn’t just a bad trade. It was a betrayal and a violation of that trust. It should be hard to earn back.”
Leppert Alleges Personal Agenda Behind Luka Trade
Leppert didn’t just criticize the decision to trade Dončić — he accused Mavericks GM Nico Harrison of making it personal. According to Leppert, this wasn’t a basketball decision at all.
He claimed that over the past 18 months, Harrison quietly worked to reduce Luka’s role in the team by removing people close to him.
“Over the past year and a half, Harrison appeared to lead a campaign to undermine Luka’s influence in the organization. Trusted allies and staff were pushed out. Player development coaches and European scouts who built relationships with Luka and his camp disappeared quietly. J.J. Barea, a respected voice in the locker room and someone Luka viewed as a friend and mentor, was effectively iced out of basketball operations.”
The former mayor didn’t stop there. He added that instead of doing what was best for the franchise, Harrison made decisions that served personal interests. The trade, in his view, wasn’t about what Luka was worth — it was about quietly moving him to a preferred team.
“To me, as a former leader in the public and private sectors, Harrison’s personal relationships were prioritized over the franchise’s best interests. Instead of securing the kind of historic haul a 25-year-old perennial MVP candidate commands, it wasn’t about value. It was about getting Luka out, quietly, and to a preferred destination that benefited a personal agenda more than Dallas.”
The Mavs have yet to recover from the trade, finishing 10th in the Western Conference with a 39-43 record, just outside the playoff picture. After the trade, Dallas’ record plummeted, going 13-20 with the departure of Luka. What made it worse was that, at the time of the trade, the Mavs were still hovering around a .500 record with Luka and Kyrie Irving in tow. Even with Irving’s struggles and injuries, the season was far from over.
Since the trade, Luka has thrived in Los Angeles, and the Lakers finished the season with 50 wins, good for third place in the West. The Mavs, on the other hand, had to deal with the injuries of Anthony Davis, who only played nine games after the trade, and a deteriorating team chemistry.
The Lakers’ success, combined with the Mavs’ sharp decline, only deepens the pain for Dallas fans. What was supposed to be a rebuild turned into a public relations disaster, with Leppert’s fiery comments serving as a stark reminder of just how much was lost when Dončić was traded away.