Speaking in Dallas, President Donald Trump on Wednesday saved his sharpest words on trade policy for the Dallas Mavericks, panning the local NBA team’s surprise swap last year of superstar Luka Doncic for the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis.
“I must tell you, I don’t understand the trade,” Trump said, to laughs from the crowd at the Republican midterm convention. “It might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports.”
Doncic, who arrived in Dallas in 2018 as a 19-year-old NBA rookie, swiftly accumulated honors and set records. He also led the team to the NBA Finals in 2024, where they lost to the Boston Celtics. Less than eight months later, the Mavericks sent the 25-year-old player to the Lakers in a blockbuster trade with little precedent given Doncic’s youth and accomplishments. Mavericks executives said at the time that they prized the defensive skills of Davis, a shot-blocking big man, over the scoring prowess of Doncic, a swingman with a reputation for lackadaisical defense.
The Mavericks later traded the oft-injured Davis to the Washington Wizards after a short stint on their team.
Many observers have said the Doncic-Davis trade is among the worst of all time.
“Maybe we could redo that trade. I redo deals all the time,” Trump joked Wednesday night. “We gotta redo that deal.”
He also said Wednesday that the Boston Red Sox’s 1919 sale of a young Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees might have been an even worse sports move. “Babe will always be the worst trade,” Trump said.
Trump’s allies have styled him the “sports president,” as he increasingly wades into sports matters in his second term, and aides say the topic helps him connect with voters. Trump became the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game this year.
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