“Thought My Phone Was Hacked”: Even Shams Charania Could Not Believe Mavericks Traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers

Everyone’s first reaction to seeing Shams Charania’s tweet about the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade was the same: “Shams must’ve been hacked.” Well, it so happens that ESPN’s primary insider for all things NBA thought the same thing. Charania revealed on ESPN’s ‘GetUp’ that even he couldn’t believe his eyes when he got the texts detailing this trade.

He revealed to his hosts Mike Greenberg, Brian Windhorst, and Tim Legler that his original thought was that he had been hacked. While he did explain how the trade came to be, and the Mavericks’ reasoning for initiating this trade, it doesn’t take away the shock factor that the move had.

“Yeah, I mean I thought my phone was hacked when I got the text messages and the details of the trade, and when I got wind of the deal.”

"I thought my phone was hacked." 😅

—@ShamsCharania after receiving text messages about the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade pic.twitter.com/uhAbDZBQAn

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 3, 2025

Shams went on to tell his hosts that the Mavs’ issues with Doncic’s conditioning spurred them into pushing for this deal to go through. He claimed that everyone in the organization genuinely felt that moving on from Doncic and acquiring Davis made them a team better suited to get results.

“You peel back the curtain for the Mavericks, they honestly internally believe that this move puts them in a better position to win a championship. Of course, there are issues that they had with Luka Doncic’s conditioning levels, to an extent, but they have that belief.”

He added that the Mavericks view Davis as a defensive anchor, and are still looking to get another backcourt piece to fit next to Kyrie Irving. He explained that their newly replenished haul of first-round picks will be put to good use and that they will add another guard to their starting lineup soon.

As for the Lakers, according to Shams, they had no intention of moving on from Davis this season. He said that they weren’t actively looking to move the 10-time All-Star, despite his exclusive interview with ESPN last week. That mindset however changed as soon as Nico Harrison called Rob Pelinka about a possible deal for Doncic.

“I don’t think the Lakers at any point this season expected to be in contention to moving Anthony Davis. They didn’t seek to move Anthony Davis, but when Nico Harrison the Mavericks’ general manager called and offered Luka Doncic, that changed the game.”

Of course, trading away their starting center puts them in a bit of a pinch. But if reports are to be believed, the Lakers are far from done in this trade window. With just 3 days left till the deadline, teams expect the Lakers to be desperate for a proper rim protector to fit into their lineup.