Rich Paul 'Glad' He Didn't Know About Blockbuster Luka Doncic Lakers Trade

The agent of both LeBron James and Anthony Davis reveals he was glad he didn't know about the Davis/Luka Doncic trade ahead of time.

May 13, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Savannah James, LeBron James and Rich Paul sit in the front in the fourth quarter of game four of the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers shook up the basketball world when they decided to trade Anthony Davis and Max Christie to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic.

It was a trade that no one saw coming. It wasn't something that was rumored to anyone within league circles. The Lakers and the Mavs kept things very quiet.

The trade was kept so well under wraps that neither Davis nor Doncic knew that the trade was going to happen until it was agreed upon. Neither player was asked about it until the trade was already made.

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Rich Paul, who is the agent for both LeBron James and Davis, was not aware of the trade either. In fact, he wasn't told until the trade was agreed upon, just like everyone else.

Rich Paul said he had NO IDEA the Luka/AD trade was being discussed and found out the same time everyone else did 😳

“99.9% of the time, I'm going to know what's going on. The one time I didn't was the one time we all didn't.”
(H/T @pickuphoop)pic.twitter.com/TJKBhbyr1H

— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) February 19, 2025

With a trade that is this big, it's understandable that the teams didn't let anyone else know until it was done. They were both afraid that information would leak, and that would make the deal fall apart.

The Mavericks should have wanted the news to get out. They would have been able to get a lot more for Doncic than what the Lakers ended up giving up.

The Lakers knew that and wanted to make sure that everything was kept quiet. It's interesting that even Davis' agent didn't know that he was on the trade block, though.

Doncic played just two games with the Lakers before the All-Star break. Meanwhile, Davis got hurt in his first game with the Mavericks and could miss a month.

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It doesn't seem that Paul is mad that he didn't know. In fact, he's glad.

"You don't move mountains with everybody knowing. You can't. And so, I'm glad I didn't know. And I'm glad whoever else didn't know because it probably wouldn't have happened."

Paul has clients all over the NBA, so he understands how the trade market works. He knows that when too many people get involved, that's how things fall apart.

So far this season, Doncic is averaging 27 points, eight rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. Davis is averaging 25.7 points, 12 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.

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