Ex-Dallas mayor says Luka Doncic trade was enough to ‘fracture a city’s trust’: ‘It was a betrayal’

The Dallas Mavericks traded star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers several months ago, yet it’s still a touchy subject for plenty of Mavericks fans, including a former Dallas mayor.

Tom Leppert served as Dallas’ mayor from 2007 to 2011, and he wrote an opinion piece for the Dallas Morning News in which he lambasted the Doncic trade. He claimed that the Mavericks’ decision to part ways with the Slovenian after he spent more than six seasons with the team was enough to “fracture a city’s trust.”

“There are trades that reshape teams,” Leppert wrote. “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.”

Leppert also indicated that fans of the Mavericks deserve better.

“Dallas fans deserve better than a front office more loyal to its industry contacts than its players,” he wrote. “They deserve better than a billionaire owner more focused on lobbying for casino legislation than protecting the franchise.

“Above all, they deserve accountability. Fans invest their time, their money and their belief in these teams. That investment deserves reciprocation. When you are the steward of a sports franchise, you are a steward of public trust.

“This wasn’t just a bad trade. It was a betrayal and a violation of that trust. It should be hard to earn back.”

Doncic helped the Mavericks enjoy an incredibly successful 2023-24 campaign before they parted ways with him not even one full season later. The guard helped Dallas to 50 wins in the regular season and then was the team’s best player during its surprise run to the 2024 NBA Finals. He averaged 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals per contest over 22 playoff games.

While Doncic’s Mavericks proved to be no match for the Boston Celtics in the championship series, they still enjoyed a highly productive season, particularly when factoring in that they failed to qualify for the 2023 NBA Playoffs entirely.

Doncic’s lengthy and memorable stint as a Maverick officially came to an end in February of this year. With the trade deadline coming up on the horizon, Dallas traded Doncic to the Lakers and got a trade package in return that a lot of people were underwhelmed with, even though it included star big man Anthony Davis.

Dallas saw its 2024-25 campaign unravel after it dealt Doncic, as Davis, along with star guard Kyrie Irving, were both plagued by the injury bug, and the defending Western Conference champion saw its season come to an end before the 2025 NBA Playoffs even started. The Mavs got bounced by the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in tournament.