Brian Windhorst is shutting down any conspiracy theories regarding the Luka Doncic trade. Screen grab: ‘Get Up’
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One of the reasons why conspiracy theories have become as popular as they have is that they help — or at least try to — explain the unexplainable. And when it comes to sports, there isn’t a more unexplainable subject at the moment than the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Following the shocking news that the Mavericks had traded their 25-year-old five-time first-team All-NBA selection, it didn’t take long for the tinfoil hats to come out. The most prevalent theory is that it was orchestrated by the NBA’s powers that be to improve ratings, with one of the league’s brightest young stars now a member of its most famous franchise. Dwyane Wade, meanwhile, suggested that this was the NBA owners’ way of taking control back from the players, while Bill Simmons platformed the idea that the deal was intended to turn Mavericks fans against the franchise as a part of a multi-step process to move the team to Las Vegas.

Yet despite Brian Windhorst’s impressive ability to read between the lines of any NBA transaction — remember “Windy fingers?” — the ESPN analyst isn’t buying any of it. Rather, Windhorst is doing something he’s admittedly rarely done in his more than two decades covering the league: he’s taking everyone at their word.

“This is also unchartered territory, what I’m about to say,” Windhorst said on Wednesday’s episode of Get Up. “I believe everything that everybody has said about this deal. Everything that LeBron [James] says, everything that Luka says, everything that Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison, everything that Kyrie [Irving] said. I believe everybody is telling the truth. I never believe that in the NBA when it comes to what they say in the media. In this case, from I know, I think everybody is telling the truth.”

As for why the deal came to fruition, Windhorst said that he doesn’t think it’s any more complicated than the Mavericks not wanting to pay Dončić his $350 million supermax extension this summer. And while the deal might have marked the first time in LeBron James’ career that he wasn’t consulted on a trade — especially of this magnitude — the Lakers’ decision to acquire a player of Dončić’s caliber at this point in his career was ultimately a no-brainer.

“Everything is just straight on the up and up,” Windhorst said. “It’s stunning. It’s shocking. It may be a massive mistake for the Dallas Mavericks. But everything that happened is straight on. I know it’s hard to accept because of the world we’re in today. But that is indeed what has gone on and that is my take away.”

Appearing on First Take later in the day, Windhorst reiterated his stance.

“I know that there is QAnon, Illuminati, 4D chess theories, I reject all of them,” Windhorst said. “I think is exactly as is on face value.”

By his own admission, when it comes to the NBA, there’s seemingly always more to the story. But to Windhorst’s point, all of the information being provided by the Mavericks, Lakers, players and general managers involved here adds up — even if it doesn’t make the move any less shocking.

Ultimately, the primary reason why this trade was so stunning is that it’s hard to fathom a team giving up on a player as good and as young as Dončić is. But once you accept that’s what happened — even if you don’t agree with it — the rest of the pieces fall into place.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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