ESPN NBA lead insider Shams Charania has been an incredibly busy man over the past week as we approached Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
So much so, in fact, that he had to abruptly leave in the middle of his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
Charania joined McAfee on Tuesday to largely discuss the highly discussed blockbuster trade between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday morning that he broke involving Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis.
Like most media members who have since discussed the deal, Charania didn’t exactly express a positive outlook for the Mavs.
“When I first got wind, and it was probably… five sources before I put out the trade in about a five or six-minute time span,” he said. “I was as shocked as anyone. I mean, everyone in the NBA, players, coaches, Patrick Mahomes was talking about it. Everyone was shocked at the magnitude of this trade… You peel back the curtains… and I have done some research into Dallas.
“Some of it has been reported on, is just this concern about conditioning. This concern about the buy-in of Luka Dončić. Right or wrong, over the last five years, the same gripes — or whatever — have been there. Luka Dončić has still led you to a Finals run. He has been in the top running for MVP. He has been one of the best players in the world. But, for whatever reason, this season, the Mavericks felt that they needed to shift the direction of this organization.”
There’s NO WAY anybody thinks this was a good trade for the Dallas Mavericks @ShamsCharania#PMSLive https://t.co/r9R5uruQUy pic.twitter.com/kpkXXoseGP
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 4, 2025
Charania then put his insider hat back on, reporting that the Lakers have “optimism” that Dončić could make his debut for the organization as soon as Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.
“There is optimism that Luka Doncic will be making his Lakers debut on Saturday..
Against your Indiana Pacers” ~ @ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/zlvgQCZFSb
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 4, 2025
Just minutes later, Charania began to frequently look at his phone before abruptly telling McAfee that he needed to leave the show. McAfee and the rest of the cast began to cheer, indicating that Charania was getting information about another potential NBA trade.
“I got to… I got to go guys,” said Charania.
“Ohhhhh, alright, go get it, Sham,s,” replied McAfee. Good luck.”
This obviously begs the question. What information did he receive that caused him to frantically leave without much warning like he did?
Well, it wasn’t quite the blockbuster trade that shifted the NBA landscape like the one between the Lakers and Mavericks just days prior. But it did involve the Mavericks. Charania reported minutes later on X (formerly Twitter) that the Mavericks were trading Quentin Grimes and a 2025 second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in return for Caleb Martin.
Dallas is sending Quentin Grimes
and Philadelphia’s 2025 second-round pick back to the 76ers for Martin, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/4vSqohB03U— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2025
As numerous insiders across all sports have shown, the news cycle never stops for anyone, regardless of other responsibilities—even if the breaking news isn’t exactly earth-shattering, as was the case on Tuesday afternoon.
