Nearly six months after the Mavericks made the fateful decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers, CEO Rick Welts has doubled down on the team's decision to part ways with the superstar. Not only this, but he oddly went about framing the response from fans as a positive in the wake of the trade.
“You can’t have fears or regrets in this business, it’s all about how you move forward," Welts said on Bloomberg TV. "... I learned about the depth of the connection between Mavericks fans and this team. And that to me was a glass half-full because I knew we could restore that over time. I didn't think it would quite as quickly as it's perhaps as it's happened."
Mavericks CEO Rick Welts on if the team regrets trading Luka Dončić:
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) July 30, 2025
“You can’t have fears or regrets in this business, it’s all about how you move forward. …I learned about the depth of the connection between Mavericks fans and this team.” #MFFL
(🎥: @BloombergTV) pic.twitter.com/FTbTo8jbzb
The "depth of connection" that Mavericks fans showed after the Doncic trade was displayed when they protested outside of the American Airlines Center and expressed fury toward the decision to trade the team's best player. Not exactly the positive tone Welts portrayed.
It's also doubtful that the Mavericks have fully repaired with the fanbase their relationship since the Doncic trade, which resulted in fans cancelling their season tickets and overall support of the franchise to plummet. Yes, the Mavericks have restored some excitement by drafting Cooper Flagg, but receiving the No. 1 pick in the draft was a stroke of luck not even a leprechaun sitting in a pile of four-leaf clovers could see coming, not some genius move the team put together.
Welts then went on to say, "I would also say I'm incredibly proud of how the organization presented itself for Luka's first game back at American Airlines Center when he was a Los Angeles Laker. If you watch that game, it was an opportunity for fans to say 'thank you.' I think you saw the emotion on Luka's face, you saw the way that night unfolded in tributes to Luka. I think he'll always be such a big part of the history here. We wish him nothing but good luck and we also hope we beat his team every time we play them."
The comments from Welts simply don't match the reality. This wasn't a sweet reunion between two sides that mutually decided it was time to part ways. It was Doncic facing the team that shipped him off with no warning when he wanted to spend his entire career with them. It was fans chanting "Fire Nico" seconds into the game and questioning once again why their team would make this move. Doncic went out looking like the hero after scoring 45 points in the "revenge" game, while the Mavericks came across as villains.
Welts and the Mavericks might sincerely have no regrets about trading Doncic, especially after drafting Flagg, but they still don't seem to have an accurate read on their fans.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mavericks CEO Had Puzzling Take on Fans' Response to Luka Doncic Trade .
