On Saturday evening, the NBA world received a shock when it was reported by Shams Charania of ESPN that the Dallas Mavericks were trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for a package centered around Anthony Davis. The trade was arguably the most surprising move in NBA history, and completely rattled the structure of the league ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.

One person who thinks that there’s more going on here than meets the eye is Cleveland Cavaliers backup big man Tristan Thompson, who took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his suspicions.

“Luka getting traded from Dallas has to have a deeper story behind it. This just doesn’t happen on a random Saturday night,” wrote Thompson in his post.

At this point, it’s unclear exactly what the Cavs center thinks is the actual reason for the Mavericks’ shocking decision, but Thompson wasn’t the only athlete to take to X on Saturday to share his astonishment.

Many others, including Jalen Brunson, Trae Young, De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, and more also took to the social media platforms with various reactions to the move.

A league-altering decision

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Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) looks on during a stoppage in play during the first half of the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the American Airlines Center.

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Cavs fans may be interested in what Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison said shortly after the move.

“I think if you look at the Cleveland Cavaliers, that’s what you’re going to see,” Harrison told the Dallas Morning News, referring to Cleveland’s frontcourt of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, per ESPN. “Anthony’s probably going to finish games at the 5, but you’re going to see those guys play together. And when the Lakers won, he played the 4.”

Anthony Davis has long been clamoring for the opportunity to play at his natural position of power forward, and he’ll certainly have the opportunity to do that in Dallas alongside Daniel Gafford and, when he gets healthy, Dereck Lively II.

Still, it’s been hard for fans in the NBA to find the rationale for Dallas to trade its perennial MVP candidate just as he is seemingly only beginning to enter the prime years of his career.

As for the Cavs, it remains to be seen whether Cleveland will look to make any tweaks to its roster ahead of the trade deadline, which is set for Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Cavs’ next game is coincidentally against the Mavericks on Sunday afternoon.