"Dallas Mavericks finna relocate to Vegas" - NBA fans speculate $4.7 billion franchise relocating after refunding season-ticket holders

Just when you think it cannot get worse for the Dallas Mavericks, the franchise has reportedly seen mass cancellation of season tickets after trading away Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis on Saturday, and in an unprecedented move, the franchise is offering refunds to season-ticket holders, with each refund valued at around $2,000.

The American Airlines Center has the atmosphere of a cemetery, with fans raging at management and protesting at the Mavericks' home court ever since the trade was reported on Saturday.

With the refunding of season tickets, some have floated a conspiracy theory suggesting that the new ownership group intends to intentionally sabotage attendance numbers to propose a move to Las Vegas.

NBA fans on X have speculated that the ownership group, the Adelmans, are trying to facilitate a relocation to Las Vegas without much local protest. The business organization's ties to the casino business are the primary factor fueling the conspiracy theory.

"Dallas Mavericks finna relocate to Vegas," a user wrote about fans being refunded $2,000 for season tickets.

"This is exactly what the owners want," another speculated.

"The whole theory has never been more believable," a fan reacted.

The consensus among reacting fans strongly pointed at them believing in the conspiracy theory, with many more reactions following suit.

While fans seem to believe in the conspiracy theory, it's highly unlikely that the motives of the Mavericks ownership are drawn in that direction.

After yet another trade to acquire Caleb Martin, it appears that the team is striving to get into win-now mode, and that the decision to move Luka was a strategic choice made by general manager Nico Harrison to make the roster more competitive and balanced in the near term.

Experts have debunked the theory that suggests the relocation of the Dallas Mavericks

While fans have bought into the conspiracy theory doing its rounds on social media, experts have used their platforms to debunk the theory and suggest that the motives of the trade are strictly basketball-motivated.

As elaborated on X by Joe Pompliano, there are various reasons to believe that the conspiracy theory is just that – a theory.

The most relevant facts provided by Pompliano are that the Adelmans have been moving their business out of Las Vegas over time to focus on the Asian market and that the NBA stands to make around $5-6 billion from an expansion that is likely to include a Las Vegas franchise. That suggests that the league would be against the idea of a franchise relocating to Sin City as opposed to opening the gates toward franchise expansion.

Pompliano also wrote that if the Mavericks were to bottom out and force a move, their trade would not have been centered around a proven All-NBA player. Acquiring Anthony Davis was the prime intention of the Mavericks with trading Luka Doncic as the management believes that defense is key to winning a championship.

The sheer unexpected nature of the trade had fans confounded and has prompted a buy-in towards conspiracy theories such as the one suggesting a relocation to Vegas. The one-sided nature of the trade and various factors, including Dallas' decision not to hold an auction for a player of Luka's talents when they could have gotten a king's ransom in return for him, has left fans baffled and looking at other possible reasons as to why such a move was made by the Mavericks.

As Pompliano wrote, this is unlikely to be a "4D Chess move" by the Mavericks management and could just be a bad trade, as most fans believe it to be, at face value.