Nearly two weeks after it first happened, people are still trying to make sense of the Dallas Mavericks’ stunning decision to trade Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. And while there have already been plenty of theories floated about what is widely regarded as the biggest trade in NBA — if not sports — Read

Now for the fun part. The construction of this trade is pretty technical because both teams were in the luxury tax at the time of the deal. The Mavericks set it up to get out of the tax, but the Lakers were constrained by being over the collective bargaining agreement’s first apron and capped at the second apron.

The Lakers formally welcomed Dončić on Tuesday, less than three days after they traded Anthony Davis and Max Christie in a three-team deal for the Slovenian scorer who won his first scoring title last season before leading the Mavs to the NBA Finals. Dončić is a five-time All-NBA selection and a five-time All-Star.