The idea of an “untouchable” superstar vanished last year when the Dallas Mavericks made a franchise-altering decision. By trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas sent shockwaves across the league. Trading a franchise player like Doncic proved that no one was safe. Especially for the Mavs players, everything felt like a nightmare.

For former Mavericks guard Quentin Grimes, the constant threat of being traded has been a growing concern. The 25-year-old spent time with the Knicks, Pistons, Mavericks, and now the 76ers. However, he now has a crucial weapon in his hands that will save him from further movements: a no-trade clause.

Speaking exclusively with EssentiallySports, Grimes opened up about handling past trade deadline uncertainty. Even with that protection in place, the lead-up to the deadline still weighed on him.“I’m knowing that I’m not going anywhere without me signing off on. So that made it a little easier to go to bed at night and knowing that I’m not going to wake up and find out that I’m somewhere that I don’t want to be,” Quentin Grimes shared.

“That was a good thing about it, for sure. It eased my mind a little bit. I’m knowing that my agent can call me and relay a proposal from another team that I have to give an ‘okay’ toward, so it was a little bit of a win-win for me,” he added. Looking back on last year’s chaos, Grimes admitted the unpredictability still caught him off guard.

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“Nobody expected me to go to Philly. Nobody expected Luka [Doncic] to go to LA. So that interesting. Then I come here, and the whole team is hurt. So I had ample opportunity to do my thing and show that I can play. I took advantage of the opportunity,” Grimes noted.

Unlike Luka Doncic, Grimes holds a no-trade clause that protects him from any trade that comes his way. That level of control is typically reserved for superstars like LeBron James, who also holds a no-trade clause in his Lakers contract.

Well, that seems unlikely, and LA won’t be moving Doncic anywhere. They handed him a 3-year, $165 million extension and dream of a future with the Slovenian. As for Grimes, he plans to use the no-trade clause strictly for peace of mind.

Can Luka Doncic get a no-trade clause at LA?

Quentin Grimes secured control over his future with the Philadelphia 76ers through a one-year $8.7 million qualifying offer signed in October 2025. Under league regulations, that agreement grants him full veto power over potential deals. As a result, the young guard holds rare leverage, allowing him to stay settled in Philadelphia while shaping his career direction.

Earlier, negotiations between Grimes and the 76ers stalled over a longer pact worth $39 million across four seasons. Instead, he pushed for shorter and richer arrangements. He also rejected a separate one-year $8.8 million route that removed trade protection. Moreover, surrendering that safeguard could weaken his Bird rights, which help Philadelphia retain him over the salary cap.

However, Luka Doncic might not be able to experience similar luxury with the Lakers. Doncic recently locked in a three-year $165 million extension with the Lakers, including a 2028 player option. However, NBA rules make that kind of protection impossible to include in a contract extension.

No-trade clauses are only permitted in brand-new free agency contracts. Players must also complete eight NBA seasons and spend four years with the same franchise before qualifying. Therefore, Doncic cannot secure that privilege within his present Lakers agreement.

By 2028, Doncic is expected to meet every eligibility benchmark with Los Angeles. If he rejects the 2028 option and enters unrestricted free agency, he can pursue a new long-term maximum contract potentially exceeding $400 million. At that stage, he could request full trade protection, similar to the clause LeBron James later earned with the Lakers.

The Doncic trade may have been the earthquake, but Grimes’ pursuit of a no-trade clause was a telling aftershock. In an era defined by constant player movement, securing even a small measure of control has become invaluable. For Grimes, peace of mind mattered more than anything else.