NBA Handle Grows After Luka Doncic Trade, DraftKings CEO Suggests

In the beginning of February, the Dallas Mavericks parted ways with Luka Doncic, who was acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers. The unexpected transaction, recognized by some analysts as a blockbuster deal, saw the Lakers tap into the talent of Doncic.

Now, more than a month later, the transaction continues to make waves with the executive of one betting company admitting that the trade likely resulted in an uptick in NBA handle.

DraftKings Records Uptick in NBA Handle

That’s the case for Jason Robins, DraftKings’ CEO and co-founder, who recently attended the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference. The prestigious event took place on Tuesday and saw the executive discuss a number of hot topics.

Answering a question by the leading analyst, Stephen Grambling, Robins spoke about the increased interest in NBA betting that ultimately resulted in an uptick in the handle, a report released by Casino.org suggests. DraftKings’ boss acknowledged the positive impact of the transaction involving Doncic.

Robins revealed that the company’s ratings for the NBA handle recently reached the values recorded during the previous quarter. “And so I feel like right now, we’re actually a little bit ahead on that front, and we really just kind of need to do as expected from here on now,” the executive added.

“I think the Luka trade sparked a lot of interest and now the ratings are in great spot relative to where they were a quarter ago, and we’ve seen very similar trajectory on our handle for NBA.“

Jason Robins, CEO and co-founder of DraftKings

The Leading Betting and Gaming Company Remains Cautious

Speaking about hold rate, DraftKings’ CEO and co-founder said that the company continues to monitor it, along with other benchmarks. Robins elaborated further saying: “But so far, we have seen really benefit or hurting no real material relationship between hold rate and handle. So we’ve been cautious.” He added that while DraftKings didn’t expect such an uptick in terms of NBA handle, it also isn’t predicting any decreases.

Recently, Texas lawmakers voted in favor of a ban on lottery courier services, affecting platforms such as DraftKings’ owned Jackpocket. Despite the unexpected move, the company may suffer only mildly in the Lone Star state with estimates suggesting it may lose some $39 million in revenue, a figure that represents less than 1% of its expected revenue for 2025.