LeBron were aware of the trade and neither was AD. Everyone from Marc Stein, Dave McMenamin, Tim MacMahom etc doing a great job on this.
Luka did NOT request the trade either
This was entirely Dallas GM and new ownership who believed winning a title with Luka was increasingly unlikely and his commitment to getting in shape was decreasing.
Luka loses around $50M by being traded before signing his next super max.