The Dallas Mavericks have stunningly traded away Luka Doncic and he is the third notable player to depart in recent years after Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunson. You’d think the Mavericks would have gotten a sizeable haul in return for these three but they haven’t. Here is what they have got and it’s a grim read.
– Anthony Davis
– Max Christie
– Spencer Dinwiddie
– Davis Bertans
– Unprotected 2029 first-round pick from Lakers
The Mavericks’ decision to let go of all three of these stars has been described as a “generational fumble” and the haul they got makes it even worse. Let’s take a look at each case.
The Mavericks traded Porzingis and a protected second-round pick to the Washington Wizards in Feb. 2022, for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Even considering the fact that the Latvian hadn’t quite been at his best in Dallas, that was a pretty terrible return.
Bertans barely featured for the Mavericks and was also on a bad five-year, $80 million deal. It might have been the worst contract in the NBA all things considered.
Dinwiddie, meanwhile, was averaging 12.6 points on 37.6% shooting from the field for the Wizards in the 2021-22 season. His stock was at an all-time low at the time and you’d have expected the Mavericks to get someone who had a bit more value on the market. The only saving grace was that Dinwiddie did play well for the Mavericks and helped them get to the Western Conference Finals.
Speaking of that magical playoff run, Brunson played a big part in the Mavericks getting that far. He averaged 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in that postseason and it was his coming out party on the big stage.
It looked like the Mavericks might have found another backcourt star but there was just one problem. Brunson was a free agent that offseason and decided to sign a four-year, $104 million contract with the New York Knicks. While you tend to have some sympathy for teams in this situation, it was hard to have any for the Mavericks.
Brunson revealed the Mavericks twice turned down the chance to sign him to a four-year, $55 million deal. The first time was before the 2021-22 season and the second was in the first half of the campaign.
The Mavericks put that deal on the table after the trade deadline but by then, Brunson felt he deserved more. He then chose to go to the Knicks as a free agent and losing the guard for nothing was a devastating blow for the franchise. You’d have thought the Mavericks couldn’t possibly mess things up any worse than how they handled the Brunson situation but then they traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavericks got Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and the Lakers’ unprotected 2029 first-round pick by giving up Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris, and their 2025 second-pick pick in a deal that also included the Utah Jazz. While Davis is one of the best players in the NBA and Christie is a solid young player, this was not a good enough return.
Doncic, who is averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2024-25, is widely regarded as a top-5 player in the NBA today and is a generational talent. Players like him don’t come around all too often and when you have one of them, you try to hold on to them as long as possible.
What makes this situation even worse is that Doncic did not want to leave the Mavericks. They decided to ship him out and it’s hard to see how this won’t go down as one of the biggest mistakes in NBA history.
The Mavericks front office has made some good decisions in recent years, but all the good work gets outdone by how they handled Porzingis, Brunson, and Doncic.
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