The Dallas Mavericks made the NBA Finals last season thanks to the play of Luka Doncic. He has been a perennial MVP candidate and an All-NBA winner. The sports world was shocked when the Mavericks decided to trade their franchise player to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package centered around Anthony Davis. It is a shocking trade, especially on Dallas’ side. Trading away a 25-year-old franchise player is not something we see teams do. Here are three questions for the Mavericks after this massive trade.
1. W…Wh…What?
I had to start with this one and just word-vomit some thoughts. As I said in the introduction, this doesn’t happen. There have been no reports of Doncic being disgruntled with the team or vice versa. While he would have been expensive to keep, the value he brings to the franchise makes up for it. People come out to watch a player like Luka Doncic. The Dallas Mavericks traded him away because they thought Davis gives them a better chance to win now.
Maybe the team knows something. Some reports have trickled out that the team has been unhappy with his conditioning. They could have worried about his health long-term or have seen something on a recent x-ray that spooked them. There has to be something! I’m sure we will get more nuggets of information in the coming weeks, but this has the potential to blow up in the face of the Dallas Mavericks. Time will tell, but right now, this is a confusing move.
2. Does This Increase The Dallas Mavericks Title Odds?
Okay, let’s set the confusion aside for a second and focus on this team. The move was about defense. Doncic was known as a below-average defender, and Davis is still one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. With Dereck Lively sidelined for a while with a foot injury, the team needed some help at center. The team has also been playing without Doncic for a while. They have gone 7-12 since their star player went down with a calf injury and currently sit eighth in the Western Conference.
Does this move make them a championship contender? They didn’t lose much besides Doncic. Outside of Davis, they gained Max Christie, who should be a quality rotation guard. This may move the needle a little for this year, depending on how healthy Davis is. They are definitely a tough out in the playoffs, as they will be difficult to play defensively. Kyrie Irving can still take over a game offensively, and there are nice pieces up and down the roster. However, they are probably still a strong candidate for a first-round exit in the playoffs if they even make it.
3. What Are The Long-Term Ramifications?
Let’s forget about this season for the Dallas Mavericks. This has the potential to have long-term ramifications on the franchise. They only got one first-round pick for a 25-year-old star player in his prime. Rudy Gobert was traded for four first-round picks and a pick swap. There are many ways this trade blows up in their faces. Davis continues to be hurt. Irving starts to decline. Role players don’t develop. Meanwhile, Doncic could be leading the Lakers to deep playoff runs and maybe even championships. This has the potential to look very bad for the team.
Obviously, only time will tell. The Dallas Mavericks clearly have some concerns, and they would know about those as well as anyone. We’ve seen players with poor conditioning habits struggle to reach their potential. Players who cannot play at least good defense often don’t make deep playoff runs. The only issue with a lot of these arguments is that the Mavericks made a run to the NBA Finals last year…with Luke Doncic. The team can say this was a win-now move, but it has the potential to have massive long-term ramifications.
Final Thoughts
The Dallas Mavericks will have a lot of explaining to do to their fans over the next few weeks. If things go south this season, the criticism will only get louder. For now, we get to see how the combination of Irving and Davis will look on the floor. For fans of drama in sports, many juicy storylines are brewing. Can you imagine a Lakers-Mavericks playoff series? The sports world was shocked, and now we will have to wait and see whether they made the right move or whether this is one of the worst sports blunders in history.
