By trading Luka Doncic in one of the most baffling transactions in sports history, the Dallas Mavericks have erased a burgeoning legacy.
DALLAS — The worst decision in Dallas Mavericks history was delivered like a thief in the dark of night Saturday. The notification that the Mavericks had shipped all-world superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis was so outrageous that it seemed initially like prominent NBA accounts being hacked en masse made more sense than the report’s contents.
The trade was made known just before the clock struck midnight, with many tucked in their beds unaware that the nightmare was happening for those still awake. For those out with friends in the city, conversations came to a screening halt as they were left to process the news.
Dallas traded Doncic, their perennial MVP candidate windfall and heir to Dirk Nowitzki’s legacy, to the Lakers in favor of hitching their wagon to Anthony Davis’ large but six years the elder and even more oft-injured star going forward.
In making the move, the Mavericks front office admitted publicly that they were giving up on a 25-year-old, pre-prime, five-time All-NBA 1st teamer and All-Star, half a season after being taken to the NBA Finals on the back of his effort, all while he performed at a historic level throughout the playoffs while fighting through injuries to reach a place Dallas had not been since Dirk got his ring.
The trade has instantly alienated the front office from the fanbase, as Mavs GM Nico Harrison and the new Dallas ownership now move forward with a decision that will define their tenure, if not the league itself while evaporating the Dirk to Luka continuity.
Doncic’s last basketball game in a Dallas uniform ironically came on Christmas versus Minnesota, facing off against the team that he dismantled in the Western Conference Finals last summer in such a fashion that they traded away their own superstar Karl-Anthony Towns in the offseason, feeling that their current formula wouldn’t cut it.
Minnesota had the luxury of transitioning to 23-year-old Anthony Edwards. The Mavericks have gone in the opposite direction, trading for a player in Davis who, while still playing at a high level, is six years older than Doncic, close to exiting his prime, and comes with significant wear and tear.
Davis was the lead man this year, even ahead of LeBron James, for a 28-19 LA team that is fifth in the West. The 13-year veteran is an All-Star putting up 25 points and 11 boards per night with excellent interior defense. The Mavericks are getting a good player. They aren’t getting anywhere close to value for Doncic, however.
Getting value for Doncic would have been a trade unlike anything we have ever seen in sports because you just don’t give up on a player like Doncic. Not in the NBA, where teams go decades hunting for a superstar like the one that landed in the Mavericks’ lap. Dallas did give up and then didn’t even try in regards to the return.
In June, just weeks after Doncic and the Mavs were felled in five games to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, the New York Knicks shipped four unprotected first-round picks to Brooklyn for Mikal Bridges. For Doncic, a top-three player in the league, Dallas accrued one first-rounder in the deal in addition to Davis. It’s unfathomable.
That Harrison only spoke to the Lakers and put together such an intensely panned, confusing deal for his era-defining talent has altered the NBA irrevocably with Dallas on the short end of the stick.
For Harrison’s sake, the move would seemingly pay off if the Davis and Irving pairing can deliver a championship. For a fanbase that has invested so much of their goodwill, adoration, and dollars into a generational talent, would that even be sufficient if it means seeing Doncic dismantle the league for another 15 years in Lakers purple and gold?
The prevailing thought during Doncic’s recent injury stint was that if Dallas could hold down the fort in his absence, a motivated Luka battling the West’s elite would have been the biggest mid-season acquisition that any team could make.
Now, Doncic will be motivated to torch his former team when they next play in late February, as Dallas shockingly leapfrogs over the Phoenix Suns, LA Clippers, and Oklahoma City Thunder on his grievance list moving forward.
Doncic was so good so quickly that it’s easy to forget that he has yet to enter his prime. Now that prime will shockingly and abruptly be realized elsewhere. Fans of the Dallas Mavericks went to sleep last evening snug in their beds, safe in the knowledge that they had another decade of getting to witness brilliance on the court ahead of them, only to wake up to the reality that Luka Doncic had been ripped away.
Do you think the Mavs will live to regret trading Luka Doncic? Share your thoughts with Irvin on Bluesky @irvin.bsky.social.
