Mavericks trade grade for stunning Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis blockbuster
Today at 01:17 PM
Even after making a surprising run to the NBA Finals last season, the Dallas Mavericks still wanted out of the Luka Doncic business. On Saturday night, the Mavericks shipped Doncic off to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package centered around Anthony Davis. The deal dropped with absolutely zero warning, and it took the NBA world by storm as a result.
This is obviously a massive pivot for the Mavericks, who seemed to be set for the next decade or more with Doncic, still just 25 years old, leading the way. Now, the team is much older and has a different feel to it, but it still should be intriguing to watch them compete in the Western Conference in the near future.
On the other side, the Lakers get to pair Doncic with LeBron James this season and however long James ends up playing, but this was a deal that was made with the future in mind. Now, whenever James decides to hang them up, the Lakers have a new superstar to build around.
The big story in the present is the Mavericks, who have completely changed their outlook. However, it only makes sense to look at this deal from two different perspectives: the present and the future.
Mavericks are still interesting in the current Western Conference
The Mavericks lose a lot on offense by trading Doncic, obviously. However, the addition of Davis and the subtraction of Doncic make the Mavericks very difficult to score on, and they should have one of the best defenses in the NBA as a result.
Nico Harrison has built a monster front line in Dallas. Davis will likely be playing the four with Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively playing center when the latter returns from his injury. The Mavericks still don’t have elite defenders on the perimeter, and a starting lineup consisting of Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving will be exploitable in that area, but they should have the interior locked down now.
Offensively, Irving becomes much more important for this team than he was when Doncic was there. He is now the primary ball handler and perimeter scorer for this group, so he will have to be sharp on that end of the floor for this group to stay afloat. Davis will eat up plenty of touches on the inside, but Irving can’t continue having the same inconsistencies that he has had at times this season.
Mavericks sacrificing future outlook in Luka Doncic trade
With Luke Doncic leading the Mavericks, they seemed to be set up to be competitive for a very long time. A 25-year old superstar of Doncic’s caliber is usually a ticket into contention for a decade or more, but the Mavericks gave it all up for a 31-year old in Davis who, while still an elite player, is not on Doncic’s level and has a long injury history.
The Mavericks are still talented enough to be an intriguing fringe contender in the West for the next two or three seasons. However, their outlook after that is very murky. The first-round pick that they got from the Lakers is instantly devalued by the fact that it will be right in the middle of Doncic’s prime, and it’s impossible to predict how much longer Irving and Davis have as true star players.
While the Mavericks did improve on defense like Harrison highlighted, shortening your championship window by over a decade and trading one of the best young stars in the league just can’t earn you a passing grade in just about any context.
Final trade grade: D
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