The Mavericks are in win-now mode, they don’t want to settle on development and hoping a player turns out.
Instead, Dallas wants to use the 10th pick to get a win-now player (or players) to pair with Luka Doncic and a potentially re-signed Kyrie Irving.
Dallas was fortunate during the NBA Draft Lottery to secure the 10th pick, because if they didn’t get the pick between 1-10 then they had to give it up to the New York Knicks.
The reason why the Knicks almost had their pick was from the Kristaps Porzingis trade made between them and New York.
According to Marc Stein, the former Dallas Mavericks owner told general manager Nico Harrison not to trade Luka Doncic.
Mark Cuban “urged” Harrison not to ship Doncic to Los Angeles for Anthony Davis. He’s always been pro-Doncic, going as far as to joke that he would divorce his wife first before getting rid of Doncic.
However, it was too late when the 66-year-old found out about the deal. It was already verbally agreed upon with the Lakers’ general manager, Rob Pelinka.
Cuban’s plan for Doncic was for him to be like Dirk Nowitzki, where he spent his entire career with Dallas.
According to Marc Stein, Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks will consider all treatment options for his latest injury. This ranges from rehab to surgery to repair the adductor strain.
Sunday night, reports came out that Davis was set to miss up to a month. Now, Stein, along with others, are spearheading reports that the 31-year-old might need surgery.
Overall, the team and Davis will focus their discussions on treatment without surgery. The surgery option will be discussed and decided upon by Monday.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Dallas Mavericks have made the shocking move to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. This is not a parody, as many thought when the news broke.
ESPN and other news sources have confirmed this, as Dallas initiated and sought out this deal with Los Angeles.
A Summary of the entire trade:
Lakers: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
Mavericks: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 first-round pick
Jazz: Jalen Hood-Schifino, two second-round picks
This blockbuster trade was a surprise, with it being very tight-lipped to the point where Doncic, LeBron, and Davis did not know this was happening. Davis feels “betrayed,” while Doncic remains “stunned.”
Dallas came to Los Angeles with this trade proposal, which soon got sorted through and accepted by both parties. Utah was the facilitating team to complete the transaction.
The Mavericks thought they would be in a better win-now position for a championship by acquiring the defensive stud. They felt as though the 25-year-old wouldn’t have committed to the Supermax contract worth up to $350 million. Plus, the organization saw his weight and conditioning as a problem.
For the Lakers, this is the perfect trade for them. First of all, they didn’t have to give up much to receive the generational player. Second of all, Los Angeles wanted Doncic to be the face of the franchise after LeBron retired from the game of basketball.
Mavericks’ General Manager Nico Harrison said he traded Doncic because “I believe that defense wins championships.”
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Mavs general manager Nico Harrison told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
Per Marc Stein’s report, Doncic is targeting February 8th as his official return date from his calf injury. It would be two days after the trade deadline.
Due to the injuries, dieting decisions, and conditioning problems, this “motivated” the Mavericks to trade him as quickly as humanly possible.
With Doncic set to join the Lakers, he will no longer be eligible for the Supermax contract.
February 25th is the next time the Lakers and Mavericks are scheduled to face each other.