Last February, the Mavericks sent Luka Dončić to the Lakers in the most stunning NBA trade in league history. One year later, they’re shipping out the centerpiece of the deal on their end.
On Wednesday, with 24 hours to go before this year’s trade deadline, Dallas traded Anthony Davis to the Wizards in exchange for a handful of rotation players and a few draft picks. It was not a surprise to see Davis moved; the writing was on the wall for him the moment Nico Harrison was dismissed as the team’s GM. It is, however, a shock that Washington was the destination.
The Wizards acquired Trae Young earlier this month but are still very much in rebuilding mode, sitting at 13-36 entering Wednesday. This season is still about finishing with a shot at a high lottery pick but Washington’s pivot to trying to win games has unexpectedly arrived ahead of schedule.
On the Dallas side, this officially washes the franchise’s hands of the Dončić debacle—or as much as it can, anyway. It’ll be a long time before the team’s fans forget the pain and shock of the short-sighted decision to ship out a 26-year-old perennial MVP candidate. If it weren’t for the luck of the lottery draw that allowed the Mavericks to add Cooper Flagg their situation would be very dire indeed. As it stands, though, the Davis trade on Wednesday marked an official pivot away from Harrison’s vision of a championship team around the All-NBA big man to a future centered on Flagg.
That makes it as good a time as any to revisit the Dončić deal.
What Mavericks got for Luka Dončić
Now that it’s (mostly) all said and done, here’s what the Mavericks got out of the Dončić deal.
The inital deal: Dallas gave up Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris for Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick from Los Angeles. Davis was just traded for four Wizards rotation players to go with the Thunder’s 2026 first-round pick, the Warriors’ 2030 first-round pick (top-20 protected), and three second-round picks. Christie remains on the roster and the Mavs still have the Lakers’ pick in their draft cupboard.
Which brings us to the final tally. The Mavericks, effectively, traded Dončić and all his magic for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, a 2026 first-rounder that will land in the final spots of the draft order, another late first 2030, and three second-round picks.
RELATED: Anthony Davis Trade Grades: Did Mavericks or Wizards Come Out on Top?
Through that lens, as well as every other lens, Dallas emerges as a huge loser from the Dončić blockbuster. Not that it’s news to anyone. For a perennial MVP candidate the Mavericks got a handful of rotation players and picks that are more likely to produce busts than useful talent. It’s fair to say they couldn’t have landed Flagg without trading Dončić. But that was entirely luck-based, and making that case is like arguing it’s fine your house burned down because the insurance wound up covering the cost.
Christie is looking like a nice piece, at least. The 22-year-old guard is averaging nearly 30 minutes per game in coach Jason Kidd’s rotation this season and shooting 43.4% from three, putting up 13.1 points per night. Dallas will need all the shooting it can muster up around Flagg moving forward, and Christie looks to be a great fit in that regard. And the L.A. pick could pay dividends in some fashion but, obviously, with Dončić in the fold it’s very unlikely it’ll be very high in the order. There could even be more additions to the roster stemming from the Dončić trade coming soon if Dallas decides to use the picks it got for to bring in talent. By definition, then, the trade wasn’t a total zero.
But it’s mighty close. This trade will live in infamy as one of the worst in sports history.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Revisiting the Luka Dončić Trade After the Mavericks’ Stunning Anthony Davis Deal.
