It's only been a little over a month since Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world and traded global superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. This move shocked and will go down in history in the NBA and sports world.
Since the monumental moment in NBA history, the Lakers have gone on to play themselves into the second seed in the Western Conference, leaving many to wonder if Doncic and LeBron James could see immediate success this playoff season. For the Mavericks, however...
Things could not have gone worse.
The superstar that Harrison traded for in Anthony Davis, and make no mistake about it Davis is a superstar, has played a total of 31 minutes for the Mavericks. In his first game in Dallas, Davis showed why he is a superstar, dropping 31 points on 63 percent true shooting, 16 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks in a win against the Houston Rockets. On the court, Maverick fans saw what makes Davis so unique.
Shortly after, they were also reminded that trading a 25-year-old superstar for this player will go down as the worst trade in the history of the NBA.
Davis left this game with a left adductor strain and has not seen the floor since.
To make matters infinitely worse, the co-star that was supposed to lead now with Davis, Kyrie Irving, has suffered a torn ACL and is now out for the season. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, this may also lead to Davis being shut down for the season. The Mavericks' season started as title contenders, it will now end with the question: "Where do we go now?"
One of the options has to be trading Davis after only 31 minutes played in a Mavericks jersey. It would already be waving the white flag on a trade that never should have happened, but may also be the most responisble thing to do, as well.
First off, this will never happen as long as Harrison remains President of Basketball Operations. Harrison and Davis both have a strong relationship predating this trade happening. Along with this, Harrison waving the white flag and admitting he messed up less than five months after making the move take an absurd amount of humble-pie that no one believes he's willing to eat.
But, one of the options on the board certainly needs to be firing Harrison, the reason being *waves wildly at a Luka Doncic Lakers jersey.*
After that, whoever took over as lead of franchise would consider moving Davis for these reasons.
Why should the Mavericks consider trading Anthony Davis?
First, Harrison said in the introductory press conference of Davis that the Mavs window was 2-3 years, including this one, with Davis and Irving. Well, this season is already cooked. On average, NBA players recover from ACL injuries between 8-12 months, meaning the earliest a 32-year-old Irving could return from this injury would be around January? Maybe? There was light smoke around the Mavericks going for Kevin Durant this offseason, but with his best friend out for almost all of next season, that seems incredibly unlikely now, too.
The window is already basically closed. The earliest season in which Davis and Irving would open a healthy, ready-to-go season would be the 2026-2027 season. Davis will be going on 33 and Irving will be going on 34. Again, this assumes two injury-prone players would be healthy at that point.
The "window" is cooked.
Secondly, the Mavericks currently have no tangible future assets to rebuild and be hopeful for the franchise down the line. They own their first-round picks in 2025 and 2026. In 2027, their first goes to Charlotte unless it's within the top-2. In 2028, their first gets swapped to OKC. In 2029, their first goes to Brooklyn. And in 2030, their pick is swapped with the San Antonio Spurs.
Trading Davis this offseason while he's still at peak value can more than recuperate their assets throughout those years. It would eliminate their championship window the next two years (which doesn't exist now), but it would at least give Dallas a chance to build for it again.
Lastly, Irving has a player option for this offseason. While most in the community accept that Irving will opt in after suffering this ACL injury, it is also possible that Irving will opt out, leaving the Mavericks in an even worse position. Or, even better, the Mavericks could convince themselves that the window will still be open after his return and hand a 32-year-old a multi-year contract coming off of a career-altering injury.
Harrison's swing the night of Feb. 1 didn't make sense. Now, there is almost zero chance of getting any of the labor's fruits. The Mavs have to reset this whole thing to create another window within the next 10 years.
The smart move may be to take the L and save whatever is left of the future of the Dallas Mavericks franchise.