What the Kawhi Leonard trade means for the Dallas Mavericks

The Spurs and Raptors made a blockbuster trade yesterday that included two of the NBA’s premier players. With Kawhi Leonard out of the Western Conference and DeMar DeRozan in, how does this mega-deal affect the Dallas Mavericks?

The Mavs have had quite an offseason. They drafted Luka Doncic, signed DeAndre Jordan and have finally made themselves worth mentioning again in the Western Conference. Now that their in-state rival looks completely different, things in the lone star state have been shaken up considerably.

The Spurs won 47 games last year despite only having Kawhi Leonard on the court for nine games. The disgruntled superstar made it abundantly clear to the world that he is only interested in playing in Los Angeles for either the Clippers or Lakers. Now that the Spurs shipped him to the Raptors, the Mavs have to look at the Spurs differently than they have in the past.

The Spurs sent Leonard and veteran Danny Green to the Raptors for Demar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a top-20 protected 2019 first round pick. The Spurs managed to get a four-time All-Star in his prime as well as a promising young rotation player and a first round pick in a market in which they had no leverage whatsoever. For a Mavs team that is no longer in tank-mode and appears to be gunning for the playoffs out West, this trade makes things that much more difficult.

The Spurs were coming close to completely tearing it down. Any deal that they made involving Leonard could have centered around draft picks to equip themselves for a rebuild. Instead, they brought in DeRozan, who immediately becomes the team’s best player and will unquestionably launch the team north of the 50-win threshold.

For the Mavs, the Western Conference is becoming insanely difficult to nestle into. The Warriors, Rockets, Pelicans, Thunder, Jazz, Spurs, Trailblazers, and Timberwolves all have their sights on the playoffs again next season. The Denver Nuggets are threatening to have the league’s best offense next season after adding Michael Porter Jr. and Isaiah Thomas to a unit already featuring Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, and Will Barton.

The Spurs are now substantially better thanks to a genius move by the NBA’s most creative front office, and the Lakers picked up some dude from Akron, Ohio. The Mavericks are now forced to navigate through this insane collection of teams that will make them work every single night for a spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

The Mavs rotation at the moment looks like this:

PG: Dennis Smith Jr., J.J. Barea, Jalen Brunson

SG: Luka Doncic, Wesley Matthews

SF: Harrison Barnes, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kostas Antentokounmpo

PF: Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Powell, Ray Spalding

C: DeAndre Jordan, Maxi Kleber

Yogi Ferrell is expected to return to the team, leaving a couple of roster spots left for the Mavericks to add to their young core. Seth Curry and Doug McDermott both left the team to sign deals with the Trailblazers and Pacers, leaving the Mavs with questions about their depth at several spots on the wing.

The Kawhi Leonard trade means that the Mavericks can no longer hope that there will be even one team that will take a significant step back in the Western Conference this year. Even the teams that won’t be making the playoffs aren’t gimme-games any longer. The Phoenix Suns drafted Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges and signed Trevor Ariza to a team already with Devin Booker and Josh Jackson.

The Kings, while still years away, do have De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley as a nucleus to build around while the Memphis Grizzlies will be trotting Mike Conley and Marc Gasol back onto the court along with newly drafted Jaren Jackson Jr.

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This will be a strange season for the Mavericks, who seem to be building their team up right around the same time that so many other teams in their conference are max-ing themselves out. With Rick Carlisle running the show, the team still has every excuse to push for a playoff spot, but their only nights off will be against some of the weaker sisters of the east.