Anthony Davis move exposes how badly the Mavericks botched Luka Doncic trade

The Dallas Mavericks finally moved past the Anthony Davis era on Wednesday, as the Mavericks traded Davis to the Washington Wizards in a huge eight-player deal, but the irony of this trade is that it comes nearly a year to the day after Dallas swapped Davis for Luka Doncic. Dallas ultimately got two late first-round picks for Davis, and three second-round picks, which unfortunately far exceeds the total amount of picks they got for Doncic.

Of course, it's hard to compare both of these trades at face value, as former Mavericks GM Nico Harrison clearly had a conniving plot to deal Doncic, and didn't start a bidding war for him to get the value he should've if he was going to trade Doncic. However, even if Davis is worth a few first-round picks himself, only getting one first-round pick for a top-five player in the NBA who was only 25 years old at the time is complete malpractice.

Analyzing this in a vacuum, it's inexcusable the Mavericks didn't get more picks for Doncic compared to Davis, even if none of the picks Dallas is getting back will be higher than the 21st pick, as Dallas even got away with attaching negative assets to Davis such as D'Angelo Russell and Jaden Hardy, yet still got more picks compared to the Doncic trade.

Mavericks got five picks for Davis, and only one for Luka Doncic

One can obviously point to how Dallas got a talented young player in Max Christie for Doncic as well, but Dallas is also getting some young flyers back for Davis, such as AJ Johnson and Malaki Branham, so it's clear Dallas probably got way more young talent for Davis compared to Doncic once all these picks convey.

It's harsh to continuously look at everything in the scope of the Davis trade through the lens of the Doncic trade, but this is the reality Harrison set the Mavericks up for when he made the ill-fated decision to trade Doncic a little over a year ago. While many Mavericks fans are happy with the return for Davis in the present, they'd much rather have Doncic compared to any of the young flyers or draft picks they eventually got for him through trading Davis.

At this point, Mavericks fans and analysts have to come to grips with the fact that Dallas got the best possible package for Davis that they could in the present tense, giving them the flexibility to build around Cooper Flagg for the long-term, even if this package may pale in comparison to what they could've got for Doncic if Harrison shopped him correctly.

Holistically, the Mavericks got a decent return for Doncic if you include what they are getting for Davis as part of the Doncic trade, even though it doesn't necessarily work like that, and Dallas definitely could've found a more lucrative package for the Slovenian superstar a year ago.