Mavericks could’ve got trade return of the century for Doncic but jumped the gun

As the basketball world is roughly a little under 100 hours removed from Luka Doncic being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, everyone is still in shock over what many are coining the most unprecedented move in NBA history. The Mavericks blindsided their 25-year-old Slovenian superstar, as Nico Harrison gave Doncic no sort of indication that he was planning on trading him, and now the Mavericks and the rest of their team must move forward as if nothing happened.

Make no mistake about it, Anthony Davis is poised to bring an entirely new element to this Mavericks team, and Dallas may have one of the most prolific defensive frontcourts of all time once Dereck Lively II returns from injury. 21-year-old Max Christie has already proved to be a very intriguing sweetener in this deal too, as Christie scored 15 points on 4-4 shooting from outside in his debut against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

It's clear the Mavericks could definitely still be very competitive this season, especially if they make a trade for another shot creator before tomorrow's trade deadline at 2 p.m. CDT, but it goes without saying that Dallas made an insane gamble and upset nearly their entire fanbase by trading Doncic, and this is all the while Harrison failed to maximize Dallas' return in this deal.

Dallas could've maximized return package with Warriors' desperation

Dallas only took back one first-round pick from the Lakers in this deal and one talented young player (Christie), which simply tracks as organizational malpractice by Harrison when one takes into consideration some of the otherworldly compensation other teams have received for trading their star players in recent seasons.

Harrison didn't talk to anyone else besides the Lakers in regards to Doncic's asking price, and while talking to some other general managers and executives clearly would've prompted Harrison to talk down his asking price like it is rumored Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was able to do, the Golden State Warriors are a team that likely wouldn't have done that and Dallas could've looked to explore making a Doncic trade with instead.

It's been rumored that the Warriors are heavily interested in pairing Stephen Curry with another superstar for the latter half of Curry's career, and that was all but confirmed by NBA insider Jake Fischer when he reported today that the only reason Golden State didn't make a move to re-acquire superstar Kevin Durant via trade today was because Durant was disinterested in a return to the Bay Area.

This confirms that the Warriors are very much star hunting right now, and the Mavericks would've been the perfect trade partner for this transaction, as Dallas could've likely got a pool of young players that included names such as Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and Moses Moody.

The Mavericks could've gotten up to four first-round picks with multiple swaps potentially as well, as Golden State has every single one of their first-round picks besides their 2030 selection. Dallas easily could've found the perfect trade partner to get a worthy package for a player of Doncic's caliber, but Harrison was clearly deadlocked on acquiring Davis, or else he definitely would have tried to accurately gauge Doncic's trade market.

Davis, Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick may not be the stale bag of chips fans are claiming, but it's definitely a little lesser of a package than Doncic was truly worth, and Dallas could've even used the sheer accumulation of first-round picks to swing another trade for another star at the deadline.

The Mavericks and Harrison truly had the opportunity to manage this situation so much better, and not maximizing the return package for Doncic is a fireable offense, as it wouldn't be surprising to see Harrison leave the Mavericks sometime within the next few years if things take an ultimate turn for the worst.