5 Reasons Luka Doncic trade will go down as the worst trade in Mavericks history

The Dallas Mavericks just shocked the world. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Mavs have traded Luka Doncic, Markieff Morris, and Maxi Kleber to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and their 2029 first-round pick. The same guy who brought the Mavs to the Finals this past June will now don new threads.

Davis is a phenomenal defender, and he and Irving will make a solid duo, but this is an incredibly strange trade, especially with the way they went about it. Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported that the Mavs had been concerned with Doncic’s conditioning, but there are also reports that they made this deal in a rush. And that’s insane.

Here are five reasons why this is the worst trade in Mavericks history.

1. Luka Doncic is a generational talent

For as amazing as Davis is, especially on the defensive end, Doncic is one of the best offensive players in NBA history. The way he commands an offense is unlike almost anyone else in the league.

Doncic just brought the Mavs to the Finals, and now he’s no longer on the team. Getting rid of this level of player in any capacity is bound to draw serious scrutiny.

2. Anthony Davis is 31 years old

Doncic is 25 years old. Davis is 31. They just traded six years of their future to try to win right now.

Add in the fact that, at his age, Davis has dealt with a ton of injuries throughout his career, and that trade-off doesn’t make much sense.

Why give up one of the best players in the league, who is only 25 years old, for a guy leaving the prime years of his career?

3. Mavs didn’t put Luka Doncic on open market

According to all the reports coming out, the Mavs put this trade together without scouring the market. They called the Lakers, told them Doncic was on the table and got a deal done.

That’s absolutely unacceptable.

Trading a top-five player in the NBA without assessing the true market value for him is unacceptable. It makes sense that the Mavs want to win right now, but this is an irresponsible way to handle a talent as incredible as Doncic.

4. There aren’t that many other bad Mavs trades

Looking at the Mavericks’ history of trades, especially as outlined in this article from 2018, nothing compares to this deal.

There was the trade that sent Jason Kidd to the Phoenix Suns, the Mark Aguirre trade, and others. Trading a guy as amazing as Doncic clears them all.

And it’s not particularly close.

5. The Mavs still aren’t a top-five team in the NBA

For as solid as the Mavs will be with a defender as amazing as Davis, this deal still doesn’t quite get them to where they want to go in the short-term.

The Boston Celtics are still the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder still have a better roster, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been amazing this season, and the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, and New York Knicks all have cases as better squads than this Mavs team, too.

Dallas traded their franchise superstar in an attempt to win now, and they aren’t even one of the best teams in the league.

That’s wild.