Mavericks traded for wrong Lakers star - a decision looking worse by the day

The Dallas Mavericks traded for the wrong Los Angeles Lakers star: They went for Anthony Davis, but they should have targeted Austin Reaves. Obviously, the Mavericks should have never traded Luka Doncic in the first place. And if they were determined to move him, they should have opened up a bidding war. But since they were clearly insistent on trading him to LA, Reaves should have been the star of the return package, not Davis.

So far this season, the Mavs have struggled to compete in the West, and injuries to Davis and Kyrie Irving have been a primary factor in those struggles. Meanwhile, Reaves has enjoyed an elite, potentially All-NBA season for the Lakers.

He could be doing all that in Dallas right now.

Mavericks should have traded for Austin Reaves instead of Anthony Davis

Had the Mavs traded for Reaves, maybe he would have helped them win too many games, which would have taken them out of the race for Cooper Flagg. But for a moment, let’s imagine they had both players.

If the Mavericks were rolling out a starting lineup that included Reaves and Flagg, they could be much better positioned to compete for a playoff spot this season.

Even with Doncic and, now, LeBron James next to him, Reaves’ 2025-26 numbers are insane. He’s averaging 28.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 51.9% from the floor 36.4% from deep on 7.6 three-point attempts per game.

And without Doncic and James in the lineup, he’s managed to put up even crazier numbers, probably similar to the ones he could be putting up as the Mavs’ primary ball-handler next to Flagg.

Obviously, the deal would have had to been much different had the Mavericks wanted Reaves instead of Davis, mostly because of the salary involved.

It probably would have included the likes of Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, and others just to make the money work, but still, having Reaves would have been a much better long-term option for the Mavericks.

Plus, the chance to get Doncic could have had the Lakers so excited to get a deal done that the Mavs could have potentially gotten more draft capital back in return, in addition to Reaves.

But instead, Nico Harrison was locked in on trading for Davis. That was the guy he wanted.

So, instead of having Reaves and a ton of draft picks next to Flagg right now, they have a 32-year-old, injury-prone big man.

Davis has been solid since returning to the Mavericks’ lineup, but Reaves could be looking even better.