Mavericks trading for 'dream' target would shatter fans' hearts all over again

February 1, 2025, will be ingrained into Dallas Mavericks fans' minds forever. That is the day that Nico Harrison traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, and fans still haven't gotten over it. They can't believe that Harrison traded Doncic in the middle of the night after leading the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in the season prior, and while landing the No. 1 pick and the right to draft Cooper Flagg has helped alleviate the pain, Harrison isn't safe just yet.

He still faces the challenge of building the best possible roster to contend next season, and one suggested trade in particular would rip the Mavericks' fanbase apart like no other. Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz put together three "dream trade targets" for every team in the NBA, listing Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns as one of Dallas's "dream" targets.

Swartz proposed that the Mavericks bring in Durant to be a "model" for Flagg, and Dallas gutting their depth for an aging superstar in Durant would be the worst possible move they could make this summer.

Mavs trading for Durant is more of a nightmare scenario than a 'dream'

First off, in order to get Durant to the Mavericks, Harrison would have to send multiple high-level assets to the Suns while also coughing up significant draft capital (likely several first-round picks). Trading first-round picks is the last thing that Harrison needs to be doing right now, as he must focus on building their future around Flagg, and a trade for Durant would significantly compromise their future.

Trading for Durant would mean Harrison is doubling down on his priority of winning a title right now, consequently throwing away future assets that would give the Mavericks a better shot at winning with Flagg in the future. The NBA's two-timeline approach is one of the most challenging team-building strategies there is, and bringing in Durant would only complicate that even more, regardless of how exciting a core of Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Flagg, and Durant would be.

Rather than trading for a superstar like Durant, Harrison and the Mavericks should be targeting a move to get them some much-needed guard help until Irving can return from his ACL tear (likely at some point in 2026). Dallas has already been linked to Jrue Holiday, Lonzo Ball, and Chris Paul over the last few weeks, and signing Paul or trading for Ball or Holiday would undoubtedly be a better move than trading for a 36-year-old Durant.

As the offseason treks on, the Mavericks' past rumored interest in Durant is bound to come up once again, but they must refrain from making such a move. Dallas's future would be at risk, and rather than easing into the Flagg era, they'd be pushing all of their chips in to winning a title in year one.

Durant only has one year remaining on his contract before becoming a free agent, and the risk of such a trade highly outweighs the reward. The Mavericks' 1.8 percent chance to land Flagg somehow came to fruition, and a trade for Durant would be a major slap in the face to the Mavericks fans who faithfully continued to follow the team after the Doncic trade.

Harrison and the Mavericks now have the perfect chance to make Flagg their centerpiece and prioritize the future after one of the wildest sequences of events in which fans gave up on them after years of loyalty, and they can't afford to mess that up.

There is no doubt that Durant is one of the best scorers to ever touch a basketball, but him adding a chapter of his career in Dallas doesn't seem like it should be in the cards for either side after what has transpired over the last few weeks.