NBA gifts Mavericks a golden ticket to obliterate Nico's Luka Doncic trade disaster

It's been a relatively slow news cycle for the Dallas Mavericks these last few weeks after they got the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, as the Mavericks will be watching the upcoming NBA Finals from home after making the league's series finale last June. Getting the ability to watch Cooper Flagg next season has injected life into this Mavericks organization, though, as Dallas' standing as a potential playoff team next season has drastically shifted amongst most fans and analysts.

This is a stark contrast compared to when Luka Doncic came into the American Airlines Center and dropped 45 points on the Mavericks' head in his homecoming game with the Los Angeles Lakers on April 9, as the Mavericks were on the verge of missing the playoffs and fan outcry toward Nico Harrison's ill-advised decision to trade Doncic had never been higher.

Doncic likely has many more masterclasses coming against his former team, given his competitive spirit, but they will hopefully be a lot more competitive going forward, with Flagg set to become the face of Dallas' franchise for a long time, hopefully. The effects of the Doncic trade will still linger for a long time regardless, but the Mavericks want to do anything they can to shift the optics of this trade, as it was formally announced today via a press release from the Lakers that Dallas will play the Lakers almost as early as possible next season in hopes of showing off their new-look and healthier squad.

Mavericks get early shot at redemption with preseason clash with Lakers

Dallas is set to take on the Lakers at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on October 15 during this preseason. While the Mavericks' preseason schedule hasn't been announced yet, it wouldn't be surprising if this is one of the earliest games on Dallas' slate, and it's not surprising it's at a neutral site, considering how much league-wide fanfare the Doncic trade brought.

While the Mavericks and Lakers may have had some input on this decision with the schedule makers, the NBA clearly wants to put these two teams against each other for primetime matchups whenever they can, even if both teams won't be playing their full rotations in this game with no stakes involved. Even though both teams won't be going full-fledged, though, there are bound to be some possessions where Doncic gets a switch onto Anthony Davis or Flagg and the crowd starts going wild, so the game is bound to be as intriguing and storyline-filled as possible for a preseason contest.

Obviously, the Mavericks aren't going to win their fanbase back completely or makeup for the Doncic trade just by beating him and the Lakers in a preseason game, but if Dallas plays some decent defense on Doncic and Flagg gets some solid run and puts up a good game, then the national discourse will certainly shift a little more in Dallas' favor.

Harrison's decision to trade Doncic for the package he got in return can never be fully justified, but the Mavericks can quickly start to shake the notion they are an incompetent organization by winning this preseason affair versus the Lakers and continuing to do well against them anytime the two teams match up.

Doncic versus Flagg will be absolute cinema anytime the two face off against each other given the wild chain of events that led to Flagg assuming the mantle as Dallas' new franchise cornerstone just months after Doncic held that title, and Flagg and the Mavericks have a great opportunity to start shifting the conversation from how badly the Mavericks screwed up to what the team's long-term potential is with Flagg at the forefront once this game happens.