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The date is June 17, 2024. The Dallas Mavericks were just defeated by the Boston Celtics by a final score of 106-88 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at the TD Garden. With the victory, Boston clinched the championship, earning a five-game series win. Dallas' franchise superstar Luka Doncic proved that he could lead a team to the Finals, though. Even in the Game 5 losing effort, Doncic, who the Mavs acquired from the Atlanta Hawks on draft night in 2018, scored 28 points and did everything he could to help his team.
Dallas wanted to add help around Doncic. They added Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, Quentin Grimes and Spencer Dinwiddie during the offseason. The Mavericks were gearing up for another championship run with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the way.
Fast forward to the night of Saturday, February 1. The Mavs were in Cleveland preparing for their game against the Cavaliers on Sunday. Rumors of Doncic's return, as he suffered a calf injury on Christmas Day, had been swirling. Reports suggested that Luka could return before the NBA All-Star Game. That still could be true, but as we know now, Doncic will be returning from injury in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform.
It was 11:12 PM CST in Dallas when Shams Charania broke the news of the Doncic trade in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.”
Was Charania hacked? Could this have been some kind of joke? I mean, it was not April 1, but still.
No, it was “1000% real,” as Charania later wrote.
It's 1000% real: pic.twitter.com/ncNjpN37gU
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
Mavericks fans protest the Luka Doncic trade
Unsurprisingly, Mavericks fans were not thrilled with the idea of trading away the 25-year-old face of the franchise. The thought of trading Luka Doncic simply did not seem real.
During a press conference before Sunday's game against the Cavs, Nico Harrison addressed Mavs fans' frustrations with the trade.
“I'm sorry they're frustrated, but it's something that we believe in as an organization that's gonna make us better,” Harrison told reporters. “We believe that it sets us up to win not only now, but also in the future. When we win, I believe the frustration will go away.”
Will one championship redeem the Mavericks for trading away their franchise player at 25 years old, however? Doncic did not request a trade or give any indication that he would not sign a super-max contract during the upcoming offseason. Luka, who said he thought he would spend his entire career in Dallas, could have realistically signed a five-year deal.
The Mavericks did not have to make this trade. If Luka was requesting out then it would be a different story. It seems, and this is just speculation, that Dallas wants to build a team with a defensive-first mindset. Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis will lead the offense just like Kyrie and Luka did, however, Davis brings much more defensive prowess to the game.
Jason Kidd and Nico Harrison both mentioned the “defense wins championships” mindset during their press conference on Sunday.
In all reality, one championship probably won't be enough to redeem the Mavs for trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers. With Doncic, they could have potentially built a dynasty as he led the way. Trading most Mavericks fans' favorite player in a deal to turn to a defensive-first mindset simply isn't going to excite fans.
How can Mavericks win fans back following Doncic move?
The Mavs are going to need to build a dynasty with Davis and Irving as the star players. It's going to take multiple championships to prove that dealing Doncic away was worth it. If they only earn one championship from this move, there is a chance that Dallas fans will still not be content.
Harrison went from being regarded as one of the better general managers in all of sports to instantly becoming one of the most heavily criticized people in all of Dallas (maybe not as much as Jerry Jones) after dealing Doncic away. He surely knew this move wouldn't make him the most popular person in Dallas, but Harrison believes that the trade will help the Mavs win moving forward.
It's going to require multiple championships to truly win this trade. The Lakers are getting their next franchise superstar in this deal as Luka Doncic heads to Los Angeles. The Mavericks lost their franchise superstar, and it's going to take a few years before they will even have an opportunity to say this trade was worth it.
And if the Mavs fail to win any championships from this trade, fans' frustration will increase drastically.
