The Dallas Mavericks have gotten off to a 23-13 start to the 2019-20 year with MVP candidate Luka Doncic leading the way. With those wins — and magnificent outings from Doncic — comes increased attention to the team, which has resulted in them getting multiple appearances on ESPN. During Wednesday's broadcast versus the Denver Nuggets, color commentator and former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy was effusive in his praise of the Mavs front office for acquiring Doncic on Draft night in 2018.

“It's truly going to go down as one of the great trades in NBA history, for the Mavericks,” Van Gundy said. “I mean, to get a generational talent like that, via trade. Remarkable.

“They got [Dirk] Nowitzki the same way. Draft night trade for Robert ‘Tractor' Traylor.”

In that Draft night trade, Dallas gave up the rights to point guard Trae Young, who has become a superstar in his own right for the Atlanta Hawks. While the Mavs had to give up an additional first-round pick to get Luka Doncic's services, it's unlikely that the franchise is likely to regret any loss of additional talent when watching Doncic play.

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Last season, Doncic was crowned the league's Rookie of the Year. Finishing in second place and making a convincing case of his own was Young, who came on in the second half of the season. Van Gundy seems to be right on the mark as it pertains to the historic nature of the deal, as it could go down as one of the greatest player-for-player swaps in league history if both men continue to develop at their current rate.