In one of the more surprising trades of Thursday's deadline, the Dallas Mavericks shipped off star big man Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie. Although this move came out of nowhere, Mavs owner Mark Cuban clarified that it simply had to be done in order to address two of the team's biggest needs: shooting and ball-handling.
Via Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News:
“I think KP’s an incredible talent. But we needed that shooter [Bertans] and we needed another ball handler [Dinwiddie] who could create a shot, and unfortunately that was the only way we were going to get them,,” Cuban said before referencing the Mavs' 13-8 record without Porzingis this season.
“It was that simple — getting two guys who fill roles that we really needed, and the fact that we have played OK without KP. But I think that doesn’t take anything away from KP being a great talent, and I actually think he’s going to be better with the Wizards than he was with us.”
On top of bringing in two players who help them in specific categories, the Mavs, as noted by Cuban, have actually played decent without Porzingis, who has missed a total of 21 games already this season due to injury. Dallas is shooting just 33.8% from downtown, which is 24th in the league. Needless to say, they needed reinforcements.
While Bertans is averaging a measly 5.7 points on 31% shooting from downtown, Dinwiddie is enjoying a respectable campaign, putting up 12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per night. He should fit in nicely alongside Luka Doncic as the Mavs look to continue their hot streak.
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