On the eve of the trade deadline, the Dallas Mavericks cut their losses and sent Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards for a package headlined by Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, two first-round picks (from Oklahoma City and Golden State) and three second-round picks. This was such an admission of defeat that the Mavs have indeed fumbled the bag with the Luka Doncic trade as they sent the main man they got in exchange for Doncic and it felt like they got a (relative) bag of chips in return.
The Mavericks, of course, had hoped that Davis would be the final piece of their championship puzzle. Instead, they're back to the drawing board, choosing to pivot towards youth and build around Cooper Flagg. They've backed themselves into this corner, and they have to be thanking their lucky stars that they won the lottery last year and got Flagg to compensate for the loss of Doncic.
There's no use in crying over spilled milk. But at the end of the day, the Mavericks simply did not get a healthy version of the entire team that was built around Davis' defense, much to head coach Jason Kidd's regret.
“It was unfortunate, his health. We never got to see everyone together. Not just AD but Kyrie and with Coop. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that opportunity. But AD is an incredible basketball player and a great human being. We wish him the best in D.C.,” Kidd said, per Christian Clark of The Athletic.
Mavericks pull the plug on ill-fated Nico Harrison vision
If one were to squint, they certainly can see that Nico Harrison may have been on to something in his decision to trade Doncic for a Davis-centric package. The Mavericks needed defense, and they had sufficient shot-creation when Kyrie Irving was healthy.
But the basketball gods collected rent from the Mavericks rather quickly. Irving tore his ACL, Davis wasn't able to find a consistent clean bill of health, and the Mavs, as a result, suffered. Nonetheless, they are not falling prey to the sunk cost fallacy, allowing them to wash the slate clean.
