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When news broke that the Dallas Mavericks were trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team deal that netted them Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick, it quite literally took the NBA by storm.
Suddenly, one of the association's top stars was on the move, and he didn't even net multiple first-rounders or a single pick swap, for that matter. What gives? Why didn't the Mavericks pursue the best deal possible or at least fleece the Lakers for every asset that wasn't bolted to the floor?
Why didn't they try to do everything in their power to build around Doncic instead of throwing up their hands and sending him packing?
Well, as it turns out, the Mavericks did pursue some moves to improve their former core before blowing it up to become the “League of LeBron James' Former Co-Stars,” with the team instead exploring a win-now upgrade to help Doncic, according to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype.
“Thus, NBA executives around the league believe the Mavericks aren't done trading ahead of the deadline and expect Dallas to remain active in the coming days,” Scotto wrote for Hoops Hype. “Dallas previously discussed Maxi Kleber in exploratory trade talks with the Indiana Pacers for forward Obi Toppin before including him in the Doncic trade, league sources told HoopsHype.”
Now at the time, trading Kleber for Toppins probably wouldn't have won any NBA trade deadline awards from fans, coaches, or pundits alike, but frankly, it made sense for the team with Doncic still under contract. The Mavericks had just made it to the NBA Finals in 2024 and were playing fairly well, considering how many games Doncic missed so far in the 2024-25 season.
Swapping out a player like Kleber, who was a certified stalwart in Dallas but a bit redundant on this current roster, for an ultra-athletic forward who is a very efficient scorer would have made the team better, especially with Doncic throwing him passes around the hoop.
Would Toppins have put the Mavs over the top with Doncic still in Dallas? Debatable. But in hindsight, it's safe to say most Mavericks fans would have done that deal 10 times out of 10, assuming it was the team's only deal, as they wouldn't have to stage a fake funeral in front of the team's stadium for a franchise player too soon traded away.
Will the Mavericks continue to be one of the better teams in the Western Conference by the time the season comes to an end? Potentially so; Dallas sits at 26-24 despite Doncic only appearing in 22 games, and instantly adding AD as a 1B next to a newly empowered Kyrie Irving could produce instant results for the team.
But a decade from now, Doncic will only be 35, whereas Irving and Davis will both be in their 40s and almost certainly out of the association. For better or worse, the Mavericks just shortened their own runway, and even if they win it all this summer, that will remain the prevailing narrative of this trade.
