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On Feb. 2, the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. It was a shocking deal, and few felt that the Mavericks received enough in return for the then-25-year-old star. All it took in terms of draft capital was one first-round pick to land the five-time All-Star.
Of course, Anthony Davis and Max Christie were also involved in the trade, but most deals involving stars these days include multiple draft picks. Without a huge return of draft picks, many have considered the Doncic deal to be one of the worst trades ever. Davis has only played in seven games since joining the Mavericks, confirming that Dallas probably should have looked elsewhere and for more if their soul was set on trading the player who led them to the NBA Finals just the year prior.
No team has more trading power than the Oklahoma City Thunder, so rather than getting tunnel vision on a Lakers trade, the Mavericks should have reached out to the Thunder. ESPN's Bobby Marks looked at what a Doncic to Oklahoma City trade could have looked like, but what trade grades would the teams have earned for this hypothetical move?
Thunder-Mavericks trade details
Thunder receive: Luka Doncic
Mavericks receive: Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Ousmane Dieng, Kenrich Williams, 2025 first-round pick (via Philadelphia), 2025 first-round pick (via Miami), 2026 first-round pick (most favorable of Oklahoma City, Houston; if 6-30, and Los Angeles Clippers), 2027 first-round pick (via Denver), 2029 first-round pick (via Denver), 2029 unprotected first-round pick, 2031 unprotected first-round pick
Thunder create a dynasty with Luka Doncic
The Thunder have dominated the Western Conference this season. They will likely finish the regular season with 10 or more wins than the second-placed team in the conference, so it is fair to say that they don't even need Doncic, as the team is certainly set up well to win the NBA Finals this year.
However, the Thunder have not only built a roster for immediate success, but they've set themselves up to eventually make a blockbuster trade. That is because the Thunder possess 14 future first-round picks/first-round pick swaps. The team added tons of young stars in their now-complete rebuild, but they also added tons of draft capital in the process. The team can use that absurd amount of firepower to trade for whatever star is put on the trade block.
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It is unlikely that there will ever be a star as talented and as young as Doncic when he was traded, so he would have been a perfect player to sacrifice draft capital for. This hypothetical deal sees the Thunder trade a record seven first-round picks, but it still leaves the team with plenty of assets for the future. Doncic would be worth the prize, too, because in all likelihood, none of those draft picks would become close to the player Doncic is.
The Thunder also lose five rotation-caliber players in this trade with Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, Kenrich Williams, and Ousmane Dieng all heading to Dallas. The excessive amount of draft picks and solid players prevent the Thunder from getting an A grade in this trade, but it would still have been worth it for the team. Regardless of who they could have traded, their departing pieces were going to be solid. That is because Oklahoma City has unmatched depth, and they are truly stacked one through 15 on their roster.
Doncic can more than replace the production lost in this trade. His presence would give the Thunder two MVP-caliber players in himself and likely 2024-25 MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The team would also keep two more All-Star caliber players in Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. They'd even maintain plenty of depth with Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Jaylen Williams, and Cason Wallace, and plenty of young talent to develop in Dillon Jones, Nikola Topic, and A'jay Mitchell.
Grade: B+
Mavericks get a record-breaking haul for Luka Doncic
Oftentimes, when a star is traded, the trading team does it to kick off a rebuild. Therefore, draft capital and young players are highly coveted. A complete franchise rebuild is not the reason the Mavericks traded Doncic. Instead, they just sought philosophical and play style changes, which is why they dealt for Davis and only got one draft pick in return.
This hypothetical deal looks more like your average superstar trade. The Mavericks might not have been able to contend right away after trading for seven first-round picks, but they don't even look like contenders now with Davis spending most of his time in Dallas on the bench. Dallas would have certainly been set up well for the future had they made this deal with Oklahoma City, though.
The Thunder are actually a good case study. They traded Paul George for a surplus of picks and young players back in the day. They landed Gilgeous-Alexander and the pick that would become Jalen Williams in that deal, on top of a lot of other assets. Now, the Thunder are better set up for both the present and the future than any other team in the NBA.
Parting with Doncic and not getting a clear-cut star in return wouldn't have been an easy to pill to swallow for the Mavericks, but you can't deny seven first-round draft picks. It would have been a truly historic return. On top of the picks, Dort is one of the best defensive players in the NBA, Joe is one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA, and Wiggins is one of the most underrated players in the league. Dieng is a recent lottery pick who hasn't been able to crack the Thunder's rotation with regularity, but he could break through with a change of scenery. Even Kenrick Williams is a solid hustle player who would bring a needed veteran presence on a Mavericks roster that would have been getting a lot younger had they made this deal.
Trading Doncic was never a good idea for the Mavericks, but if they had to do it, they should have done it for a package more like what the Thunder had to offer than what they got in return from the Lakers.
Grade: A-
