Subscribe
Follow Us
The Dallas Mavericks became the most criticized organization in professional sports in the aftermath of their decision to trade Luka Doncic away to the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, it was only the Lakers that was given the opportunity to acquire Doncic, with the Mavericks being hellbent on acquiring Anthony Davis in return. But at the very least, this wasn't the scariest possible outcome, as the San Antonio Spurs could have thrown the farm at the Mavs and paired Doncic with Victor Wembanyama.
That would have been game over for the league for the next decade; a pairing of Doncic and Wembanyama, health-permitting, would have the Spurs as the favorite to win the title for years. While San Antonio should still be scary in the coming years with their addition of De'Aaron Fox and the arrival of another lottery pick this upcoming draft, nothing beats the upside of a partnership between Doncic and Wembanyama.
ESPN's Bobby Marks envisioned a scenario where all teams would have gotten the opportunity to trade for Doncic. In that universe, here's the trade that Marks believes the Spurs should have done to move for the (former) Mavericks star.
The trade:
Spurs trade: Harrison Barnes, Tre Jones, Zach Collins, 2025 unprotected first-round pick, 2025 ATL unprotected first-round pick, 2027 unprotected first-round pick, 2027 ATL unprotected first-round pick, 2029 unprotected first-round pick, 2031 MIN unprotected first-round pick
Mavericks trade: Luka Doncic
Spurs are set up to win multiple championships
One would think that any prospective Luka Doncic trade talks with the Spurs will be starting with the inclusion of Stephon Castle, the fourth overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft who has proven to be more NBA-ready than anticipated. With the Mavs wanting to win now as well, they will be asking for Devin Vassell at the minimum; Vassell is a 3-and-D wing on the rise, and he's only 24 years of age.
But in Marks' hypothetical trade, the Spurs will be keeping not just Castle and Vassell, but another young piece in Jeremy Sochan. That alone is a major win for San Antonio, even though they will have to give up nearly their entire draft-pick capital in the process.
In a world where Mikal Bridges went for five first-round picks, Doncic is well worth six of those selections; some of those draft picks could turn out being incredibly valuable (the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves picks could end up being high lottery picks), but why hoard those picks with the hope of drafting a player that could be as good as Doncic when Doncic himself is available and in the middle of the prime of his career?
For the Spurs to give up just Harrison Barnes, Tre Jones, and Zach Collins is a major win as well; Jones and Collins went in the De'Aaron Fox trade, and it doesn't seem like Barnes is anything more than a stopgap option for them on the wing whose contract will be expiring at the end of the 2025-26 season.
Article Continues Below
This is a trade that the Spurs, if presented to them by the Mavericks, must accept in a heartbeat. It's a fireable offense if they don't.
Grade: A+
Mavericks inexplicably hit reset button, but choose a concrete direction
For the Mavericks to spin the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade as a move that bolsters their championship hopes was laughable. After all, Doncic led the team to the NBA Finals last year, and armed with more depth this year, they conceivably could have gone on another deep run if they just ran it back.
There's no way that the Mavericks will trade Doncic away to decide to start over not even a year after they made it all the way to the NBA Finals. But at least in this scenario, the Mavs' direction is clear: they have run out of faith in their current core and decided to start over, and this hypothetical Spurs trade allows them to do so.
Even then, it's not quite acceptable for the Mavs to push through with this trade without getting at least one of Stephon Castle or Devin Vassell. Doncic is too good to be getting pennies on the dollar for him. The 26-year-old star is a perennial MVP candidate, a five-time First Team All-NBA selection, and can legitimately be the best player on a championship team. It took LeBron James and Michael Jordan until they were 27 years old to win their first championship, it must be noted.
Perhaps the best suggestion for the Mavericks, if they could turn back time, is to simply keep Doncic and see how far he can take them. Dirk Nowitzki had to wait until his 13th season to break through, after all.
Grade: D
