In the past month, the Mavericks have had a tumultuous series of events. From trading their star player away, to suffering numerous injuries, it’s safe to say it has not been a good month for Mavericks fans.
To start off the month of February, in a blockbuster trade, the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic citing conditioning concerns tied to his injury history. The Mavs GM, Nico Harris, believed that Luka’s departure was the key to building a championship level team. In return, they got Anthony Davis, who was the defensive player he felt they needed.
However, just seven days later, AD suffered an adductor strain and has not played since. Following the loss of their defensive leader, the Mavs also lost their veteran scorer, Kyrie Irving, to a torn left knee ACL.
Neither of the players claimed to have asked for this trade and it is believed to be initiated by general managers Nico Harris for the Mavs and Rob Pelinka for the Lakers.
The trade sparked an outcry from fans who felt a shocking sense of betrayal from the Mavericks organization. To commemorate Luka’s seven years on the Mavericks, fans held a mock funeral outside the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
An underlying motive for the move from the Mavericks is believed to be that this trade made Luka ineligible for the supermax contract which would have made him 100 million dollars.
On the upside for Luka, however, he has been prospering in LA, averaging 28.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 3.6 three-pointers since being traded to the Lakers.
Ironically, the Mavs received an injured player in return for the star player they traded away due to injury concerns. This, on top of another key player injury and fan outrage, the Mavericks decision making has deservedly been called into question.