Mavericks left to answer big question on Luka Doncic trade: Why?

Anthony Davis is a four-time first-team All-NBA selection, a three-time pick for the All-Defensive team, an NBA champion. He’s averaging 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game in this NBA season, a month before his 32nd birthday.

And despite his credentials, Dallas Mavericks fans and others Sunday morning were left wondering why their team would acquire Davis if it meant giving up Luka Doncic, a dynamic scorer who led the league with 33.9 points per game last season and has been named All-NBA five seasons in a row.

All before he turns 26 later this month.

But that’s just what happened in a late Saturday night stunner as the Mavericks dealt Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, per ESPN. Utah was involved as a third team to facilitate the trade, receiving Jalen Hood-Schifino, the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick and the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round selection.

Dallas general manager Nico Harrison told ESPN early Sunday that Doncic’s shortcoming as a defender — and Davis’ excellence at that end of the floor — were driving factors for the deal as the Mavericks strive to reach the NBA playoffs. The Doncic-led Mavericks were swept by the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals last June.

“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison said. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”

The ESPN report also indicated the Mavericks were frustrated by Doncic failing to emphasize conditioning. While he’s listed at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds by NBA.com, he reportedly weighed more than 260 pounds early this season.

His weight has led to concerns that the extra pounds have made him prone to injuries, such as the calf strain he sustained on Christmas Day in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He hasn’t played since but is expected to return by the All-Star break this month. He has been limited to 22 games this season.

Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd undoubtedly will face more questions on the deal.

“Luka getting traded from Dallas has to have a deeper story behind it,” wrote Tristan Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers on X, formerly Twitter. “This just doesn’t happen on a random Saturday night.”

Thompson won the NBA title with LeBron James in Cleveland in 2016. And while speculation long has persisted that James gives his input on the roster to the Lakers front office, ESPN reported that wasn’t the case with this trade.

Per the network, James was dining with his family Saturday night after the Lakers’ win in New York against the Knicks when he heard about the trade.

Doncic and Davis also learned of the deal after the Mavericks and Lakers reached agreement, per ESPN.

Tim Cowlishaw, sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, wrote in his Sunday piece that the trade doesn’t add up for him — and repeats franchise history.

“I will say it now and I will say it again 48 hours from now: There is something missing here,” Cowlishaw said. “There has to be some element of this trade not yet reported, some bizarre set of facts that led Harrison and the Mavericks down this incredibly silly path.

“Remember the Mavericks traded Jason Kidd when he was 23 so he could make eight All-Star Game appearances with Phoenix and New Jersey before closing his career back in Dallas with the franchise’s single championship. As good as Kidd was obviously going to be, he wasn’t there yet. He wasn’t first-team all-NBA year after year like Luka has been until this injury-plagued season.”

Davis has been sidelined since he suffered an abdominal strain during the Lakers’ 118-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday and was expected to miss at least a week. It’s unclear when he’ll put on a Dallas uniform for the first time.

The Mavericks, in eighth place in the Western Conference, are set to face the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Sunday. They are expected to eventually put a starting lineup of guards Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, forwards Davis and P.J. Washington and center Daniel Gafford — subbing until Dereck Lively II returns from a fractured foot — on the floor.

Cowlishaw remained mystified.

“That’s right, a player six years older than Luka is now coming to Dallas, presumably to tag team with two other 30-somethings, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, to lead this team to, what, a play-in game? In a Western Conference where Oklahoma City, Houston and Memphis will just run you off the floor with their youth and athleticism, the Mavericks are seeking to win based on memories of a decade ago,” he wrote.

–Field Level Media