Now what?
It’s not like the Dallas Mavericks can undo the Luka Dončić trade. Yes, firing general manager Nico Harrison for making one of the most fireable-offense trades in NBA history was a necessary first step, not to mention a dive in front of the freight train of Harrison inevitably extending Anthony Davis’s contract next summer.
But now comes the hard part: Dallas has to dig its way out of this mess, one that has left the team with a 3-8 record through 11 games.
Part of that is because the Mavericks are missing Kyrie Irving, who is still sidelined with a torn ACL, and lack a real on-ball shot creator. Part of that is because the Mavericks are built on a leftover fiction from the Dončić trade, the idea that Davis is A) a power forward and not a center, and B) a guy who can create with the ball in his hands. And part of that is because of other mistakes up and down the roster; it got less attention than the Dončić deal, but trading Quentin Grimes for a bag of hammers has aged nearly as badly, while Klay Thompson makes $34 million over this year and next and looks like a marginal player.
The good news/bad news part of Dallas’ early struggles is that it controls its own draft pick in 2026 but does not in any of the years from 2027-30. Trading to get the picks back is complicated by the fact that four different teams own them: The Mavericks’ first-round pick goes to Charlotte (top-two protected) in 2027, gets swapped to Oklahoma City in 2028, goes to Brooklyn or Houston in 2029 and is swapped with San Antonio or Minnesota in 2030. (Dallas, we should note, does own the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick as part of the Dončić trade.)
Nonetheless, the pivot point for Dallas seems clear. A lot of teams tank to win the draft lottery, but the Mavericks already did, nabbing forward Cooper Flagg with the first pick in June. The Mavericks have another core young piece in 22-year-old center Dereck Lively II and are on track to have another high lottery pick in a loaded 2026 draft. Getting the 2027 pick back from Charlotte would be nice, yes, but with or without lottery picks from 2027-30, there’s enough here to kick-start a rebuild that has them competitive relatively quickly and eventually builds around Flagg.
On the court, some obvious tweaks are available to improve things, some of which were already in process as Jason Kidd saw what obviously wasn’t working. Playing Davis at his actual center position rather than next to another big should improve the spacing, and having one of D’Angelo Russell or Brandon Williams on the floor at all times should relieve the strain on Flagg having to pretend he’s a point guard against paint-packed defenses The recent decision to pull Thompson from the starting lineup helps put more mobility and athleticism on the floor as well.
That said, the Mavs have some important big-picture organizational decisions to make now that the Defense Wins Championships Era is over.
Chief among them should be canvassing the market for Davis trades. He is 32 and injury-prone, so the time to get value for him is yesterday. I’ll note that Davis’ willingness to play center for his next team is a key factor in all this. If you let Davis think he’s a power forward with perimeter skills, he turns into a ball stopper, throwing up contested midrange slop. Plus, he must fall down on his own self-created shot attempts more than any player in the league, conceding five-on-fours the other way.
Play him at center, however, and something very different happens; Davis relies on assisted baskets to eat, but the meals are Nobu-level quality. Get him the rock on the move, and he’s a problem. He’s one of the best rim runners in the league, beats opposing bigs down the court with ease and has the mobility to play as a switchable center in pick-and-roll defense. His shooting is also much less of a liability at that spot, with four spacers around him and opposing centers reluctant to chase him out to the 3-point line. Proof of concept, of course, is his dominant role in the Lakers’ 2020 championship run.
Davis is out with a calf strain, and teams will want to see him back in the lineup before committing assets to a deal, but it shouldn’t be hard for Dallas to walk away from a Davis deal with a pile of draft picks and/or young players plus matching salary. Contractually, the timing is good: Davis is signed for this season and next before his 2027 player option and is extension-eligible next summer.
Trading Irving, eventually, is a likely second piece of this, but it need not happen right away. For the moment, the Mavs’ biggest message to the 33-year-old Irving should be, “Take all the time you need.” The Mavs likely aren’t going anywhere this season, but prospective trade partners need to see a healthy Irving performing on the court before they’ll commit to giving up assets. If he can be back before the trade deadline, that’s fantastic, but it seems more likely that an Irving move would happen this summer. He’s signed through 2027 and has a player option for 2027-28.
Given the struggles so far, it almost goes without saying that ending up below the luxury tax is also a likely endgame in Dallas. Trading Davis’ $54.1 million salary will go a long way toward that (the Mavs are $16.9 million over), but Dallas will likely need to take back nearly as much to complete a trade. Offloading the likes of Thompson ($16.7 million), Dwight Powell ($4 million), Jaden Hardy (somehow only on Year 1 of an extension that pays him $6 million annually) and Caleb Martin (only three years and $30 million left!) might be required to get them past the post here, possibly by stuffing one or more of them into a Davis trade that involves a third team.
As far as trade targets go, one of the biggest ones for Dallas should be trying to control its tanking destiny by getting that 2027 pick back from Charlotte, possibly by dangling picks or players they receive for Davis. That should at least open up a two-year window for a more serious rebuilding window around Flagg and Lively, and it also lines up with a post-Davis, post-Irving cap strategy that would see massive room appear on the books in the summer of 2027. That said, getting picks and good young players of any variety is nearly as important.
Dallas might also listen to offers for Daniel Gafford, Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington, but all three are 27 years old and signed to reasonable contracts. All three might also look a lot better in a Davis-less system that lets them play their natural positions, and the Mavs will need some decent vets next season if they can’t get the pick back from Charlotte and tank.
Again, Dallas already won the lottery. The Mavs just need to re-focus their roster-building around Flagg’s future, not Davis’ present.