One year ago today, the Dallas Mavericks made the most baffling move in NBA history and are still feeling the effects of the trade.
One year ago today, in the early hours of February 2, 2025, the Dallas Mavericks shipped off Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
There was no warning, no trade demand by Doncic, and no public falling out between superstar and franchise. In the dead of night, for no reason whatsoever, Nico Harrison and the Mavericks pulled off the worst trade in NBA history.
Just how bad was it? Well, it was immediately compared to another awful trade, one where Dallas was on the winning side.
"From the start, we labeled this ill-conceived trade – so shocking that even NBA GMs themselves who first saw it on social media assumed it was an early April Fool’s joke – the 'Herschel Reversal,'" wrote our veteran Mavs' reporter Mike Fisher.
"That is to say, the Dallas hoops team just got hoodwinked on the same level as the Dallas football team did it back in 1989 when Herschel Walker was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for such a treasure trove of assets that it literally built 'America’s Team' into a three-time Super Bowl winner and Team of the ’90’s.'"
The Lakers are yet to win their title with Luka, although they are a lot closer to a postseason run than the Mavericks are.
Harrison would later be fired, and the Mavericks--who looked poised to run it back after winning the Western Conference the season prior--missed the playoffs. A postseason return doesn't seem to be in the cards anytime soon.
Sure, Dallas landed Cooper Flagg with the first overall pick in 2025, and he's been as good as advertised, but Mavs fans would all agree: they would rather have Luka.
Fans, Mavericks Still Regret the Trade
I've been covering the Dallas Mavericks for four seasons now. After the 2024 run to the Finals, I thought articles on "rebuilds" and "mock drafts" wouldn't really register. After all, this was a winning team with an in-his-prime superstar.
I couldn't have been more wrong, but then again, no one predicted that Doncic would ever be on the trade block, especially not without a public request to be moved.
"I'm sick," a Mavericks fan texted me that morning. "I only slept for three hours because of this. My last bit of fandom died last night."
That fan knows well and good that I am a fan of the San Antonio Spurs. 16 hours after the Mavericks traded away their future for no discernible reason, the Spurs added De'Aaron Fox in a three-team deal, rubbing salt in the wound of Dallasites.
Immediately after the trade, even the Mavericks' players couldn't hide their shock. Months before the deal, Marc Cuban sold his majority share in the franchise, although he expected to be consulted on team functions. Instead, he was as shocked as everyone.
"It was a mistake, and I wish they would have spoken to me first,” Cuban told NBA insider Marc Stein. “I’m happy for Luka. And I’m happy for Mavs fans that we’ve got [Cooper Flagg], even though I recognize that we all still miss Luka. The people responsible for that [deal] are for the most part gone, which I think was necessary.”
The Luka-led Mavericks, Wemby-led Spurs, and Sengun/Thompson/Durant Rockets were all supposed to be at the top of the Western Conference for the next ten seasons. Instead, the Mavericks are focused on the upcoming draft, their injured veterans, and a teenage centerpiece who, while promising, was not dubbed "Wonder Boy" before his first career game.
Give Mavericks fans a time machine, and the first thing they would do is go back a year and cut Nico Harrison's phone lines, or maybe something else of his.