One year after ‘The Trade,’ Dallas Mavericks must ship out two more All-Stars
For those with sensitive ears, over the next week NBA media coverage will blast the one-year anniversary of the worst trade in the history of professional basketball, a deal that still could potentially one-up the Boston Red Sox sending Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.
On Feb. 2, 2025, in the cover of night, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison sent Luka Doncic to the L.A. Lakers for, essentially, Anthony Davis. This deal changed the trajectory of the Mavericks, who one year later have not bottomed out.
Where the Dallas Mavericks are one year later
It is not a coincidence that the Mavericks picked this week to retire the jersey of Mark Aguirre. The team desperately needs positive distractions, and bringing back a retired player for a full-circle moment creates good vibes. The ceremony was held at halftime of the Mavs’ game on Thursday night against Charlotte.
Aguirre, who starred for the Mavs in the ‘80s, had a fractured relationship with the franchise for a long time, but those feelings have faded.
What have not faded are the feelings from Mavericks fans who are still in disbelief that the franchise traded Luka. The team is not winning enough to make people forget, much less move on. After a 123-121 loss to Charlotte, the Mavericks are 19-29, 12th in the Western Conference.
Top pick Cooper Flagg is better than the prayers that were said when the Mavericks drafted him. He’s still a teenager, and he should be a top 10 player in the future.
Max Christie, who was part of the Luka/Davis trade, looks like he could be a decent complementary scorer on a good team. The Mavs have some decent parts.
What the Dallas Mavericks must do now
Firing Harrison was the first step in what will be a painful process of recovery.
Even if the team does not want to look like it’s bowing to the demands of agent Rich Paul, the Mavericks need to trade Anthony Davis today. And then they need to make plans to move on from guard Kyrie Irving.
Harrison’s “vision” to pair Davis and Kyrie would have been lethal — seven years ago. Today, both of these former All-Stars, Olympians and NBA champions are on the other side of 30, have logged a lot of basketball miles and are currently injured.
Davis is out, again, with a wrist injury that he sustained on Jan. 8. While it didn’t require surgery, it will keep him out for a decent chunk of the season. Since coming to the Mavs, he has appeared in 29 games.
When he plays, he’s still a great player. He doesn’t play.
If you want to hate this deal even more, Doncic has played 66 games for the Lakers, not including the playoffs.
That Harrison believed Davis was going to stay healthy for prolonged periods is akin to sending a fax to Santa Claus. Davis, 32, is eligible for a new contract in the offseason, which the Mavericks should never entertain.
Irving remains out from the torn ACL he suffered on March 3, 2025. At the time he suffered the injury, he was playing some of the best basketball of his career. The original hope was that he would be back by January.
It’s looking increasingly like he will not play at all this season, because — what’s the point? He is under contract for two more years, but he will be 34 next season.
The NBA’s trade deadline is Feb. 5, and while the Mavericks will be tempted to see Flagg, Davis and Irving on the floor together, the better future play is to be real about the two older guys and move on.
The trio of Flagg-Davis-Irving is, at best, a short-term play that can’t be trusted to make it to, or through, a seven-game playoff series.
The future of the Mavericks
Owner Patrick Dumont’s priority is to build a new arena/entertainment complex in downtown Dallas with the Mavericks as the anchor. He will want public assistance. Firing Harrison was the only chance Dumont had to move forward with the fans, Dallas taxpayers and city leadership.
Potentially bringing back Dirk Nowitzi in an advising role is good PR. While the Mavericks are trying to woo city leaders for public dollars, and score PR points, they should drop their petty lawsuit against the Dallas Stars over a disagreement about the American Airlines Center.
The best-case scenario for the Mavericks this season is to make the NBA’s play-in round, where the team will go nowhere. They need another lottery pick than they do an appearance in the play-in.
They have a first-round pick in what is projected as a loaded 2026 draft class; they are on track right now for a top 10 pick. As of today, their next first-round pick after ‘26 is not until 2031.
Harrison’s vision ultimately will set the Mavericks back by five years, a timeline shaved by a season or two because he lucked into Flagg.
More has to be done, and as much as it hurts, the Mavericks need to deal Davis and Irving, too. Then they can move forward.
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
