Regardless of how it ends, the 2024-25 Dallas Mavericks season will be defined by what happened in the late hours of Feb. 1.
The decision to trade superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers is still sending shockwaves through the NBA a full 2.5 months later. Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who assumed full responsibility (and has taken the lions’ share of blame from incensed Mavericks fans) over the trade, still stands by it. But the early returns have been disastrous for Dallas.
The defending Western Conference champion Mavericks had slipped to ninth in the West by the time of the trade thanks to Dončić being sidelined with a groin strain suffered on Christmas Day. But Dallas’ injury woes were just beginning — Anthony Davis, who Harrison sought in return for Dončić, suffered an adductor strain in his Mavericks debut and missed six weeks. Kyrie Irving, tasked with shouldering the offense with Dončić gone and Davis sidelined, tore his ACL on March 3. The Mavericks at one point had so few players available due to injuries that they were in danger of forfieting games.
Despite Davis’ impressive performance on the court when healthy, Dallas ultimately failed to make any sort of climb out of Play-In territory. The Lakers, who were fifth in the West at the time of the trade, enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed behind the pairing of two world-class all-around offensive weapons in Dončić and LeBron James.