Even though it has been over a month since the Los Angeles Lakers pulled off the blockbuster trade of acquiring Luka Doncic, its impact will be felt for years to come. Since the deal that shocked the basketball world, the Lakers immediately went on a run and moved up to second place in the Western Conference.
The same can not be said about their counterpart. Things couldn't have gone worse for the Dallas Mavericks, making the controversial trade look even more disastrous than it initially was.
Anthony Davis went down with an adductor strain in his Mavs debut and hasn't played since. The rest of their center rotation, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively are still out. Another trade deadline acquisition, Caleb Martin, still hasn't suited up for Dallas. Then, on Monday, Kyrie Irving suffered a devastating ACL tear that ended his season.
To make matters even worse, ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that Anthony Davis may not return this season.
Shams on Anthony Davis:
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) March 4, 2025
"I think him, his representatives are gonna huddle up… they're gonna have some very hard conversations. It's not out of the realm of possibility that one game was the last time we've seen AD this season" 👀
h/t @ohnohedidnt24
pic.twitter.com/nom7V9drY9
NBA News: Anthony Davis May Not Play Again This Season
On his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, the NBA insider said that AD would talk with his team to decide on his availability for the rest of the season.
Perhaps shutting AD down for the season makes some sense for Dallas. They are currently in tenth place, and without Irving, they have no chance of getting out of the Play-In and making any noise in the postseason. Tanking down the stretch and improving their lottery odds may be the smart move for the Mavericks.
How quickly things went down south for the Mavericks must be utterly disappointing for the fanbase. After making the NBA Finals last season, they are now on the brink of never being a championship contender again.
This is why they should have never traded Luka Doncic. It will be even harder for Mavericks fans to watch Doncic and the Lakers make a deep postseason run this spring.