Grading Blockbuster Luka Dončić, Anthony Davis NBA Trade Between Lakers, Mavericks

It feels like fans and media personalities all over the internet and TV are trying to sort through a deeper, more complicated mystery than Mark S. is chasing in Severance.

This truly just doesn’t make sense. ]

In the immediate aftermath of the news breaking, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon both mentioned the Mavericks’ concerns over Luka’s conditioning. MacMahon added that Dallas, “felt like [Luka’s commitment to the organization] wasn’t strong in a lot of ways.”

And it sounds like that lack of commitment was mutual.

Evidently, per Windhorst and MacMahon, the Mavericks weren’t sure if the upcoming supermax they’d have to offer him would be a wise investment.

General manager Nico Harrison tried to sell it another way.

“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison told MacMahon of the deal. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”

*In my most Mark Jackson voice* With all due respect, those explanations just aren’t going to cut it.

NBA superstars have been notoriously difficult to deal with for decades. Organizations that figure out how to push through that are the ones that win titles. Heck, the Lakers once had to rebuff a pretty serious trade request from Kobe Bryant.

And obviously, AD is a better defender than Luka, but “defense wins championships” could’ve applied to the supporting cast with which Dallas surrounded him.

This season, the Mavericks are allowing 110.3 points per 100 possessions with Luka on the floor, a defensive rating that ranks in the 81st percentile.

Defensive anchors are easier to find than once-in-a-generation offensive hubs. From a basketball perspective, there’s just no way to sell this as a positive for Dallas.

And on top of that, if the Mavs were going to entertain moving a talent of this level (as they obviously did), a totally unforeseen, middle-of-the-night deal after seemingly one offer is mind-boggling. Windhorst told SportsCenter that executives and agents from all over the league were blowing up his phone trying to figure out why Dallas did this.

There are four and a half days till the trade deadline. If the Mavericks told even a handful of potential suitors that Luka might be available, a massive bidding war would’ve broken out. There’s just no possible way this was the best deal the team could’ve gotten between now and mid-Thursday.

Sure, Dallas can put on a tough face and insist that it’s committed to winning a championship. But just about every future scenario here involves Mavericks fans looking back on this night and wondering, “Why?!”