![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/10f2aad37d2fe2d4c107ebf7557cac3b.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nThe Dallas Mavericks thought they were resetting their future when they moved on from Luka Doncic.<\/p>\n
Instead, the chain of deals that followed has left them with a shallow collection of players and distant draft picks that looks nowhere near enough for a generational superstar.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Dallas Mavericks complete Luka Doncic return<\/p>\n
Photo by Tom Pennington\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The original decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers centred on acquiring Anthony Davis as the franchise\u2019s new foundation.<\/p>\n
That gamble has now fully collapsed, with Dallas having since moved Davis on and locked in the full downstream return tied to losing their former MVP-calibre guard.<\/p>\n
As confirmed after Dallas traded Davis to Washington, a move first outlined publicly when Anthony Davis was made available following the season, the Mavericks\u2019 complete return now consists of:<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City Thunder 2026 first-round pick<\/p>\n
LA Lakers\u2019 2029 first-round pick<\/p>\n
Protected Golden State Warriors 2030 first-round pick<\/p>\n
Three future second-round selections.<\/p>\n
That reality was underlined once Davis was officially moved, ending any remaining hope that Dallas could still extract elite value from the original deal that sent Doncic to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Dallas Mavericks\u2019 return looks indefensible<\/p>\n
Measured against the value of a 25-year-old perennial All-NBA player, the Mavericks\u2019 return is stark. None of the players acquired project as franchise cornerstones, while the draft capital is spread thin and heavily dependent on long-term uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Christie and Branham profile as rotation pieces rather than difference-makers, Bagley has already bounced between teams, and Middleton arrived well past his prime years. The first-round picks are years away and carry protections that limit their upside.<\/p>\n
What makes the outcome more damaging is that the Mavericks voluntarily shortened their competitive window by pivoting away from a player capable of carrying an offense by himself in the postseason.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
The end result is a franchise without a clear identity, holding a return package that will be remembered as one of the weakest hauls ever accepted for a true superstar.<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Mavericks thought they were resetting their future when they moved on from Luka Doncic. Instead, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[4008,495,7,149,164,2039,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,368,6968,1022,7139,6,179,490],"class_list":["post-583979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-lakers","tag-aj-johnson","tag-anthony-davis","tag-basketball","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-khris-middleton","tag-la","tag-la-lakers","tag-lakers","tag-lalakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleslakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-malaki-branham","tag-marvin-bagley","tag-max-christie","tag-nba","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-the-mavericks"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116017973060864432","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}