The Dallas Mavericks have officially been eliminated from the NBA Play-In Tournament after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies by a final score of 120-106 on Friday night. It was a season full of twists and turns, and it came to an end on Friday in Memphis. There were many storylines throughout the season, but none were more notable than the Mavericks' shocking decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The deal left fans boiling with frustration. Mavs general manager Nico Harrison has been the subject of public backlash, with “Fire Nico” chants being heard at Mavs' home games since the trade, especially when Doncic returned with the Lakers.
Harrison has continued to express confidence in the trade, turning to the old adage “defense wins championships.” Rumors also suggested that the Mavs had concerns about Doncic's long-term durability.
To address the defense, Harrison acquired Anthony Davis from the Lakers. AD is unquestionably a superstar, but acquiring Davis, Max Christie and just one first-round pick felt like not nearly enough for Doncic.
The reality of the situation is that the downside of Harrison's gamble displayed itself in Friday's season-ending defeat for the Mavs.
Mavericks' post-Luka Doncic questions surface vs. Grizzlies
If Doncic's ability to stay healthy was a concern, why trade for Davis? AD has been injury prone throughout his career, and he is in his early 30's while Doncic just turned 26 in February.
AD was clearly dealing with an injury on Friday in the loss. He suffered an injury in his first game with the Mavs after the trade back in February. Even when the Mavericks acquired him, Davis was battling an injury.
Meanwhile, Doncic is healthy for the most part and playing for a Lakers team that clinched the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference despite trading an elite defensive presence in Davis.
That leads to another concern — Will the Mavs' defense be able to take care of business in the big moments?
Yes, this current Dallas team wasn't expected to make an NBA Finals run this postseason without Kyrie Irving. Harrison's confidence in “defense wins championships” has been clear, though, and Kyrie isn't the best defender in the NBA. The defense should have held up on Friday, yet the Mavs looked lost in the first-half and surrendered 66 points. In the end, the Grizzlies — even with Ja Morant dealing with an injury while playing — dropped 120 points on Nico Harrison's defensive-minded Mavericks.
Now, it would be unfair to judge the Mavs purely off of one game. Sure, Friday's performance was a letdown, but that doesn't mean the team won't bounce back next year. How long is this team's championship window going to be open, though?
The concerning element of the Mavs' future
This Mavericks team could be really good in 2025-26. Kyrie Irving is expected to return in the middle of the campaign, and Dallas will lean on Anthony Davis to lead the way throughout the year.
However, Davis is 32. Irving is 33. Kyrie has a player option after next season. AD has a player option following the 2026-27 campaign. With both players nearing their mid-30's and with some uncertainty as to how long they will remain with the Mavericks, the team's long-term outlook is questionable at best.
One may argue that the Mavs' championship window with this current group of players could close after next year. Perhaps the window has a couple of years remaining, but there is one statement that cannot be denied.
The Mavericks' championship window would have been open for a significantly longer period of time had Luka Doncic not been traded.
That's just a fact. At 25 years old, Luka had already led the Mavs to two Western Conference appearances and one NBA Finals appearance. Now, the Lakers' have their next generational superstar with LeBron James' career nearing an end, while the Mavs stars' long-term outlooks with the team are fairly uncertain.
Maybe Harrison will be proved right and defense will win a championship within the next year or two. If it doesn't, though, the Luka Doncic trade may be remembered as one of the most lopsided deals in NBA history.
