The Dallas Mavericks just shocked the world, trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. Shams Charania of ESPN was the first person to report the news, and more reports came out surrounding the reasoning soon after that. And now, the Sacramento Kings’ De’Aaron Fox trade search is ruined.
There were indicators that the Mavs weren’t happy with Doncic’s conditioning and wanted a more defensive-minded team in their quest to win a championship. But now, the Kings, who recently began their search for a Fox trade, are in a bind.
And it’s all the Mavericks’ fault.
Luka Doncic trade to Lakers may have tanked Kings' potential De'Aaron Fox deal
See, Mavs GM Nico Harrison decided to commit a cardinal sin: He traded Doncic without putting him on the open market.
Instead of scouring the league for potential packages, identifying a Doncic trade package that worked for them, and carefully negotiating a deal, the Mavs hid their desire to trade him from the world and made a move in secrecy.
That’s the exact opposite of what should have happened.
Now, the entire market may be skewed. Whatever the Kings were asking for in a Fox trade before this Doncic trade may not be on the table anymore.
Let’s just say the Kings were asking the San Antonio Spurs for Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle, matching salary, and multiple first-rounders in exchange for Fox.
Well, the Spurs may look back at the Doncic trade now and say, ‘Why would we give you that for Fox when the Lakers only got one first-rounder for Doncic?’
Doncic is objectively better than Fox. He’s a top-five player in the NBA. And the Mavericks only got one first-round pick for him. Davis is a phenomenal player, but he’s 31 years old and has a significant injury history.
Fox was the hottest name on the trade market, and he still is—because the Mavericks never put Doncic on the open market.
Regardless, now, the Kings’ asking price for Fox will inevitably have to go down because of how embarrassingly bad the trade return for Doncic was.
All of the spotlight that was on Sacramento as they fielded offers for Fox, their All-Star point guard, is now gone. Doncic and the Mavericks’ terrible decision-making stole the show.
And in some off-kilter, off-the-beaten-path way, the Kings are going to pay for it.
Their decision to pass on Doncic for Marvin Bagley III continues to bite them, even in the weirdest ways.