Dallas Mavericks: What If The Rajon Rondo Trade Never Happened?

By Cole Mentzel | Aug 9, 2015

Apr 2, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) brings the ball up court against the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. The Rockets defeated the Mavericks 108-101. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

On the evening of Dec. 18, the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics finalized a trade that sent Rajon Rondo and Dwight Powell to Dallas in exchange for Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson, a 2015 first-round pick and a future second-round pick.

At the time, this seemed like a brilliant trade for both sides. Rondo had been having injury problems and the Mavericks had one of the best training staffs in the league. The Mavericks were also looking for a point guard to go with a stacked lineup of Monta Ellis, Chandler Parsons, Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler.

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It looked like the Mavericks had a complete starting lineup and a complete team while the Celtics were still working on their tanking strategy and wanted younger players who could produce. This trade just made so much sense and it was supposed to elevate the Mavericks to the top five or six in the West.

However, things went terribly wrong. Rondo had a few good games here and there but didn’t get anywhere near where everyone expected him to be. It’s almost safe to say the Celtics got the better end of the trade. Even though they don’t have Nelson or Wright anymore, they still have Crowder and he really improved offensively and defensively.

Then things came to an end when Rondo basically quit on the Mavericks in Game 2 of the playoffs against the Rockets. Although it was said that he had a back injury, not too many people believed that. The video below highlights his last game with the Mavs:

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Rondo went on to eventually sign a deal with the Sacramento Kings this summer, leaving the Mavericks with Dwight Powell and without a lot of good assets that they had before the trade.

So what would the Mavs look like now if the Rajon Rondo trade had never happened?

The first thing to consider is that the Mavs might have still traded Crowder, Wright and/or Nelson at the trade deadline. Before the trade, the Mavs had one of the greatest offenses of all-time. Dallas was able to score at least 100 points in 23 of the 27 games before they acquired Rondo.

On the other side of the ball, they also had a terrible defense and gave up at least 100 points 21 times in 27 games. So by not trading for Rondo, they probably would’ve had a team that was slightly better but still a first-round exit team.

Though they may not have had much playoff success, they could’ve focused more on chemistry, which has been something the Mavs have lacked in recent years. Ever since the championship team in 2011, the Mavs have been ripping apart their teams and rebuilding them, adding six or seven new players each season.

Next, if you look at the players on the team, the Mavs would’ve had a much more appealing team for free agents this summer. They still might have lost Ellis and Chandler but they would’ve had an appealing bench and more players to persuade free agents with.

One of the most glaring losses for the Mavs has to do with the draft. They lost two important draft picks that could’ve been used on young players. Anyone in the Dallas area knows that the Mavs and Mark Cuban have never been that big on the draft and usually end up trading their pick(s).

They’ve missed on some of the young players with the most potential and the draft just never seems to benefit them. However, that could’ve all changed and now they have two less picks to operate with which means they will have to stay reliant on free agency to deliver.

Overall, all the Mavericks can do at this point is look towards the future and accept that they made a mistake. Dwight Powell will only be starting his second year this season and he showed some signs of life last season whenever he was put into games.

Not everything out of the trade was lost, but it’s no secret that the Mavs would’ve been in much better position today if the trade had never happened.

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