Following an emotional return to Dallas by superstar Luka Doncic, it's increasingly clear that the Dallas Mavericks made a massive mistake by trading him. That isn't exactly a hot take, but their decision to do so continues to baffle Mavericks fans and NBA fans at large. After all, the reasoning behind the move seems illogical at best.
That resulted in another NBA star giving his two cents on the situation. Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, who was ironically drafted by the Mavericks and traded for Doncic, recently weighed in on the situation.
He was never gonna leave… https://t.co/NSkva1tGy6
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) April 10, 2025
Given how emotional Doncic was during his return to Dallas and no rumors to the contrary, it appears that he would have been willing to play for the Mavs for the rest of his career with the Mavs.
The Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic despite him wanting to stay makes the deal worse in retrospect.
That makes Nico Harrison's decision to trade him an unforced error that will continue to haunt the Mavericks for years to come. Post-trade, they had a host of injuries, including a costly one to Kyrie Irving that will keep him out potentially until at least December of next season. With him being 33 years old, there's no telling how he will look following a significant injury that often takes two seasons to fully recover from.
That means they will have to rely on Anthony Davis to start next season, and his injury history makes that a risky proposition. That has led to calls for them to blow it up this summer by trading Davis and starting a rebuild.
However, if Harrison is still in charge, then that isn't likely to happen with him sure to try and save face following one of the worst trades in NBA history. That would be bad for the franchise, with them not having a clear direction and the team being built around a player who's no longer there.
The Mavericks have a roster built around a player who's no longer there
The Mavericks have little means to improve. They have one star out with a serious injury and another who is injury-prone, which may force them to have to make a big decision this summer to rebuild.
Whether they will make the decision remains to be seen. However, they wouldn't have been in this situation had they not traded Doncic, who never would have left in the first place.