Following the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis swap, the Dallas Mavericks improved their floor but collapsed the franchise’s ceiling.
This is a very deep team overall, which is great considering Davis is already expected miss multiple weeks with a left adductor strain according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. A healthy starting five of Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Davis and Daniel Gafford with Lively, Max Christie, Naji Marshall, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dante Exum, Jaden Hardy and others can beat teams up physically while reaching deep into its bench.
Of course, when playoff rotations inevitably shrink and you just traded away the player with the second-highest scoring average in NBA postseason history, the Mavs lose a bit of their advantage.
Dallas could climb back into the top-six spots in the West and even flirt with home-court advantage in the first round. But trading away Dončić (30.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.7 steals in 50 career playoff games before age 26) and relying on two players (Davis and Irving) who have only won championships as No. 2 options will ultimately lead to a first-round exit for these Mavs.
