Mavericks trade Kristaps Porzingis to Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie, Davis Bertans
A second NBA team has moved on from supposed unicorn Kristaps Porzingis.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon reported shortly ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline that the Dallas Mavericks are sending Porzingis and a second-round draft pick to the Washington Wizards for guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Davis Bertans.
The Wizards recently learned All-Star Bradley Beal required season-ending wrist surgery and are currently on the outside looking in regarding the Eastern Conference playoff spots. Meanwhile, the fifth-place Mavericks are hoping to avoid the play-in portion of the Western Conference bracket and possibly preparing for life beyond this spring:
Porzingis earned the only All-Star nod to date of his career with the New York Knicks in 2018 before he suffered a torn ACL that same year that cost him the subsequent season. Dallas acquired him in January 2019 with the hope that the big man and Luka Doncic could combine for a championship one-two punch, but injuries more often than not prevented Porzingis from playing at an elite level.
In March 2021, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban publicly shot down rumors he looked to trade the 26-year-old before last year's deadline, but it was assumed at that time no transaction occurred because Dallas couldn't get anything resembling equal value back for Porzingis' services.
Across just 34 games in 2021-22, Porzingis has averaged 19.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
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