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Mavericks Facing Backlash for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves Decision

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Josh Valdez | Last updated Apr 7, 2025 5:27 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks have gone in opposite directions since the Luka Doncic trade. The Lakers (48-30) are 1.5 games ahead of the Denver Nuggets for third place in the Western Conference, while the Mavericks (38-41) own the 10th seed.

This is partially due to bad luck, as superstar guard Kyrie Irving tore his ACL against the Sacramento Kings on March 3, and Anthony Davis went down with a groin injury in his first game as a Maverick on Feb. 8. Davis returned against the Brooklyn Nets on March 24, but Irving is out for the year.

However, a prominent basketball journalist also blames Dallas' front office for who they decided not to demand in the Doncic deal.

"The Mavericks not getting Austin Reaves in that trade is malpractice," Brian Windhorst said on Monday's episode of ESPN First Take. "Austin Reaves has been awesome in this last month, especially in these last couple of weeks when LeBron [James] hasn't been great. The fact that the Mavericks didn't get Reaves in that trade remains insane..."

Reaves is averaging 20.2 points on 45.8 percent shooting with 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists this season, including a 27-point average in April and a 23.3-point average in March. Dallas traded Doncic (27.7 PPG) and Maxi Kleber to Los Angeles in February for Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.

Brian Windhorst goes off on Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks

“Mavericks not getting Austin Reaves in that trade is MALPRACTICE.”

( @FirstTake / h/t @LakeShowScoop )

pic.twitter.com/N48TTnebzF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 7, 2025

Several fans agreed with Windhorst.

"This trade will go down as the worst trade in all of sports. Without the number 1 overall pick, how do the Mavericks ever recover from this trade?" one person said.

"They could’ve definitely got something more than they did," another one said.

"And even then it still wouldn’t be a good trade," another one said.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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