Mavericks Should Have Traded Luka Doncic to Rockets

The Houston Rockets and the rest of the basketball world were shocked when the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks.

Part of the shock and awe of the deal was the fact that the Mavs only got one first-round pick in return for a 25-year-old superstar in his prime coming off of an NBA Finals appearance.

If the Mavs would have traded with the Rockets, ESPN insider Bobby Marks believes that Houston would have sent Dillon Brooks, Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr. and two unprotected first-round picks for Doncic.

"The Rockets have the players and picks to make a blockbuster trade and still have enough left over to field a competitive team. In this trade, Doncic joins Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason and Alperen Sengun in the new starting five. And Houston still has five tradable first-round picks available to use in another deal," Marks writes.

The deal would have put Houston even further into the contender conversation with wiggle room to do more, but Dallas would have also gotten a good deal.

While the Mavs may not have acquired Davis, they would get two No. 3 overall picks from the past three drafts, along with two picks that are expected to be high from the Phoenix Suns, and that would have allowed Dallas to get a fast track on a rebuild.

That being said, Dallas and Houston are oil and water and a trade between the two sides of that magnitude would have been even more shocking.