The Dallas Mavericks pulled off one of the more surprising deals ahead of the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline as they found someone to take Kristaps Porzingis off of their hands. The team that will be acquiring him is the Washington Wizards.
Dallas is sending Porzingis and a second-round pick to Washington in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN shared the trade news.
This is arguably the most surprising trade you will see of the day. The Mavericks were lauded when they acquired Porzingis from the New York Knicks three years ago, but he quickly wore out his welcome in Dallas as he and Luka Doncic failed to coexist to the level they had hoped he would.
Porzingis has been injured a lot during his tenure in Dallas, so the Mavericks moved on from him. They were so desperate to do so, that they actually took back more money in the deal.
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Bertans is signed through 2025 and has seen his production fall off a cliff since he signed a five-year, $69 million deal as a free agent. He is making only 31.9 percent of his 3-point attempts thus far this season and if he is not knocking those down, he is virtually unplayable.
Along with Bertans, the Mavericks are landing Dinwiddie, who will help them in their search for secondary ball-handlers to pair with Luka Doncic. He returned to the court this season after appearing in only three games last season and the results have not been pretty.
Spencer Dinwiddie is making only 37.6 percent of his shot attempts this season and has played poorly, looking like a shell of his former self. The most damning thing against Dinwiddie was that his teammates no longer wanted him in Washington.
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To take on those two players to move on from Porzingis just goes to show how badly the Dallas Mavericks wanted to move on from him. It is a worthwhile deal for the Washington Wizards, as Kristaps Porzingis has All-Star upside when he is healthy. The issue is, he is rarely healthy enough for long enough stretches to show it.
