The biggest move made at the NBA trade deadline this season was obviously James Harden being moved from the Brooklyn Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers, but the most shocking and surprising move was the Dallas Mavericks trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards.
About 10-15 minutes before the clock struck 3 PM on the east coast, the Mavericks agreed to terms on a deal with the Wizards that resulted in them shipping Porzingis and a future second-round pick to Washington in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.
A Kristaps Porzingis trade had not been speculated much leading up to the trade deadline, but there had been discussions through the early portion of the season on whether or not Dallas was looking to keep the Latvian big man long-term.
Porzingis has been in the league since 2015 and throughout the years, durability has become a huge “yellow flag” for him given the knee injuries he has suffered through the years. The former All-Star missed the entirety of the 2018-19 season as he recovered from ACL surgery and then he continued to deal with knee pain and injuries throughout his tenure with the Mavericks.
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This season, Kristaps Porzingis played in only 34 of the Mavericks’ 55 games due to injuries and currently finds himself on the bench once again due to a bone bruise in his knee.
Now in Washington, Porzingis will look to restart his career once again and this time, he has Bradley Beal by his side.
The Wizards needed to make a big move ahead of the trade deadline simply because they have seen their season fall apart. Beal is out for the year after undergoing wrist surgery and Washington needed to make a move that could set them up for future success.
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With reports coming out about Spencer Dinwiddie not fitting in and Davis Bertans falling out of the rotation, it made sense for them to look to move both players ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
While there are questions about how the Dallas Mavericks will look without the 7’3” big man, one thing that is certain is the fact that Luka Doncic is both the “now” and “future” of this team.
