One of the biggest moves of the Luka Doncic era was the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade for Kristaps Porzingis from the New York Knicks. With the dream of finding an elite running mate for Doncic during his rookie year, they made a huge trade to bring in Porzingis.
Dallas gave up Dennis Smith Jr., Wesley Matthews, Deandre Jordan, and multiple first-round picks for Porzingis, and this was quite a haul considering what Porzingis brought to the table as a Maverick.
Porzingis never played during his first season in Dallas, and even once he got healthy, he didn’t make the biggest difference. He and Doncic never fully got along, and Dallas moved on from Porzingis at the 2022 deadline in a move for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.
Dallas needed to move on from him badly, and after multiple years, the Porzingis trade with the Knicks is finally complete.
The Mavs had sent a 2023 top-10 protected first-round pick to the Knicks as part of the trade, and since the Mavs secured a top-10 pick, the pick got moved to 2024. With Dallas’ pick, the Knicks drafted Kyshawn George with the 24th overall pick and later traded him to the Washington Wizards, and it looks like this final part of the Porzingis trade is leaning heavily in the Mavs’ favor.
George had his best game of his young career earlier this week when he dropped 20 points against the Golden State Warriors, but he clearly isn’t someone who would be in Dallas’ rotation if he were on the Mavs. He could potentially get some spot minutes, but the Mavs’ guard rotation is already stacked as it is. George’s game is raw right now, and despite showing flashes recently, he has gotten out to a relatively slow start.
George is looking like he could turn into a good role player and he brings good energy, but Dallas got lucky when it comes to how weak the 2024 NBA Draft class was. Things could have worked out much worse for Dallas considering how much stronger the 2023 draft class looks to be, and there wouldn’t have been room for a rookie in the rotation to begin with.
George is in the perfect situation to succeed considering that the Wizards won’t be competing any time soon, and it worked out better for him anyway that he wasn’t drafted by a contender like the Mavs. He could have worked himself into the rotation if injuries occurred or if they needed 3-point shooting, but they wouldn’t have relied upon him right away as the Wizards did.
The Mavs finally being done with this Porzingis trade is big for them considering how much they had to cough up for the limited production and availability he provided, and they can finally move on and focus on the future ahead in which they own some of their draft picks.
Dallas owns their 2025 first-round pick, and that draft class projects to be much stronger than the 2024 class. The Mavs can finally add some talent through the draft if they elect to use that pick rather than trading it, and owing draft picks to the Knicks because of the Porzingis trade is now a thing of the past.
