When fans think about one of the worst moves in Dallas Mavericks history, it's hard to not think about the Rajon Rondo trade. In December 2014, the Mavericks acquired Rondo in a trade with the Boston Celtics.
In Boston, Rondo was one of the best point guards in the NBA. In nine seasons as a Celtic, Rondo made the All-Star Game four times and led the NBA in assists twice and steals once. Rondo was a key piece to the Celtics' 2008 NBA championship and 2010 Eastern Conference championship teams.
When the Mavericks acquired Rondo, his tenure was a disaster and some will view the trade as one of the worst in Mavericks history. While Rondo may have turned his back on the Mavericks, there's another move that could take the crown as the worst move in Mavericks history depending on how it pans out.
Davis' injury could make or break the Mavericks' trade for him
The reason the Rondo trade is no longer the worst move in franchise history is because the 2025 Luka Doncic trade to the Los Angeles Lakers has a shot at crumbling in front of everyone's eyes. Sure, Rondo never returned to the Mavericks after the 2014-15 season when he averaged under 10 points and 6.5 assists per game in his 46 games as a Maverick. And sure, Rondo led the NBA in assists the very next season after leaving the Mavericks, but the Doncic trade is worse now.
Since his rookie season in 2018-19, Doncic was one of the fastest-rising superstars in NBA history. After winning the 2019 Rookie of the Year, Doncic followed it up by making First-Team All-NBA for the next five seasons. In his final full season with the Mavericks, Doncic led the NBA in scoring and led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals.
Although the Mavericks acquired Anthony Davis from the Lakers in the Doncic trade, it has gone poorly so far. Davis suffered an adductor injury in his Mavericks game and hasn't played since. The excitement around Davis immediately went away due to his injury, and it remains unclear when he will return.
Davis has had a history of not being fully healthy and has missed significant chunks of games in his career. Now, Davis' injury history is the Mavericks' problem and not the Lakers'.
If Davis ends up needing surgery for his adductor injury, Nico Harrison's plans for this move would be down the drain in the first year. Harrison felt that Davis would give the Mavericks a great shot at winning right now and into the future, and Dallas couldn' contend for a title without Davis in the lineup. If the Mavericks kept Doncic, they would have been one of the scariest teams in the West.
The Mavericks shrunk their timeline to win a title significantly by trading Doncic, and even one year wasted with Davis will plummet this trade's value. Dallas was going to be in NBA Finals conversations for every season that Doncic was on the squad, and that may not end up being the case this year if Davis is out for the season.
What might some forget about is even with Rondo on the 2014-15 Mavericks roster, the Mavericks did manage to make the 2015 playoffs. The Mavericks eventually fell to the Houston Rockets in the first round in five games. At least Rondo and the Mavericks made the playoffs as bad as his tenure was in Dallas. There is no guarantee that the Mavericks will make the 2025 playoffs this season for a team that had championship aspirations before the season started.
Although the Mavericks won four of their last five games before the All-Star break, they currently sit as the eighth seed with a 30-26 record, which could be a scary position to be in with a tight Western Conference. Doncic and the Lakers are the fifth seed with a 32-30 record. If Doncic was still a Maverick, the chances the Mavericks could climb higher in the standings could be more likely as he is available to play right now while Davis is out.
If the Mavericks fall in the standings and the Lakers have a better record at the end of the regular season, it will help Doncic stick it to the Mavericks even more for trading him still in his prime at 25 years old. He is furious that the team pulled off the unexpected and traded him out of nowhere, and only time will tell who won this trade. A championship won by the Mavericks with Davis leading the charge could change everything, but if they can't win a title, this trade may go down as an all-time blunder by Harrison. The Mavericks return to play from the All-Star break this Friday night when they host the New Orleans Pelicans at American Airlines Center.
