Mavericks' cursed Luka Doncic trade just took a shocking twist in Dallas' favor

The Dallas Mavericks are about to start a new era with 18-year-old Cooper Flagg leading the charge. While fans will never be okay about Nico Harrison deciding to ship off Luka Doncic at the 11th hour on February 1, Mavs fans are absolutely pumped about Flagg becoming the next face of their city.

When Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, it seemed like the end of the world, not just because Doncic was gone, but because the Mavericks only got Anthony Davis and Max Christie out of the trade. The fact that Austin Reaves wasn't included in the trade for Dallas was malpractice on Nico Harrison's part. The Mavs also should've gotten Dalton Knecht in the trade, but as of his recent duds in Summer League competition, it looks like a win for the Mavs after all.

Knecht was a solid jump shooter who skyrocketed in popularity while playing at Tennessee. He had a solid rookie season, but as the playoffs continued, Knecht started to get less time, partly because JJ Redick didn't know how to manage his players' minutes. Now, with Knecht starting to get exposed in the Summer League, this might be looking like a win for Dallas in terms of the Doncic trade.

Knecht's slump gives Mavericks some relief from the Doncic trade

Knecht has been awful in Summer League play so far. averaging seven points per game while shooting 25 percent from the field and 0/9 from deep in two games thus far. This has been the opposite of what Knecht showed us in his rookie season. There have been some second-year and even third-year players playing in the Summer League across most teams, but this has been a disappointing effort from Knecht, as he's supposed to have been one of the best players.

Instead, he's making Mavs fans not regret missing out on him. Knecht should've been another piece in the trade, as talks have since been revealed about the Chicago Bulls reportedly wanting to give up everything for Doncic. We could even argue someone like Jarred Vanderbilt should've been involved in the trade too, but Knecht as a young sharpshooter looked like an attractive piece.

Getting Knecht would've been a banger for Dallas, but we can't forget that Max Christie has been playing some of the best basketball of his career, he has been shooting the ball at an enormous clip, making Mavs fans completely forget about the thought of Knecht at all, especially after his infamous flop in the Summer League games.

Knecht's slump is a great sight for the Mavericks. With the Lakers set to compete with the Mavericks next season for playoff seeding, this shows that the Mavericks aren't missing out much. Knecht would've been a solid addition to an aching fanbase, but it seems like the fanbase is slowly trickling back after officially drafting Flagg.

This has been a perfect time for the Mavs organization to mend fences with some Mavs legends, so in the end, with Knecht struggling, and Flagg about to show off, it looks like at least one part of the Doncic trade doesn't seem too awful.