By moving Kristaps Porzingis to Washington on trade deadline night, the Mavs ended the Doncic-Porzingis era in Texas. The duo was meant to provide a golden future for Dallas, but not all marriages have happy endings. Back to the reasons that led to such a scenario.
When Kristaps Porzingis landed near the American Airlines Center in February 2019, Mark Cuban thought he had succeeded: “our goal is to keep them here for 20 years”. Between Porzi (23) and Luka (19), the owner of the Mavs knows that he has a duo that is both young, extremely talented and with plenty of room for improvement. The 2011 champion was already imagining a return to the front of the stage in the Playoffs but, three years later, it’s already time to end the experiment, and in a way that leaves little room for doubt as to to the success of the latter. As Brooklyn and Philadelphia traded stars, the Unicorn was sent to the Wizards for… the remnants of Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. A compensation that has returned quite a few fans of the franchise but which above all shows the value that the player had in the minds of its leaders. How did we come to this? When he arrives in Dallas in February 2019, Porzingis is certainly a player broken by a huge injury but he is a 22-year-old All-Star who has everything to do dirty in the League for easily ten years. He has already proven to the Knicks that he has the stature of a future great and the possibility of associating Luka Doncic with him suggests a shock tandem that can destroy all defenses. A dream that will never come true. Whose fault is it in this case?
The first cause seems easy to find: injuries. With 134 games played in two and a half seasons, the Unicorn has confirmed its reputation as a man of glass. Difficult to find regularity and to pass a course with his friend when you miss 1/3 of the meetings. While Porzi often struggled to find the floor, he didn’t always shine when he was on it either. The figures are not shocking in themselves (20 points, 9 rebounds on average on his way) but the visual impression was particularly explicit. Often limited to a simple role of spot-up shooter by Rick Carlisle, Kristaps Porzingis has never found the old version of himself who seemed destined for a starry future.. Annoyed by this secondary role, when he saw himself as option A’, the Latvian sometimes gave the impression of playing at will. The difference between his 2020 and 2021 Playoffs is a good example. Capable of slamming very solid performances on both sides of the field in the bubble to finish with a disastrous performance eight months later, the native of Liepāja is capable of the best as well as the worst. Unfortunately for the fans, the worst more often came out of the hat. A particularly striking contrast to the madness of his sidekick at the lead.
The Luka-Kristaps relationship, precisely, has never seemed so idyllic. The first months were obviously marked by praise on both sides, but water has flowed under the bridge since then. On the pitch alone, the fit didn’t look amazing and the away reports didn’t sell the dream anymore. The first had understood that he could not count on his friend to pass a course in Dallas in the Playoffs, the second was probably jealous of the role of the leader within the franchise. In short, not enough to imagine a long-term union. A statement all the more true that it is hard to imagine the GM of the Porzingis trader team without speaking to Luka to know his opinion. Would Nico Harrison have exchanged the Latvian with the veto of Doncic? No way, crumpling the nugget is out of the question. So it was possible to move on with peace of mind.
Now the goal for Dallas is to get back on its feet despite this setback. The arrival of Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans does not excite anyone, but they could be more useful than you might think at first sight. They look like cannonball contracts today but they will be easier to refourgue than Porzi if they find some colors within the Texan collective. In addition, they each have a partially guaranteed last year which will scare GMs less for a future deal. Today, the trade may seem lost, but in a few months or even a year, we could have a very different opinion.
Kristaps Porzingis and the Mavs was a story that seemed set to last, but the marriage ended and the franchise preferred to take another path. It seems a long time ago when Dallas saw its European duo take it to the roof of the world.
