THE MAVS DON’T DESERVE THIS

On the 26th of June 1996, the Phoenix Suns would draft 22-year-old Santa Clara senior, Steve Nash, with the 15th pick. Two years later, the Suns would trade Nash to the Dallas Mavericks via a draft night trade. A draft night that saw the Dallas Mavericks also acquire the rights to Dirk Nowitzki via a trade. So on the 24th of June, 1998, the Dallas Mavericks would acquire two generational talents through the draft. And this team would reach it’s full fruition in 2003, when a 28-year-old Nash and a 24-year-old Dirk would lead the Mavs to the 2nd seed in a 60 win season. A team that would go on lose to the eventual winners, the San Antonio Spurs. With Dirk entering his prime, Nash at his peak the team was confident that the core could deliver in the next season. However, the next season would see both Dirk and Nash have a drop in performance and the Mavs would lose in the first round in a gentleman sweep to the Kings. Nash would underperform significantly in that series which was enough for the Mavericks to make the drastic decision to not re-sign Nash that off-season. He would sign with the Phoenix Suns and the rest is history.

What followed was multiple years of failed attempts to build around their other generational star, Dirk Nowitzki. The next seven years would be a series of disappointments that saw the Mavs lose a final to the Miami Heat in 2006, a game in which they were the favourites along with a disastrous first round exit against the ‘We Believe’ Warriors in the next season. The Mavericks were failing Dirk in his prime. That was until 2010, when the Mavs would make a trade for Tyson Chandler. This, alongside a playoff resurgence from a 32-year-old Dirk would see the Mavericks have one of the greatest championship runs that saw them beat the newly formed Heatles in 6 in the 2011 NBA Finals. Once again, that off-season, the Mavs were faced with a decision that could alter a championship team. They would again decide to split up their core, deciding to not re-sign Tyson Chandler, breaking up what Chandler himself acknowledged would have been a team that would defend their title. What followed was more depressing years in which Dirk took pay cut after pay cut to try and help the Mavs build a championship roster before he retired. Instead, the Mavs failed to reciprocate his dedication to the franchise. And Dirk would not win a championship in his career again. The Mavericks had sacrificed potentially two championship teams, for the sake of financial stability.

However, before Dirk’s retirement, in his last season, the Mavericks would get a silver lining. Thanks to some amazing scouting, the Mavericks would head into the 2018 draft with one goal: Acquire Luka Dončić. And with some help from the Atlanta Hawks, the Mavericks organisation would land their third generational talent in the space of two decades via the draft. Luka Dončić would arrive in Dallas as a 19-year-old seasoned veteran, fresh off of a Euro League MVP. The Mavs would get an immediate return on investment, with Luka not only getting the Rookie of the Year award but also getting some pretty valid shouts for an All-star appearance. Going into the second season, the Mavericks wasted no time in building around Dončić, trading for KP to build their star duo for the future. This would be the only significant move the Mavs would make for the next 5 seasons of Luka’s career. A five-year period that saw them lose Jalen Brunson, Dorian Finney-Smith and the aforementioned Kristaps Porzingis. All who would go on to excel in their primes. The Mavericks were, yet again, failing their generational star.

During this five-year period however, the Mavericks would make one change, one that would turn out to be franchise altering. On June 28th, 2021, the Mavericks would hire former Nike executive, Nico Harrison, as their General Manager. He would make an immediate impact, making a risky trade for Kyrie Irving, followed by trades for Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington soon after. In the midst of this, the Mavs would lose almost all their draft capital. However, this would turn out to be worth it, as the Mavericks would field their best team since 2011, and get to the 2024 NBA finals. They would lose to the much better Boston Celtics that season, but there was hope that slight changes would get this team to the promised land. That change came in the form of acquiring Klay Thompson, making the Mavericks not only one of the best teams in the West heading into the season, but also gave analysts reason to believe that they could beat the Celtics. Unbeknownst to the entire NBA fanbase, a rift had already started forming between Luka and the Mavericks organisation, specifically with Nico and the new ownership that had taken over the previous season.

On a fateful night on February 2nd, 2025, the Mavericks would once again make the decision to break up a Championship core for the sake of financial flexibility, when they decided to trade Luka Dončić, who was set to become the highest paid player in NBA history by a significant margin. They would trade him for Anthony Davis in what would immediately turn out to be a disastrous move plagued by season ending injuries to both AD and Kyrie. The Mavericks now had a future that depended on two injured stars who were way past their prime, at the cost of a 25-year-old top 5 player. They also had no draft capital to work with, and almost no cap space. Their future was looking bleak. That was until the 2025 NBA draft lottery, where, with odds of 1.8%, the Mavericks would earn the rights to draft with the #1 pick in the 2025 draft. A pick that is almost certainly going to be Cooper Flagg. It’s a move that could launch Dallas into its third era led by a transcendent star, following Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Dončić. No painful rebuild. No prolonged irrelevance. Just a quick reset, like nothing ever happened, and quite frankly, they don’t deserve it.

If we consider the Mavs history of handling stars, and their ability or lack thereof to build around their franchise players, this is way more than they deserve. If you add onto that the fact that they have gone on to run a slander campaign against Luka following his trade, it leaves an even more sour taste in your mouth. And yet, here we are. With Dončić now wearing purple and gold, and Mavericks fans still processing the fallout, Dallas suddenly finds itself holding the golden ticket — one that could bring Flagg, a 6'9" phenom with elite two-way potential, to Texas. You could call it karma. But for whom? They are the biggest market in Texas, yet there are small-market franchises that have done everything right — patient team building, smart drafting, loyal stars — and have nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, Dallas burns through elite talent and still lands in the lottery’s lap like they never skipped a beat. Of course, luck is part of the NBA. The draft lottery has always been a chaotic equaliser. But when a team continues to mishandle greatness, only to be rewarded with more of it, it sends a frustrating message to the rest of the league: some franchises just stumble into prosperity.

The Mavericks now have a chance to build their future around Cooper Flagg. A clean slate. Another generational cornerstone. It’s the kind of opportunity that should require patience, planning, and — dare we say it — penance. But in Dallas? It just keeps falling into their hands. If history is any indication, we should hope that they finally get it right, at least for Flagg’s sake. Because while the Mavericks may have won the lottery, they certainly haven’t earned it.