The Dallas Mavericks shocked the entire league when they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. They justified the trade by saying they want to make a win-now move, not trading Luka for draft picks. The latest reports are saying the Mavericks have interest in Kevin Durant, and that can spell trouble for their second-year center, Dereck Lively II.
Dereck Lively’s Days in Dallas are Numbered
The Mavs have already made two moves this trade season. After sending Luka to LA, they traded Quentin Grimes to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caleb Martin, another move where they traded a younger player for an older, ready-to-win player. Reports coming from The Athletic claim the Mavs aren’t done there. Sam Amick writes that several sources have cited the Mavs as a dark-horse candidate for Kevin Durant.
“League sources say the Dallas Mavericks, fresh off their Luka Dončić-for-Anthony Davis swap … have dreams of adding Durant to their Davis-Kyrie Irving-led group. The mere idea of Durant joining Dallas’ star-studded group sheds new light on the thinking of Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison after he was roundly ridiculed for the Dončić deal.”
Amick added that whether they go after Durant by this trade deadline, or try to trade for him or LeBron James in the summer, Nico Harrison is determined to target big-time stars with whom he’s familiar with. More importantly, it looks like the Dallas Mavericks are closing in on chasing a title in the next two years. No matter which All-Star they try to trade for, Dereck Lively is the key. Only he can fetch such a reward.
Can the Dallas Mavericks Get Kevin Durant?
There is no other way for the Mavericks to get Durant other than trading Dereck Lively. The Mavs do not have many assets they can include in a trade after trading picks to surround Luka and then sending away their young players.
They traded Grimes for Martin, and the only other young player with value is Lively. They also have Jaden Hardy, a third-year sharpshooter averaging 8.4 points per game this season. If they decide to go after Kevin Durant, those two young players might have to be included. Lively is the bare minimum to try and get KD, and then the Lakers pick they got from the Luka deal and high-salary players. That last part might be the most challenging. Between Lively, and say, players like PJ Washington, and Naji Marshall, the Mavericks get to only $29 million. They might have to find a third-team or throw in Klay Thompson to make salaries work.
Nico is Risking Everything for a Failed Experiment
The Mavs are in a win-now mode. But the question fans around the league might ask is, “Why would Dallas try something that has been proven inefficient?” The Brooklyn Nets tried the KD and Kyrie Irving pairing for a few years, and it produced only one playoff series win. Getting Durant might be a great deal, but is it worth sacrificing a young, 20-something player who can be one of the best centers for years to come? Winning justifies everything in this league, and it seems Harrison is willing to take big risks.
There were also reports that Harrison doesn’t want to stay in the league for a long period, which is why he is taking big gambles. According to NBA writer Tim Cato, “There has been a belief, which multiple team and league sources expressed to me over the past months long before this trade, that Harrison does not have a long-term desire to remain in his current role as general manager.”
Can the Dallas Mavericks Sign Kevin Durant?
Kevin Durant will be a free agent in the summer of 2026, but the Mavs do not have that much time to wait. Besides, he will be 38 years old by then. While LeBron is proving Father Time wrong, we cannot say the same for Durant. As presently constructed, the Mavericks can go after KD in 2026, but at that time, Anthony Davis will be 33, and Kyrie will be a 34-year-old free agent.
The Suns Are Running Out of Options
The reason the Suns are thinking about trading Kevin Durant is because they cannot find a partner for trading Bradley Beal. On the latest episode of Get Up, Briand Windhorst talked about the state of the Suns, saying:
“The Suns have been trying for weeks to turn Bradley Beal into Jimmy Butler to pair him with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. They have tried almost every team in the league from what I can understand, they have gone out and traded their one first-round pick into three to try to pay off three different teams to do deals. They’ve tried, they are at the end, the deadline is here, and they have no Bradley Beal trade.”
That has left Phoenix in a situation where they have to find something else. As of February 5th, the Suns are ninth in the West, but teams below, like the San Antonio Spurs, are gearing up. The Warriors are expected to make a move, and Dallas might get back on track with Anthony Davis. Or, the Mavs might try to sneak in and get KD.
“The Suns are examining,” Windhorst added. “This team isn’t working, we can’t trade Beal, what are we going to do? Durant has one year on his contract, so they have now begun entertaining should we trade Kevin Durant. They have begun those discussions across the league.”
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