Trading Kristaps Porzingis doesn't feel like the step forward it should be for Dallas
The Mavericks finally moved on from Kristaps Porzingis, but the way they did leaves me with more questions than a sense of a satisfying resolution
It’s been clear for a bit of time now that the Kristaps Porzingis experiment wasn’t working the way the Dallas Mavericks hoped after acquiring him in January 2019.
The numbers have looked great (20.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game across 2+ seasons in Dallas) but other problems persisted. The fit alongside Luka Doncic was clunky, a clash between one guy who thought he could do more for the offense and another who was the offense (and for damn good reason).
Beyond that, KP’s defense hasn’t always been there. And of course, whatever good he brought to the table was always mitigated by how little he was able to actually provide it. Porzingis hasn’t reached 60 games since his sophomore season. He’s already up to 22 missed games this year.
With all those issues along with the belief that the Mavericks couldn’t trade Porzingis for anything that could help the on-court product, the prevailing logic had Dallas going down one of two paths:
Path 1: Wait out the remainder of Porzingis’s contract. He has a $36 million player option for the 2023-24 season he’d be a safe bet to opt in to. Start fresh from there.
Path 2: Trade Porzingis for expiring deals and start fresh that offseason.
Yet by trading Porzingis and a 2nd-round pick to the Washington Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, the Mavericks created an entirely different route, and I don’t exactly know what they’re thinking by doing so.
In theory, Dinwiddie is a solid addition for a team whose Achilles heel has long been the absence of many offensive initiators/shot creators outside of Doncic. His standing as a point guard, however, doesn’t automatically make him a perfect fit. In fact, you could argue the exact opposite. Dinwiddie is inefficient on the ball and is a poor shooter off of it, shooting just 43.2 percent on 2s and 31.0 percent on 3s this season.
Those shooting struggles are nothing new for Dinwiddie, but the pre-ACL tear version of himself was someone who could at least put up the kind of counting numbers that could help you stomach the inefficiency. Now, he’s the guy Washington wanted to move because of those struggles and also due to the fact that his Wizards teammates wanted him gone.
The problem with Bertans is a bit simpler. He has one job. Just one. To shoot the ball. At 31.9 percent from 3 on the season, he’s not doing that. And if he’s not doing that, he literally isn’t good for anything else at either end of the floor. He becomes an unplayable liability, which might explain why he’s seeing less than 15 minutes a night.
All three of Porzingis, Dinwiddie, and Bertans have their issues and struggles. But am I crazy in thinking I’d rather just have Porzingis? For all his warts, he still has the talent and abilities that made him an All-Star at one point in time. If the alternative is an inefficient ballhandler and a one-dimensional shooter who’s not even doing that, I think I’d rather just roll with Porzingis.
This move wasn’t made to help shake up a struggling Mavs team. They’re 5th in the West within arms reach of homecourt in the 1st round. It wasn’t made to save money now or in the future. In fact, Bertans’ contract adds another $16 million to the cap sheet in 2024-25 that wouldn’t have been there if Dallas just waited out KP’s deal, which expires in 2024.
I couldn’t really tell you what the logic here is because it’s not even like the Mavericks got better. Dinwiddie and Bertans aren’t even that good! They shook up a winning team for players who don’t seem worth shaking things up for and took on another year of a pretty sizeable salary to do it. And they also gave up a 2nd-round pick.
I always thought the departure of Porzingis would signal a new and brighter future for Dallas. It’s certainly new, but I don’t know if it leaves the Mavs in a better position than they were previously in.