The ripple effect from the Kristaps Porzingis trade still hasn’t subdued even four full days after the shocking trade deadline move. With Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans’ Mavs debuts looming, DallasBasketball.com has already analyzed Dinwiddie’s potential fit in Dallas specifically. Despite a 45-point showing from Luka Doncic, which followed his 51-point showing just 48 hours prior, the Mavs ended up losing a close contest to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Who needs Valentine’s Day flowers when you can get donuts? Today’s batch of Mavs Donuts is full of love and blooming with all kinds of great content.
Donut 1: Mavs Cut Their Losses
The Mavs ‘cut their losses’ on Thursday when they traded away Kristaps Porzingis three years after acquiring him from the New York Knicks. Signing Porzingis to a five-year, $158 million contract in the 2019 offseason was always a gamble, but it was one worth taking at the time. Despite putting up decent numbers when Porzingis did play, the fact that his health issues kept reoccurring was enough to make Dallas hit the reset button on finding Luka Doncic a true superstar running mate.
Donut 2: Mavs Film Room – Dinwiddie’s Dallas Fit
Although Dinwiddie hasn’t had a good season since returning from his torn ACL injury, there is reason to believe he’ll turn it around in Dallas given that a lot of the pressure he faced in Washington has now been alleviated. His efficiency should increase alongside Doncic in a lesser role with fewer responsibilities. And as we’ve seen with other players before, the further they get away from an ACL injury, the better they perform.
Dallas Basketball.com’s NBA film room extraordinaire, Grant Afseth, analyzed how the potential sixth-man will fit with the Mavs.
Donut 3: Porzingis Blindsided By Trade
While the trade came as a surprise to Mavs fans and the NBA in general, it also shocked Porzingis himself. As he does best, our own Mike Fisher painted the scene of when Porzingis found out he was being dealt to Washington.
Porzingis was inside a hyperbaric chamber on Thursday afternoon, part of his uphill battle toward getting his body NBA-game-ready, when he got a phone call from Dallas Mavs GM Nico Harrison. Porzingis could be making his debut for the Wizards on Monday night.
Donut 4: Why Did Raptors Back Out of Porzingis Deal?
Leading up to the trade deadline, a faint rumor from Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer indicated the Toronto Raptors were interested in acquiring Porzingis. Ultimately, Toronto decided to go in another direction, leading the Mavs to take the best (and perhaps only) deal they had left on the table with Washington.
Grant Afseth explains why the Raptors passed on obtaining Porzingis in a recent article.
Donut 5: Doncic Scores 45 Points in Loss to Clippers
Mavs-Clips games seemingly bring out the best in both teams. Although the Clippers still don’t have Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in the rotation, Ty Lue has his guys ready to compete. Avenging their previous loss to the Mavs, the Clips won 99-97.
Posting 45 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists, Doncic did everything he could to win. DallasBasketball.com covered the game, highlighting the best and worst of the contest.
Donut 6: ‘Mavs Step Back’ Talks Doncic’s Career-Night & More
Dalton Trigg and Matt Galatzan discussed Doncic’s 51-point performance and the additions of Davis Bertans and Dinwiddie on their latest episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast. The two gentlemen have always made for a great yin and yang dynamic, but that was especially so in this episode.
Donut 7: On This Day
On this day in 1995, an NBA legend moved teams. Portland Trail Blazer great, Clyde Drexler saw himself traded to the eventual NBA champions. The Houston Rockets acquired the shooting guard, ultimately helping them take home the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Donut 8: Brooklyn Nets Losing Streak Continues
While moving James Harden made for great Twitter banter, it still hasn’t paid off in the win column for the Brooklyn Nets. Losing their eleventh-consecutive game, the Nets find themselves two games out of the eighth seed. And as for Kyrie Irving? Due to his vaccination status, he’s only able to play in eight games for the rest of the Nets’ regular season. Things aren’t looking promising for Brooklyn.
Donut 9: Dorian Finney-Smith Officially Signs Extension
In the final year of a three-year, $12 million contract, Dorian Finney-Smith has played his way into being an integral part of what the Dallas Mavericks are building going forward. And on Saturday, his new deal has gone official.
“My mama worked at Church’s my first few years in the league,” said Finney-Smith just before the deal went official. “I tried to get her to quit. I’m glad she can just kick up her feet and chill.”
Finney-Smith can buy a few Church’s Chicken franchises now if he wants.
Donut 10: Nikola Jokic Saves Game with Defense
Known for his elite passing and unorthodox paint-area offense, league MVP Nikola Jokic has a few game-winning moments on defense this season. On Saturday night, Jokic beat the Toronto Raptors with a block at the rim.
Donut 11: DBcom Makes a Super Bowl Appearance…Sort Of!
Twitter Sports asked their followers to tweet their wildest Super Bowl prediction. Our guy Dalton Trigg did, and miraculously so, his tweet showed up on top of the SoFi Stadium. DallasBasketball.com transcended basketball on Super Bowl Sunday in a fun and cool way.
Donut 12: Next Up for Mavs
Bertans and Dinwiddie will make their Mavericks debut Tuesday evening vs. the red-hot Miami Heat. Look for game coverage at DallasBasketball.com.