The Lakers just made the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic trade look even uglier.
On Wednesday, Los Angeles landed Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz in a sign-and-trade that sent Utah unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, plus pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. The deal also comes with a four-year, $130 million contract for Kessler.
That price tag stands out for a simple reason: Kessler played only five games last season because of injury, and he would not have met the 65-game threshold for awards in any of the last three seasons.
For Dallas, it’s another brutal comparison point after February 2025, when the Mavericks shipped Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 unprotected first-round pick. At the time, that return was already viewed as a disaster.
The Mavericks followed that up one year later by essentially salary-dumping Davis to the Washington Wizards along with Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell, and Dante Exum. In return, they got Khris Middleton, Tyus Jones, Marvin Bagley III, AJ Johnson, and five total draft picks, including the 30th and 48th picks in this year’s draft, plus future second-rounders.
Middleton, Jones, and Bagley were all expiring deals, which gave Dallas plenty of financial flexibility this offseason. It still didn’t change the bigger picture: the Mavericks moved a top-5 player in the NBA and wound up with very little to show for it.
The Kessler trade only sharpens that contrast. The Lakers just paid a hefty package for a free agent in a sign-and-trade, while Dallas got just one first-round pick from the Lakers in the Doncic deal.
Even if you fold in the first-rounders Dallas received in the Anthony Davis trade, that haul still amounts to this year’s 30th pick and a top-20 protected Warriors pick in 2030, which is more likely than not to turn into a second-rounder.
The Mavericks should have had the leverage to demand all the first-round picks and swaps they could get when they dealt Doncic. Instead, they got a return that looks worse by the day. And with the way the Lakers are built right now, even the idea that Kessler might want out down the line doesn’t make Dallas’s situation look any better.
In Other News...
Mavericks Fans Just Got Another Sign This Roster Reset Is Real
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For a team in the middle of a reset, even something as simple as a number change can carry a little extra meaning because it signals how quickly the identity around the roster is shifting. No. 0 was previously worn by Dante Exum, and No. 3 was once Anthony Davis number, so the switches also add another layer to the sense that Dallas is moving into a new era one detail at a time. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Finally Made A Move Fans Have Been Waiting On
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Aldamas profile is exactly why this stood out to fans who had been waiting for Dallas to use its flexibility on a frontcourt upgrade. He averaged 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds last season and shot 35 percent from three-point range, numbers that suggest a player who can stretch the floor without disappearing around the basket. The larger question now is how the Mavericks plan to build on this addition, and whether this was the first step in a bigger frontcourt overhaul. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Just Lost Their Cleanest Daniel Gafford Trade Path
The Mavericks were already working through a tricky Daniel Gafford trade market, and one of the cleaner avenues appears to have narrowed even further. Los Angeles move to upgrade its center group with Walker Kessler and Utahs decision to sign Jaxson Hayes to a two-year deal both reshape the board, but the latter is the one Dallas has to watch most closely because it affects the Jazz, a team that had looked like a plausible fit for Gaffords skill set.
Utah now plans to pair Hayes with Jusuf Nurkic, which makes the Jazz a far less obvious destination in any Gafford pursuit. For Dallas, that means the front office has to keep looking for another team willing to take on a center with value, while also sorting through its own roster construction after adding Morez Johnson Jr. in the draft and trading for Santi Aldama. [Read more 🡒]