Even the most realistic Philadelphia 76ers fans were not expecting the team to be a major player in the trade market as buyers, but it seems like they could have actually taken the spotlight for themselves.
In what will surely go down as the most unprecedented move in NBA history, the Dallas Mavericks just traded franchise superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for All-Star big man Anthony Davis.
Details of the trade remain to be seen, but the Mavs definitely did not get a lot of compensation, relatively speaking, for a generational talent like Doncic. Aside from Davis, Dallas was only able to muster a return package consisting of, well, an average bench player in Max Christie and ONE first-round pick.
Certainly, the 76ers could have offered more, right?
The 76ers could have given the Mavericks a much better offer for Luka Doncic
No one knows what the Mavericks were truly thinking to pull this off aside from their concerns about the superstar’s conditioning, but trading a player who just led them to the NBA Finals last year would probably not register well with anyone touting a reasonable mind.
Trading him for an injury-prone 30-year-old, marginal young player, and a single first-round pick is even worse. Heck, the 76ers could have topped that return package easily if they wanted to.
Philadelphia has up to five first-round picks it can offer to Dallas and another pick swap to further sweeten the pot. They could have alos offered Paul George and another young star like Jared McCain, or consolidate Tyrese Maxey with some of their high-end role players to entice the Mavs. Really, the 76ers have an abundance of ways to top what the Lakers were able to offer for Luka.
Only Joel Embiid, in light of his trade restriction, would be impossible to flip for Doncic. Instead, the Mavs settled for a similarly injury-prone player like Davis without also replenishing their consumed stock of draft capital.
In all honesty, the NBA should perhaps just investigate both teams for the lunacy that had just transpired. The Mavericks seem like a farm team for the Lakers now following the trade they settled for when they could have easily gotten way more from other teams like the 76ers.
Anyway, this ain’t Philadelphia’s problem anymore. And with the trade deadline just a few days away, they have some openings they should try to capitalize on, especially after this madness.