Mavs Porzingis Era Ends; Dinwiddie & Bertans Can Help in More Ways Than One

The Dallas Mavericks traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards on Thursday. Did they make the right decision?

The Kristaps Porzingis era has officially, and emphatically, come to an end for the Dallas Mavericks.

On Thursday, less than an hour before the NBA trade deadline buzzer, the Mavs traded Porzingis and a second-round pick to the Washington Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Porzingis being traded to the Wizards was something we pondered on our pre-trade deadline Mavs Step Back Podcast on Wednesday - we just thought it might be something that could take place in the offseason, not less than a day later at the deadline.

With superstar Bradley Beal's long-term status being uncertain, the Wizards were desperate to make some sort of move to show him that they're still continuously trying to figure things out. As good as Beal is, though, if pairing Porzingis with Luka Doncic isn't good enough to make you a title contender, pairing him with Beal definitely won't be either.

On the surface this looks like a slight win for the Wizards, given that Porzingis is the best player in the deal. Dinwiddie and Bertans have had their moments in the past, but both players have struggled shooting the ball this season, and that's putting it nicely. However - and this is something I've asserted for most of this season - Porzingis just hasn't affected whether the Mavs win games or not for us to act as if trading him hurts the team.

Dallas was 13-8 this season when Porzingis didn't play. By comparison, the Mavs are just 6-9 when Doncic missed time due to an ankle injury and being in the NBA Covid Protocols. Since the 2019-20 season, Dallas has a .592 win percentage when both Doncic and Porzingis play, per StateMuse. Dallas has a .600 win percentage when just Doncic plays.

Did the Mavs have a higher ceiling with Porzingis than they do with Dinwiddie and Bertans? Of course they do. Porzingis is a very talented player. But would that ceiling ever actually be reached? Probably not, given that the Mavs were going on year three of asking that same question.

Although Dinwiddie and Bertans have had their fair share of bad injuries recently, there are some positives to look at as they prepare to join a Mavs roster that is 32-23 and currently fifth in the Western Conference playoff standings. The Mavs have desperately needed another secondary distributor and ball-handler off the bench since Jalen Brunson graduated to being a full-time starter, and Dinwiddie averages nearly six assists per game, so that should help in that department.

Bertans, who is a career 40 percent three-point shooter, has seen his overall percentage from deep plummet to 31.9 percent. The silver lining for him, though, is that he was shooting 37 percent from deep over his last 20 games for the Wizards. Perhaps that regression to the mean will continue as he finds himself getting more open looks while sharing minutes with Doncic from time to time.

Whether we deem this trade a win, a loss, or just a lateral move for Dallas with our initial reactions, we need to take a moment and remember how many people felt about Tim Hardaway Jr. before he was traded to the Mavs as part of the 2019 Porzingis deal with the New York Knicks. Hardaway Jr. was viewed as an 'albatross' before shooting nearly 40 percent from deep for two straight full seasons in Dallas. That changed this season with the Mavs making a coaching change from Rick Carlisle to Jason Kidd, but the fact remains that Hardaway Jr. played so well in his new environment that it earned him a brand new four-year contract.

Even if Dinwiddie and Bertans don't necessarily make a big difference on the court, it won't be any different than if Porzingis wouldn't be able to play. And aside from the on-court stuff, one could argue that it's easier to potentially trade separate less-expensive bad contracts later down the road than trying to trade one $33 million one at one time.

Will the Mavs get a push from their new players? Will the Mavs benefit from this move later on when another star player becomes available? Only time will tell, but for now, there's reason for optimism. And that seems to always be the case when Luka Doncic on the roster.