Why Did Raptors Back Out of Porzingis Trade with Mavs?

The Toronto Raptors were among the teams to discuss a trade with the Dallas Mavericks for Kristaps Porzingis. Here's why they decided to pull out of talks.

The Dallas Mavericks surprised many by moving Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards at the NBA trade deadline. In return, they received Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans; both considered negative assets on their current contracts.

Porzingis has yet to play in a single game during February after suffering a knee injury that later was classified as a bone bruise. The Mavericks front office collectively understood that moving on from his deal before it's too late was the right move. 

According to Marc Stein, there was doubt from the Mavericks that a deal could get done to move Porzingis' contract before the deadline before the Toronto Raptors and Wizards emerged as serious suitors.

The Raptors ultimately backed out of those trade talks — creating more urgency for Dallas to get a deal done with Washington.

"The Mavericks were pessimistic, until the last few days before the deadline, that there was any sort of passable market for Porzingis," Stein wrote. 

"Then two serious suitors materialized, and the Mavericks were not about to let an opportunity with the Washington Wizards vaporize after the Toronto Raptors backed out of talks."

Stein reported the reasoning behind the Raptors' decision to back out of trade talks involving Porzingis was due to long-term concerns regarding his health. On the other end, Washington was 'eager' to move the contracts of Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, given how both players have underachieved.

"Toronto, league sources say, stepped away because of concerns about Porzingis' long-term health," Stein wrote.

"The Wizards, sources say, went ahead with the trade on their end — to add to the bluntness — because they were as eager to ship out Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans as the Mavericks were to move on from the idea that Porzingis could be the ideal co-star for Luka Doncic."

The Mavericks will now be taking fliers on Dinwiddie and Bertans to fill roles the team feels would be better served in the short-term. Dinwiddie fills the potential role of being a sixth-man that can initiate offense, while the hope surrounding Bertans is that his one-dimensional skill-set of being a three-point sniper can be revitalized in Dallas. 

If either Dinwiddie or Bertans manages to recover some of their value, the Mavericks would likely have an easier time moving smaller contracts going forward than to risk Porzingis getting injured once again and having to move his $33.8 million salary for next season.