The Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world when they traded away superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. It would not be long before Dallas ran into injury trouble, as Davis suffered a severe adductor strain in his Mavericks debut and is expected to miss at least a month.
The Mavericks wanted to sign Ben Simmons
The Mavericks are also already without Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, and Dwight Powell. They reportedly tried to bring in three-time All-Star Ben Simmons while he was in the buyout market to fill up the major holes on the roster before he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, per NBA insider Marc Stein.
The Mavericks could have benefitted largely by adding Simmons, mostly due to his size at 6-10 and his versatility. Simmons would have given them some much-needed defense and playmaking and provided some major depth to a depleted Dallas team.
Simmons instead joins a Clippers team that has raised a lot of eyebrows in the Western Conference. They are currently 31-23 and sixth in the West standings and have enjoyed a breakout season from Norman Powell and a resurgence from James Harden.
Dallas will have to stay afloat with a depleted roster
Simmons is unlikely to play like the All-Star that he once was, but he will give them serious depth with what he brings to the table. As for Dallas, they will have to tread forward with a depleted roster for the time being and hope that their scorers such as Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson can keep them afloat.
The Mavericks sit eighth in the West with a 30-26 record entering the All-Star break. The hope for them is that at some point they will be able to get their injured players back on the court and not have to worry about missing out on Simmons.