NBA Trade News: Mavericks May Have Given Up Too Soon On Kristaps Porzingis

KEY POINTS

The Mavericks appear to be shifting to a small-ball system following the Porzingis trade
Porzingis boosts the Wizards' frontline and may help drive towards a playoff seed
Porzingis will fill up the void left by Harrell, who was traded to the Hornets

The Dallas Mavericks have given up on Kristaps Porzingis, dealing him to the Washington Wizards and taking in Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.

A Porzingis trade has been suggested frequently in the past months. He has been slowed down by injuries, but the Latvian player has been ably performing.

In the 34 games that the 26-year-old has played this season, Porzingis has averaged 19.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 29.5 minutes of action.

However, the efficiency of Porzingis has not produced results for the Mavs, seen as the reason behind the trade reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

As of this writing, Dallas is at the No. 5 spot of the Western Conference with a 33-23 win-loss record.

Much of the attention has been on Luka Doncic, so it will be interesting if investing more on offense will help the Mavs improve their run heading into the playoffs.

Aside from the 7-foot-3 center, the Mavs also received a future second-round pick as part of the NBA trade.

In the financial sense, the Mavericks also rid themselves of the $158 million contract that Porzingis had.

However, acquiring Dinwiddie and Bertans raises some questions as well.

Looking at the Mavs roster following the Porzingis trade, it appears head coach Jason Kidd is leaning more on a smaller roster and utilizing the available centers in the fold.

The only remaining big men are Boban Marjanovic, Moses Brown and Dwight Powell. The adjustments of Dallas from here on will be pretty interesting to see.

For the Wizards, the coming of Porzingis adds more sock to their frontline needs.

Washington traded Montrezl Harrell to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Ish Smith, Vernon Carey, and a future second-round pick.

Harrell’s exit means the Wizards lost a bit of muscle inside. However, Porzingis gets the chance to up the offensive plays of head coach Wes Unseld Jr.

Washington is currently at the 11th spot of the Eastern Conference with a 25-29 win-loss record.

However, they are just a game behind the Atlanta Hawks and can still make it to the playoffs by the play-in tournament.