The Dallas Mavericks shook the basketball world to its core over the weekend, making one of the biggest and most surprising in-season trades in recent memory.
In that trade, the Mavs acquired star big man Anthony Davis, young wing Max Christie and a future draft pick. In exchange, Dallas sent star scorer Luka Doncic, swingman Maxi Kleber and reserve big man Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Coach Kidd and Mavs general manager Nico Harrison addressed the media before the team’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, and talked about their shared vision for the culture of the franchise, one that will be centered on team defense.
Both AD, a five time All-Defense selection, and Christie, a 6-foot-6 wing who has gained a reputation for his ability on that end of the court, bring a defensive mindset to Dallas.
“We believe that those guys are going to help us win now,” Jason said. “Nico has talked about defense. Defense wins championships. AD is the one that we truly believe fits with D-Live and Gaff and PJ. So when you look at going forward, we’re looking at the window to win now with AD and Christie.”
Jason is intimately familiar with the play of Davis, having been a part of the Los Angeles coaching staff when AD helped the Lakers win the NBA Championship in 2020.
When he addressed the media on Sunday, Coach Kidd had not yet had time to discuss a future starting five, but he did mention that given the structure of the Mavs roster, he believes Davis will start at the “4” position alongside Gafford as the center for now, and then Dereck Lively when D-Live returns from an ankle injury. Davis, who almost exclusively played center in Los Angeles has spoken openly about his desire to move back to the power forward position.
“I’ve had the luxury of coaching AD,” J said. “We won a championship in LA, so I have a little advantage of understanding who he is on and off the floor.”
Jason also had a strong relationship with Doncic, one of the league’s young stars and a player who, at just 25 years of age last spring, helped the Mavs reach the NBA Finals. At the press conference, J-Kidd made clear how he felt about coaching Luka for the last few years.
“We understand what Luka has meant to the Mavericks and we wish him and his family the best in LA,” Coach Kidd said. “When I first came here, [I was] excited about the opportunity to coach an up-coming star, who became a mega star. I was just blessed to have that opportunity to coach him…When you talk about Luka in his seven years with the Mavs, he’s beloved. And to be able to watch it up close, [alongside] the city of Dallas [was a blessing]. He’s a global icon.”
Jason also wished all the best to Kleber, who emerged as a rotational contributor under his watch and Morris, one of the most well-respected veterans in the league, known as Smooth in the locker room.
“We’re gonna miss Maxi, a true pro. And we’re going to miss Smooth, a pro in that locker room and was always ready to play if needed,” Kidd said.
Harrison revealed during the press conference that Coach Kidd was not made aware of the trade talks until the exchange was consummated. But the Mavs GM felt, because of Jason’s familiarity with Davis, and their commitment to building a defensive mentality, that Jason would sign off on the move.
“J-Kidd and I, we’ve had a vision and a culture that we want to create since we’ve been here. The players that we’re bringing in, we believe exemplify that. We think defense wins championships and we’re bringing in [Davis] one of the best two-way players in the league,” Harrison said.
“J-Kidd didn’t know about [the trade],” Harrison added. “But J-Kidd and I are aligned and we talk about archetypes and we talk about the culture that we want to create so I know the type of players that he likes without actually talking to him. And J-Kidd coached [the Lakers] when they won the championship. So I think when you’re aligned with your coach like that, I know the type of players that he likes and I felt good about it making sense for where we’re trying to go.”
Jason described his initial reaction to the trade as shock, but admitted that through three decades in the league, he’s pretty much seen it all. That includes being involved in trades that sent him away from and back to Dallas.
“I’ve been in this league for a long long time. So I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been involved in trades, by the Mavericks,” he said. “It is part of the business, but in the sense we have to push forward as an organization. As a team, we have a game to play and we have to be pros about it. We have to push forward and we believe we have a team that can do that.”
He told reporters that he conducted a team meeting Sunday morning and opened the floor to his players for any questions they wanted to ask.
“No one really had any questions. We have a game today. We want to be professional. But also, you want to give your flowers to Luka and Maxi and [Morris] for what they have done,” J-Kidd said. “We’ve been faced with a lot of injuries. So we’ve had a lot of conversations or meetings about “next man up.” And that’s the situation, as a coach I have to do.”
Indeed, the Mavericks have been dealt a harsh dose of the injury bug this season. Lively has played in just 32 of the team’s 50 games and will miss at least the next four weeks before he is re-evaluated. Doncic had played in just 22 of 49 games before the trade, due to a calf injury.
Star point guard Kyrie Irving has missed 11 games. P.J. Washington and Klay Thompson have each missed nearly 10 games already. In fact, no one on the Mavs roster has played in all 50 of the team’s games. Spencer Dinwiddie is closest with 48.
The lack of continuity has led to some tough losses for the Mavs. After last year’s emphatic run to the Finals, Dallas currently sits at 26-24, 9th in the West with 32 games remaining in the regular season. But Jason believes the worm will start to turn soon.
“Any time you add or subtract it takes time for that group to get to know each other. Continuity is a big thing,” he said. “We’ve seen this, of the guys who’ve been with us this season, with our injuries, we’ve always had the next man up and we’re always trying to get continuity. We’ve had a lot of injuries and illness and we’re trying our best to get that continuity and hopefully the month of February and March, we can find that.”
Kidd said he supports Harrison’s efforts to do what he feels is best to make the team better, even if that means making some tough decisions.
“We are aligned,” Jason said. “When you look at the vision of the team and what Nico wants to build, I truly support that and I truly believe that the players that we are getting are ones that can help us achieve that [goal] and that’s to win a championship.”