After trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, the Dallas Mavericks figured to still have some work to do before Thursday’s trade deadline. They had created title-or-bust expectations and shortened their runway to meet them by trading the 25-year-old Doncic for the 31-year-old Davis and pairing him with a 32-year-old Kyrie Irving.
Given the current Mavs roster has been built to complement Doncic’s skills, they needed to make some adjustments to the supporting cast to try and build the best team around Irving and Davis. On Tuesday, they began doing just that with their first post-Doncic trade, sending Quentin Grimes to the 76ers for Caleb Martin, per Shams Charania.
Mavericks get: Caleb Martin
76ers get: Quentin Grimes, PHI 2025 second-round pick
The Sixers recoup their own second round pick for this year that Dallas held, which, if they don’t go on a big late season run, could be pretty high on the Draft’s second day. They also add another perimeter scoring threat in Grimes, who is having a solid season in Dallas averaging 10.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game and hitting 39.8 percent of his threes.
Martin, meanwhile, has missed the last 12 games with a hip/groin injury, but was averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game and hitting 37.9 percent of his threes prior to his absence. The Mavs have made it clear that their goal is to build a defense-first team around Davis, and that is certainly the goal with this trade in adding another versatile wing defender in Martin. It’ll be interesting to see how the Mavs proceed and if they have more moves on the horizon over the next 48 hours before the deadline, but Nico Harrison is certainly shuffling the deck in Dallas for the second half of the season.
