Reports: Dallas Mavericks trade Kristaps Porzingis to Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards acquired one-time All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round draft pick from the Dallas Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, according to multiple reports.
Porzingis, 26, has never recaptured the promise he held with the New York Knicks in early 2018, when he was voted an All-Star shortly before tearing his left ACL. The Mavericks traded two first-round picks for Porzingis in January 2019 and signed him to a five-year, $158 million maximum contract six months later.
In his first season since the injury, the 7-foot-3 Porzingis tore his right meniscus during the 2020 playoffs. He managed to play all seven games in last season's first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, but he battled injuries to his right knee, lower back and left ankle throughout the 2020-21 campaign. He missed his last five games with the Mavericks this season with a sore right knee. You can see the pattern.
Porzingis will get another chance in Washington, where he will be paired with three-time All-Star guard Bradley Beal — next season. Beal underwent season-ending surgery on his left wrist earlier this week. After a promising start, the 11th-place Wizards have fallen outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Porzingis is signed through the 2023-24 campaign, when he will be playing on a $36 million player option.
Washington sent a pair of cumbersome contracts back to Dallas in return. Dinwiddie is owed $18 million next season and $18.9 million in 2023-24 if he plays six more games this season and at least 50 in 2022-23. The Mavericks can waive Dinwiddie for $10 million by the end of June 2023 if he fails to meet those marks. Bertans is due $16 million this season and can earn as much as $49 million over the next three seasons.
Neither Bertans nor Dinwiddie met expectations in Washington after signing their lucrative contracts.
Dallas will hope Bertans regains the form that made him a 41% 3-point shooter over his first five NBA seasons. He is shooting just 32% from distance in a diminished role this season, but there is playing time behind stretch forward Maxi Kleber if Bertans can also space the floor for Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
The Dinwiddie acquisition is a curious one for Dallas. He has not been nearly as effective as a lower-usage off-ball player than he was with the ball in his hands on the Brooklyn Nets before Kevin Durant's arrival. The Mavericks have also been linked to one-time All-Star guard Goran Dragic, who is expected to negotiate a contract buyout following his trade to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. There are only so many minutes.
Other teams' bad contracts can look better than your own from afar. That is the real impetus for this deal.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
