The most charitable possible explanation for the Luka Dončić trade -- and this was already a stretch -- was that it improved the team's short-term prospects. Nico Harrison told us as much when he said,

An NBA insider made a bold statement suggesting that Anthony Davis should not play another game for the Dallas Mavericks and should be traded during the summer. The Dallas Mavericks‘ NBA season has taken a dramatic turn for the worse in just about a month.

The Mavericks could now be without their top center for the rest of the season following Kyrie Irving's injury.