We may have just lived through the most active trade deadline in NBA history, but it's not as though everyone participated equally. Four teams didn't make a single trade: the Nuggets, Magic, Trail Blazers and Timberwolves,

The Athletic reported earlier in the week that the Mavericks had a dream of pairing Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant with their current core of Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. SNY's Ian Begley is taking that one step further, saying the Mavs were actively engaged in talks on Wednesday, trying to make it happen.

The team added Luka Doncic, Mark Williams, Dorian Finney-Smith and three other players over the past six weeks, deals that appear to have short- and long-term benefits.

Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.

The Lakers formally welcomed Dončić on Tuesday, less than three days after they traded Anthony Davis and Max Christie in a three-team deal for the Slovenian scorer who won his first scoring title last season before leading the Mavs to the NBA Finals. Dončić is a five-time All-NBA selection and a five-time All-Star.

As soon as the trade sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers was announced, everyone immediately knew it was a bad trade for the Dallas Mavericks. Just beyond trading away a 25-year-old megastar in Doncic, the return they got of Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick felt lackluster. And that's because it was.

Mavericks center Anthony Davis was ruled out for Thursday night's NBA Finals rematch against the Boston Celtics, coach Jason Kidd said, pushing his Dallas debut back to Saturday at the earliest. Davis was acquired for Luka Doncic,

The Celtics are 9-1 against the Mavericks in their past 10 games, the only loss coming in Game 4 of the NBA Finals last season.

Anthony Davis was ruled out of Thursday night's game against the host Boston Celtics with an abdominal strain, pushing back his Dallas Mavericks' debut to Saturday at the earliest. Davis was acquired in the deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.