From The Archives: Dallas's Championship Blueprint Meets…

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Friday, October 9

The Mavericks have reached three NBA Finals and won one championship since joining the league in 1980-81, and the February 2025 trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis set up the defense-first rebuild Dusty May now runs around Cooper Flagg. Dallas opened this preseason with a 117-135 loss to Houston, a rival dating to physical 2010s playoff series, while fans keep arguing whether trading Doncic will look justified once this group takes the floor for real.

Mavericks Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Expansion To One Title

Don Carter and Norm Sonju brought the Mavericks into the league for the 1980-81 season, and the team lost its debut year 15-67 under first coach Dick Motta. Dirk Nowitzki's 1998 arrival turned that into a contender, reaching the Finals in 2006 and winning the franchise's only championship in 2011. He played 21 seasons in Dallas before Luka Doncic inherited the lead role, taking the Mavericks to a third Finals in 2024.

The Trade That Reset Everything

In February 2025, Dallas sent Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and got Anthony Davis back as the centerpiece, a move general manager Nico Harrison defended by saying, "I believe that defense wins championships." That turn showed in last season's numbers: a 26-56 finish with a defense ranked 19th against an offense ranked 27th, and a 19-year-old Cooper Flagg averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists as the new face of the roster.

Same Rival, New Stakes

Dallas's oldest rivalries run through Houston and San Antonio, dating to physical, series-deciding playoff fights in the 2010s. That history framed the 117-135 preseason-opening loss to the Rockets on October 9, with Flagg scoring 19 points and Naji Marshall adding 16 in a game Dallas trailed by as many as 28. The teams meet again October 11, with the question that's followed this roster since the Doncic trade still unresolved: whether a defense-built team around a teenager can win big without the star it replaced.

Have the Mavericks ever won an NBA championship?

Yes, once, in 2011, led by Dirk Nowitzki — the only title in franchise history since Dallas joined the NBA in 1980-81.

Why did the Mavericks trade Luka Doncic?

Dallas sent Doncic to the Lakers in February 2025 for Anthony Davis as part of a front-office pivot toward a defense-first roster, a move GM Nico Harrison defended publicly.

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.