All was quiet on Saturday evening for Dallas Mavericks fans.
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The team was coming off a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, and they had a game in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon against the Cavaliers, and trade murmurs about the team had been extremely quiet recently.
The team had been linked to Herbert Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans, but outside of that, the rumors had been fairly nonexistent. The Mavericks always hold their cards close to their chest ahead of the trade deadline, but this year had been way more quiet than we had ever seen.
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Grading the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers
The quietness around the Mavericks immediately turned into some of the loudest buzz in NBA history late into the night on Saturday as they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
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This trade was between the Mavericks, Lakers, and Utah Jazz, and the full details make absolutely zero sense for all parties involved.
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The Lakers acquired Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris, the Mavericks acquired Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick from the Lakers, and the Utah Jazz got Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2025 second-round pick from the LA Clippers, and a 2025 second-round pick from Dallas.
This was one of the most confusing trades in NBA history, and it gets even more confusing as you dive into the full details.
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Grading the trade for the Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers robbed the Mavericks.
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They just landed a player who has been selected to five All-NBA First Teams in a row and led Dallas to the NBA Finals for a 31-year-old Davis, Christie, and one first-round pick. While losing Davis could sting, they landed a player who will be the face of the franchise for years to come, and he is the perfect player to take the torch from LeBron James.
Doncic playing in Los Angeles and starting a new era of Lakers basketball is going to change everything for that franchise, and this trade is almost so bizarre that it doesn’t feel real. The Lakers are the clear winners of this deal, and Doncic is going to be the clear face of the NBA moving forward.
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Grading the trade for the Dallas Mavericks
This is undoubtedly the worst trade in NBA history.
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The Mavericks just traded a player who has the potential to go down as one of the greatest players of all time and is only 25 years old. He gave the franchise all he had and led them to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011 last season, and he hasn’t even reached his prime yet.
Dallas gave up on him, blindsided him by sending him to the Lakers, and flat-out gave up on him because they were worried about giving him a long-term deal and thought his conditioning was an issue.
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That is nowhere close to enough of a reason to trade a future Hall of Famer and the face of the city of Dallas, and now Davis is going to be the face of the franchise alongside Kyrie Irving. The Mavericks are playing an extremely dangerous game with this one considering that they have little to no first-round capital moving forward, and this move will age horribly if they can’t win within the next few years.
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Dallas did get to shed Kleber as part of this deal, which they were rumored to be wanting to do, and on top of that, they lost the leader of the locker room, Morris.
This is an extremely risky move, and the fact that the Mavericks approached the Lakers with this move is absolutely absurd.
A former private club in Dallas’ Trinity Groves will become Winsome Prime, a steakhouse and lounge.
Winsome Prime will be one of the most upscale restaurants in West Dallas, a historically Hispanic community that has experienced significant development and gentrification with the opening of Trinity Groves, a restaurant park with apartments and retail near the Trinity River and the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge.
Winsome Prime is expected to open in late April or early May 2025.
As the steakhouse joins Trinity Groves, the development is undergoing another reincarnation since 2005. The latest master plan calls for more than 2 million square feet of office space, 1,000 hotel rooms and more, reported our Anna Butler. Nearby will be an event pavilion, skate park, play space and more from Goldenrod Cos.
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“In 10 years, this whole area will look different,” Trinity Groves partner Sam Romano said in mid-2024.
Kung pao pasta is a new menu item at Winsome Prime, a Houston restaurant expanding to Dallas.(Becca Wright)
Winsome Prime co-owner Rob Wright liked how close Trinity Groves is to other parts of Dallas, like downtown and Bishop Arts.
“Knowing what we know about the potential resurgence of Trinity Groves and the revitalization that’s on the horizon, we wanted to position ourselves to grow with the community,” Wright said.
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Winsome Prime’s appetizer menu includes shrimp cocktail (pictured) as well as chargrilled oysters, truffle lemon pepper wings and crab beignets. (Becca Wright)
Winsome Prime sits detached from the main Trinity Groves restaurant building, in the former Network Bar. Wright said the restaurant will make for a sophisticated evening out, “while remaining welcoming to all.”
Indeed, Romano told The Dallas Morning News in 2024 his goal for the former Network Bar was to replace it with a restaurant, not another private club.
The menu has some Louisiana inspiration in dishes like chargrilled oysters and crab beignets, as well Asian-influenced items like sesame cauliflower and kung pao pasta. The restaurant has a sizeable menu of steaks and cocktails.
Two popular entrees, the owners said, are the spinach-stuffed salmon and a Hawaiian rib-eye topped with charred pineapple.
Winsome Prime originated in Houston under the name The Warwick. Its four co-owners, Mazen Baltagi, Steve Rogers, Kurt-Ogechi Agomuo and Wright, are involved in the Dallas expansion.
Winsome Prime will be at 331 Singleton Blvd., Dallas. It’s expected to open in late April or early May 2025. Brunch is expected to be added on Saturdays and Sundays in June 2025.
As facial injuries continue to plague the Stars’ roster this season, top-line center Roope Hintz is the latest victim.
After taking a puck to the face at the 10:45 mark of the second period of Saturday night’s game against Edmonton, Hintz left the game and did not return. He was taken to the hospital and ruled out for Sunday’s game in Vancouver.
“Flew home today, so we’ll see,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Sunday. “Initial thought was it’s nothing long, long term. But obviously, not available day-to-day here.”
DeBoer said it looked like a fracture has most likely been ruled out, but that the team won’t be certain until all of the imaging is complete. He didn’t provide a concrete timeline for Hintz’s return but will likely have an update when the team returns to Dallas for practice Tuesday.
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Hintz is the fifth Stars player to suffer a facial injury this season, joining Matt Dumba, Matt Duchene, Mavrik Bourque and Mason Marchment. Some recoveries have lasted a few games. Others like Marchment’s, which required surgery, took over a month.
“We’ve dealt with that injury adversity all year, and it hasn’t affected us for the most part,” DeBoer said. “That’s big shoes to fill when you take him and [Miro] Heiskanen and [Tyler] Seguin out of the lineup, but our guys haven’t used that as an excuse.”
Dallas’ top line had a new look Saturday with Hintz centering Jason Robertson and trade-deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen. Wyatt Johnston will replace Hintz on the top line.
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Hintz has recorded 25 goals and 27 assists in 59 games for Dallas this year.
FC Dallas dropped its first game of the regular season on Saturday night, losing 3-1 to the Chicago Fire.
Lineups:
FC Dallas: Maarten Paes, Marco Farfan, Osaze Urhoghide, Sebastien Ibeagha, Shaq Moore (Pedrinho); Sebastien Lletget (Tsiki Ntsabeleng), Ramiro Benetti; Logan Farrington (Patrickson Delgado), Lucho Acosta, Anderson Julio (Anderson Julio); Petar Musa
Subs not used: Michael Collodi, Nolan Norris, Enzo Newman, Leo Chu, Lalas Abubakar
Chicago Fire: Chris Brady, Jonathan Dean (Thomas Barlow), Jack Elliott, Sam Rogers, Andrew Gutman; Brian Gutierrez, Kellyn Acosta (Mauricio Pineda), Sergio Oregel (Samuel Williams); Jonathan Bamba, Hugo Cuypers, Omari Glasgow (Leonardo Barroso)
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Subs not used: Jeff Gal, Omar Gonzalez, Chris Cupps, Harold Osorio, Justin Reynolds
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CHI: Mauricio Pineda – 45′ CHI: Brian Gutierrez – 71′ CHI: Tom Barlow – 89’
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Quote Sheet
Head Coach Eric Quill Opening statement following tonight’s loss… “First, I’d like to apologize to our fan base. They didn’t deserve what happened tonight. This is my responsibility. I’ve been entrusted with leading this club on a mission. As coaches, we impact the game through our decisions, and this one was on me. The game was under control. I can make better decisions, and I’ll leave it at that. I want our fans to know how much I appreciate them for showing up tonight in this weather. You can feel their energy and passion, and all I can hope is that they continue to support us and be here next week. I can promise this won’t happen again.”
On the change of play on the field from both sides… “We scored the goal to gain momentum, and I even thought ahead to the next five minutes. I felt we continued to control the game with our mentality. Then I chose a different approach. I could have kept Logan (Farrington) on the field longer. The game didn’t need the changes I made. As a coach, I impacted the game through my decisions, and we went flat in the last 25 minutes instead of getting stronger.”
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Goalkeeper Maarten Paes On what changed in the match… “Football is a game of moments. One goal can change the entire momentum. We need to be more mature. At the 70-minute mark, there were no problems—just some chances, which is normal. But we have to be much more mature in how we respond after a setback.”
On the team being motivated for Vancouver… “We are going to be extremely motivated—really motivated. We know that last year, Vancouver won here 3-1, so we understand they’re a strong team. They have a lot of talented individuals, but they’re also a well-organized team. We need to be ready and match their intensity.”
Forward Logan Farrington On his goal… “I saw (Anderson) Julio get the ball out wide. I know he likes to make a few moves and beat his defender on the inside. When he cut in, I took off, and he saw my run. My first touch was a little heavy, but I knew I could get in front of the keeper—maybe even draw a penalty. They ran into each other, and I got a little lucky with it, but you always need a bit of luck to score a goal.”
On the second half… “We got a little complacent. There were a couple of mistakes leading up to the goal that were very preventable—things we can work on moving forward. Maybe it was a mindset issue; we need to close out games better. It’s a good wake-up call for us. It’s definitely disappointing because we played well for 80 minutes.”
