How the Trade Deadline Altered the Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns Rivalry
Major Addictions: Spencer Dinwiddie, Davis Bertans. Major Subtractions: Kristaps Porzingis
The Dallas Mavericks trading their “Robin” in Kristaps Porzingis seemed to come from nowhere, even despite there being murmurs of the Mavs shopping him for over two years. It was a “Latvian for Latvian” deal, as Davis Bertans first came over for him.
Although Bertans does not exactly keep you up at night, he has played well against the Suns lately, averaging 7.3 points and shooting 7-12 from beyond the arc in his past three games against them. As a career 14.7 minutes per game guy, Bertans will not impact Phoenix’s rivalry with Dallas, but Monty Williams and company might want to keep an extra eye on him whenever he does check in.
Instead, the major alteration comes from the Porzingis and Spencer Dinwiddie trade off. Over the past two years, the Unicorn has run over the Suns one too many times, averaging 20.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game against them. He also put up .444/.417 shooting slashes.
Minus the field goal percentage, all those numbers are up from Porzingis’s collective averages during the past two years. Unlike Alexander-Walker and Inges, he has clearly excelled against the Suns, making his departure from this rivalry incredibly beneficial for them.
PORZINGIS WITH THE JAM 😤 pic.twitter.com/wiDNpDgrkJ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 21, 2022
Dinwiddie on the other hand has struggled against the Suns. He did not play last year due to a torn ACL, and scored just four points in his lone game against them this year. He did dish out three assists, but shot 1-5 from the field and turned it over two times.
Being a larger ball-handler, one might expect Dinwiddie to torch Phoenix given Chris Paul’s lacking height. In that early February game though, he refused to utilize that advantage, often resorting to pull-up jumpers.
Even him joining the talented Luka Doncic, Dinwiddie and his flawed play of late should only make this rivalry with the Mavericks that much easier for the Suns to dominate. Without question, their threat against Phoenix both this year and in the long term has now decreased.