Like the Dallas Mavericks, the Boston Red Sox have shocked the sporting world by trading away a superstar.
Unlike the Mavericks, the Red Sox won’t find salvation in the ability to draft a generational talent like Cooper Flagg.
The Mavericks front office outraged fans with this season’s league-rocking trade of superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. A vocal portion of the Mavs’ fanbase wanted General Manager Nico Harrison fired.
The Lakers went on to finish third place in the NBA’s Western Conference, and the Mavericks wound up injured and out of the playoffs despite making it to the NBA Finals the year before.
Things were looking grim for Dallas. And then the Mavericks won the Flagg sweepstakes.
Dallas became one of the most unlikely winners of the NBA draft lottery in history, entering the May 12 event with just a 1.8 percent chance of securing the first overall pick. And now that they have it, they’ve been given a “gift” with the chance to draft Flagg, the Newport native who has long been considered the consensus number one selection.
Don’t expect the Red Sox to be so lucky.
Similar to Dallas, Boston has dealt an incredibly talented and popular star in surprising fashion. Sunday’s blockbuster trade sending Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, like the Doncic deal in Dallas, is already igniting frustration and anger among the Red Sox faithful.
“We were all excited. We just swept the Yankees. We love our team and instead of being excited, I’m devastated,” a Red Sox fan told CBS affiliate WBZ-TV in Boston. “It’s wild. We have traded Mookie Betts and Devers in the last five years. Our two best players and we got, essentially, nothing in return for either of them.”
In another parallel to the Doncic trade in Dallas, the Red Sox do not appear to be getting a commensurate on-field return while parting ways with a player of Devers’ talent. The Red Sox are receiving two pitchers in right-hander Jordan Hicks and left-hander Kyle Harrison, along with prospects Jose Bello and James Tibbs III.
Devers’ massive contract, similar to the gargantuan supermax deal that could have been due Doncic in Dallas, appears to be the driving force in this decision for the Red Sox. The Giants are set to absorb the more than $250 million left on Devers’ contract through 2033, according to ESPN.
Those financial considerations are unlikely to soften the blow for Red Sox fans, however, as they have to watch the last remaining member of the 2013 World Series Champion team for Boston depart for another team.
“I’m shocked. This is a terrible trade. Rafael is their star player and it’s going to ruin the Sox,” another fan said to WBZ. “I honestly think they’re just doing it for the money.”
There is plenty for Red Sox fans to take issue with this trade. Though given the rocky relationship that has been playing out in public between the club and Devers so far this season, the writing may have been on the wall for some time.
For all the parallels with the trade in Dallas, Red Sox fans might be able to find some solace in the fact that the Doncic deal has looked better over time for the Mavericks. But a big chunk of that has been luck in the draft lottery, and Red Sox fans can’t bank on the same kind of seismic good fortune that materialized in Dallas.
There is only one Cooper Flagg, and he doesn’t play baseball.
