SUMMARY
- Grant Williams was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Charlotte Hornets.
- Williams' play and conduct did not live up to the Mavs' expectations.
Theories regarding why the Dallas Mavericks decided to trade away Grant Williams have caught the attention of the basketball community. As most fans might be aware, the NBA trade deadline recently came to an end with several teams across the league making last-minute trades in order to improve their chances of contending for an NBA title.
The Dallas Mavericks are one of those teams. Although they traded for Grant Williams from the Boston Celtics to start off the 2023-2024 NBA season, the Mavs decided to include Grant in a trade deal and send him to the Charlotte Hornets in order to acquire PJ Washington.
Grant Williams’ stats with the Dallas Mavericks
Grant Williams averaged 8.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in his 47-game stint with the Dallas Mavericks. While these numbers aren’t too bad, especially since he contributes more on the defensive end, there were several games where Grant scored 2 or 3 points and was clearly not contributing much for the Mavs.
While those reasons alone might be enough reason for the Mavericks to trade him away, another unique explanation was brought up recently.
Fans are unconvinced that Grant’s choice of shoe is to be blamed for his trade
Despite the fact that it might seem ridiculous, NBA Central sent out a tweet revealing that Grant adorning Jayson Tatum’s signature shoe instead of Luka Doncic’s played a role in urging the team to trade him away. While Luka and Tatum are both part of the Jordan brand, they have their own signature shoes.
The Dallas Mavericks were ‘determined’ to part ways with Grant Williams after he ‘rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,’ per @espn_macmahon
Notably, he also switched his basketball sneakers from Luka’s to Tatum’s signature shoes
(Via https://t.co/5VZnKfl8WP) pic.twitter.com/QlbmE3G3RF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 9, 2024
Upon hearing this report, several fans expressed their disbelief over this being a pivotal reason in the Mavs’ decision to trade away Grant Williams.
“Waahhhhh Grant you’re wearing another player’s shoes? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 We’re trading you!!! 😡😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬”
That’s what I took from this
— Ryan (@18__loading) February 9, 2024
I had to check if this was NBACentel 3 times, there’s no way that last part is true😭😭
— CantGuardBook (@CGBBURNER) February 9, 2024
The report also stated that Grant rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Although it never went into any specifics regarding how or which people, none of this changes the fact that Grant was traded away and is now a part of the Charlotte Hornets.