Finding a trade partner for the Dallas Mavericks
Yup, I'm bored again.
The rumors in Dallas are swirling after Brad Townsend reported that the Mavericks are looking to trade anything and everything they have to build a championship contender around Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
Let’s take a brief moment to note that Porzingis needed knee surgery right after the NBA Playoffs….and now let’s go back to assuming he’s 100% healthy and that building around these two guys in the only path to 2021 success for the Mavs.
Who can/should the Mavericks attempt to trade for? First, let’s start with…
What do the Mavericks have to trade?
Let’s try and be somewhat realistic here. Luka and Kristaps are the only two blue chip players on the roster, and the team made the playoffs this year, so Dallas’ cupboard is somewhat bare on what they are able to give up in a trade.
Because of the NBA rule that states teams can not trade away their 1st round pick in consecutive years, and the Mavericks owing their 1st round picks in 2021 and 2023 to the New York Knicks, Dallas couldn’t trade away another 1st round pick earlier than 2025. (And I wouldn’t recommend trading that just because Luka could be an unrestricted free agent in 2023, if he wanted to be.)
That leaves Dallas with the following legit trade chips:
Two 2nd round picks in 2020 NBA Draft (including the 31st pick)
Delon Wright ($9M) - a valuable player on a reasonable contract that doesn’t seem to fit in Dallas
Jalen Brunson ($1.6M)
Dorian Finney-Smith ($4M) - with the team already low on wings that can play defense, they’d rather not let him go
Justin Jackson ($5M)
Seth Curry ($7.8M) - probably the third most valuable player on the team and they’d hate to lose his shooting
Maxi Kleber ($8.2M) - a poor shooting performance in the bubble is going to make that contract harder to swallow
Dwight Powell ($11M) - questions about his return from a major injury probably make him untradeable
Courtney Lee’s cap hold ($19.1M) - renouncing his rights could free up the cap space needed to absorb a bigger contract
So, a Mavericks offer is probably centered around Delon Wright, with Justin Jackson and Jalen Brunson (and the 2nd round picks) sitting there as sweeteners, if needed.
Who/what should the Mavericks be targeting?
After reading the section above, you probably have realized that the Mavericks are not trading for Giannis any time soon. They can either target lower-tier players in hopes of one of them reaching a higher potential than they have to this point or they can look for superstar players that have contracts their current teams would like to get out of.
This means any player on a rookie deal is out. Dallas will be searching for someone older than Luka and KP, but young enough to be in their prime for the next 3 years. Free agents are not necessarily out because you can sign-and-trade, so we’ll look at them, too.
Oh, and fit matters. Could the Mavericks trade for Steven Adams? Probably! I’m sure OKC would love to get out of that contract. However, he would clog up the lane on offense (which is where/how Luka makes his living) and could be played off the court by teams implementing a small ball lineup (which they can all do).
Also, needs matter. The Mavericks could use a 3-and-D point guard and/or a 3-and-D wing. Assuming Powell is healthy and Boban returns, they’re probably set at big man (but open to opportunities). Any scoring guard with weak defense is going to have a hard time playing with Luka and/or Seth, so probably out.
Who should the Mavericks be trading with?
While Dallas can not trade away their 1st round pick in 2020 or 2022, they can swap 1st round picks in those years. If they can find a team near the bottom of the 1st round in the upcoming draft to trade with, that makes the chips they have more valuable.
Here are the non-lottery 1st round picks, as they sit now:
Alright, this is a great place to start. Now we know that we’re looking for a free agent or a veteran player on an unfriendly contract that is on one of the teams listed above.
Searching through the rubble
Using the formula we have so far, here are players the Mavericks could maybe be targeting.
Gordon Hayward
Hayward seems like a natural fit for the Mavericks, and not just because Dallas is already probably the whitest team in the league. His time in Boston has been riddled with injuries and disappointment, and he can decide his fate with a player option worth $34M. That gives Dallas room to wiggle.
If Hayward decides he wants to play with the Mavericks, he could negotiate a long-term deal with them and turn down his player-option. Boston would be forced to accept a sign-and-trade or be left with nothing.
Again, this is only really workable if Hayward forces it. However, if he does, the Celtics would probably love to take a pick swap (jumping from #30 to #18) and Delon Wright.
Chris Paul
Oklahoma City had a great year with Chris Paul, which maybe derailed their plans to trade him and his giant contract as soon as they could. However, they are a young team in a small market and will already be dealing with the pains of Steven Adams’ contract for the next few years. Maybe they want to dump CP3?
Usually, I’d say hell no to this. However, Paul showed in the last two years that he’s willing to play off-ball to save his energy for defense and crunch time. He was one of the most valuable players in the entire league in this last season and would seem to be a perfect fit for where Dallas is at right now.
If OKC wanted to get rid of him, they’ll probably have better offers than this, but a pick swap (from #25 to #18) and a reasonably-priced Delon Wright isn’t laughable if what they’re looking for is cap flexibility.
Eric Bledsoe
Again, we’re dumpster diving here. It only works if the team doesn’t like the player anymore. Bledsoe is a good player, but he’s been awful in the playoffs almost every year and Milwaukee is trying to figure out how to cure their playoff woes. If they decide Bledsoe is part of the problem…
This is getting old, isn’t it? Bucks go from #24 to #18, and put their faith in George Hill, I suppose.
You could add sweeteners in here, too. If Milwaukee wanted Brunson or pretty much anyone else, it could fit. If it comes close but just barely goes over, the Mavericks could take back Wes Matthews (hey, buddy!) and his player-option to add wing depth.
Mike Conley Jr.
This one is interesting. The Jazz fans got very excited, with championship aspirations, when the team added Conley to their team. Then he got off to a really slow start to the season, dealt with injuries, eventually started playing better and then missed the last-second shot that would’ve won them a playoff series.
Utah probably isn’t ready to move on from Conley, but if they wanted to pull the rip cord, Dallas offers a soft landing spot.
One issue the defensive-focused Jazz had with 6’1” Conley on the court with 6’1” Donovan Mitchell is that they were too small at guard (and too slow at center to keep up with small ball lineups). Delon Wright helps with that a bit and makes them more switchable.
Let’s get nuts, just this once
The options above are rather boring. “Here’s a veteran player that his team may want to part with because of some reason, let’s offer a pick-swap and Delon Wright!”
You came here for excitement, so let me give you at least one wacky trade idea that works (on paper).
The Philadelphia 76ers are 1) undergoing a huge transition this offseason, with the hiring of a new head coach and a new general manager, and 2) heading into the next season with championship expectations, yet again.
That means that there may be some tiny possibility that the new leadership wants to blow up how things have been done and start with something that makes more sense to them. That could mean ditching the shooting-averse Simmons for a more traditional point guard.
Richardson never really found his footing in Philly, and the shooting-starved 76ers would be happy to send him on his way in exchange for Seth Curry. Finney-Smith gives them a cheap 3-and-D option for a few years, and the 31st pick in the NBA Draft leaves them with options there as well.
Teams don’t often trade away superstars so far away from free agency, but there is some reason to believe that things could get wild in Philly this offseason. Simmons would give Dallas one of the best wing defenders in basketball to play pick-and-roll on offense with both Luka and KP.
That’s it. That’s the list. (It’s not the list, I’ve just finally gotten tired of this.)