Rationale for Dallas Mavericks
The level of impact that Kristaps Porzingis has provided the Dallas Mavericks’ offense has helped to supercharge the unit. His deep shooting, rim protection, and versatile skill-set at 7-foot-3 is unmatched, and is a real asset to have alongside Luka Doncic.
Keep in mind, the Mavericks posted the best single-season offensive rating (115.9) in NBA history. With the unique nature of Porzingis’ skill-set being such a key influencing element to that success, why make a change?
Another factor to take into consideration is the loss in the rim protection department the Mavericks would experience by trading Porzingis. That would be a difficult attribute to replace unless Dallas were to get creative.
The only rationale for moving on from Porzingis is if the Mavericks know that his health is something that will not hold up. He just had another knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus and that’s not great for any player, but particularly for a big man.
The inclusion of Andrew Wiggins would compromise the Mavericks’ salary cap space to be major players in free agency in 2021. It would also bring a less-than-stellar defender and potentially awkward fit on offense into the mix in the short-term.
It would be important for the Warriors to find at least a ‘3-and-D’ center option to replace Porzingis in a separate deal, in this situation. Myles Turner is one that comes to mind and likely could be had by using the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
