Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Dallas Mavericks
Tim Hardaway Jr. is currently the Mavericks third-best scorer this season and one of their best perimeter shooters, which is why it would be hard for them to trade him away, but in order for this trade to work, the Mavs would have to trade THJ to the Cavaliers.
Kevin Love is owed $31.2M this season and for the Mavericks to absorb his contract over the next few years, they will have to trade away one of their big contracts in return, which is why Tim Hardaway Jr. would be the odd-man-out for the Mavericks. They could explore other packages including Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith, but at the end of the day, CLeveland does not want five players for the price of one.
Adding a healthy Kevin Love to this Dallas team definitely puts them in the playoff conversation and gives them the potential to turn things around during the second half of the season. With Kristaps Porzingis’ ability to play the center position when healthy, the Mavericks could have a great, experienced frontcourt with Luka Doncic running the show in the backcourt.
Dallas was one of the better rebounding teams in the league last year, ranking 4th overall with 46.9 rebounds per game, and were 10th in the league in three-point shooting. Kevin Love can help them in each of these two categories and also give them the third scoring option they so desperately need.
When Porzingis went down last year in the playoffs and Luka Doncic was banged up with a sprained ankle, the Mavericks did not have anybody who could really step up and take on some of the scoring load, putting all the weight to carry the team on Luka Doncic’s shoulders.
This season, the Mavericks cannot do this to Luka Doncic again because he is going to wind up getting hurt if he is constantly playing 40+ minutes a game and having to make a play every time down the court. Bringing in Kevin Love will take a lot of pressure off of the young, MVP caliber player and help the Mavericks as a whole become a legit championship contender over the next few seasons.
