Does this trade make sense for the Dallas Mavericks?
It’s never easy to admit something was a mistake and that’s essentially what would happen if the Dallas Mavericks were to trade Kristaps Porzingis. There’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, it would be the best thing to do if the return was a logical one. That wouldn’t be the case in this instance.
READ MORE: NBA Rumors: The latest intel on a possible Kristaps Porzingis offseason trade
Bazley was one of the least efficient scorers in the NBA this season and there is little reason to believe in his offensive upside. He’s a legitimately terrible jumper who couples that with an inability to efficient convert at the rim or as an off-the-dribble shooter. He’s a classic case of good stats on a bad team with his averages of 13.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.
So why consider this? The benefit the Mavericks beyond salary cap clearing a substantial amount of salary cap space – $29.1 million, to be exact. With two max contract slots, they could do some serious damage in NBA free agency. Just because Kristaps Porzingis ran into a bad matchup in the NBA playoffs doesn’t mean he’s worth only Darius Bazley and a second-round pick, though.
Porzingis still averaged 20.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 43 appearances for the Mavericks this season. The Thunder would need to give up more NBA Draft assets for this to be genuinely worthwhile from the Mavericks’ perspective, but it’s a very intriguing general idea.
