Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic is a sensational talent already in the NBA at just 22-years-old and is only going to get better as time goes on. The Slovenian guard was the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year, has been named an All-Star twice and named to the All-NBA First Team in back-to-back years now through his first three seasons in the league, but he alone cannot carry this Mavericks franchise.
The Mavericks made it to the playoffs for the second-consecutive year this past season, but for the second consecutive time, they lost in the first-round to the Los Angeles Clippers. Doncic is not enough for this team right now and Dallas has made it a point of emphasis to surround their young star with as much talent as possible.
Kristaps Porzingis was once an All-Star, but no longer seems to be that same, impactful player for the Mavericks, which is why they desperately need another guy who can take a lot of pressure off of Luka on the offensive-end of the floor. Re-signing Tim Hardaway Jr. will be something they look to do this offseason, but they could use another guy in their backcourt like Dennis Schroder.
Having a guy like Schroder who is more than comfortable leading the Mavericks’ offense and scoring would allow Luka Doncic to relax a little bit more on the court and not have to make every single play for his team’s offense. Schroder is not only more than capable of making plays for himself, but he can make plays for others as well.
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Dennis Schroder averaged 5.8 assists per game this past season on a team led by LeBron James, one of the best passers and facilitators in the league, which proves that he is more than capable of being an impactful player next to a star player. For a Mavericks team in need of a secondary ball handler next to Luka Doncic, that could be intriguing.
What the Lakers would want from the Mavericks in a possible sign-and-trade for Schroder is unknown, but guys like Josh Richardson, Trey Burke and/or Jalen Brunson could be of value to them, especially since they are not that expensive salary wise. Richardson does have an $11.6M player option for next season, but Burke is only owed $3.1M and Brunson is only owed $1.8M next season.
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Jalen Brunson is definitely the guy with the most upside out of the three guys mentioned above, but both Josh Richardson and Trey Burke could be of value to the Lakers because of their abilities to score from the perimeter. Los Angeles looks to “3-and-D” guys to be role players who can sit out on the perimeter and knock down shots, which is exactly the kind of player Richardson is, even though he had a down year in that regard with the Mavericks.
The Mavericks are going to be looking to make somewhat of a statement move this offseason to ensure that they can surround their star player with other high-level talents, which is why they could show serious interest in a potential sign-and-trade for Dennis Schroder.
