Does this trade make sense for Dallas Mavericks?
Luka Doncic could one day lead the Dallas Mavericks to another championship, but he is not going to do so with Kristaps Porzingis on this roster, at least given the way Porzingis has played for Dallas the last two years.
At 7’3”, he should be dominating the rebounding category every single game and be a threat to score 20 points in the paint alone per night, but instead, Porzingis plays like a passive 5’11” guard at times and just cannot seem to get anything going for Dallas.
Do not let his stats blind you because Kristaps Porzingis has been very under-whelming since coming to the Mavericks from New York. They knew what they were getting themselves into when they traded for the former All-Star big man, but with his large, long-term contract, it will be hard for Dallas to get out of this deal.
If this opportunity to trade him to New Orleans presents itself, the Mavericks should absolutely look to trade Porzingis for several reasons. Not only would they be adding Jonas Valanciunas, Tomas Satorasnky and Jaxson Hayes, three players who add depth and can play right away, but the Mavs would be working wonders for themselves in terms of cap space.
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This trade not only saves $2.3M in cap room during the 2021-22 season, but the Dallas Mavericks would only take on about $36M in total salaries, compared to Porzingis’ $101.5M total salary on his contract. Dallas would save roughly $65.5M in salary space over the next few years, giving them plenty of room to build around and add more high-level talents around Luka Doncic.
Both Valanciunas and Satoransky really are inexpensive players given their salaries for the 2021-22 season and they both have expiring contracts, meaning the Mavericks would open up $24M in cap space entering next offseason, something they would not have with Kristaps Porzingis on their roster.
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While he can be valuable at times, moving Porzingis makes more sense than keeping him at this time for the Dallas Mavericks. There are going to be opportunities for this organization to add other All-Star talents around Doncic for the future, but they will be unable to do so with the 7’3” big man on their roster. For this reason alone is why the Mavericks should look to trade Porzingis.
