How This Trade Impacts Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks came into the offseason hoping to find a secondary ball-handler to help take pressure off of Luka Doncic. While they were unable to do that, they did improve the spacing and shot-making around him.
Reggie Bullock and Sterling Brown are both great 3-point shooters, both eclipsing the 40 percent mark last season. Gallinari also surpassed that mark, knocking down 40.6 percent of his 3-point attempts last season.
Putting high-level shooters around Doncic will help the offense. They will become more efficient as the middle of the court will open up with so many floor spacers surrounding him. Gallinari’s presence would give Dallas an incredible offensive unit, pushing Kristaps Porzingis to the five spot. But, the defense would be another story.
Gallinari isn’t much of a defender, which may be what deters the Mavericks from making this deal. Both Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell are versatile defenders, something Gallinari is not. Can a team that has seen its defensive rating worsen six consecutive seasons afford to lose two solid defenders?
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The answer is likely no. Dallas might have improved their perimeter defense with Bullock, Brown and Frank Ntilikina, but they would not help overcome the losses defensively in the frontcourt.
Any improvements that Gallinari would make to the team’s offense would be mitigated and overshadowed by the lack of defensive help he would provide.
