How This Deal Impacts Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks’ focus this offseason was upgrading the frontcourt, which they succeeded in doing. They acquired Christian Wood from the Houston Rockets and he will provide the team with more secondary scoring. That became even more important when Jalen Brunson left in free agency. In free agency, they quickly signed JaVale McGee and named him the starter for the team.
It is fair to question why the Mavericks would need another center in Myles Turner when they added the aforementioned two players and still have Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber on the team. Turner would provide the team with a long-term answer in the middle as he is only 26 and should improve playing alongside Luka Doncic.
While Turner is the headliner in this deal, it is actually T.J. McConnell who is the most important acquisition. McConnell fills a huge void in their rotation as another playmaker with Brunson out of the picture.
While not the scoring threat that Brunson was, McConnell is a strong defender that routinely is among the league leaders in steals. He is also an excellent playmaker, which will take pressure off of Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie as the only other playmakers in the rotation.
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A huge logjam is created at the center spot, and some awkwardness likely follows after McGee was already named the starter by head coach Jason Kidd.
Making sense of adding another big man is tough, but McConnell fills a major need. Turner is also an upgrade in almost every sense over McGee, raising their ceiling not only this upcoming season but into the future. Having an elite rim protector that can step out and shoot is too good to pass up.
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The Mavericks would undoubtedly need to move Dwight Powell in a separate trade. One challenge posed by this outcome is also that Christian Wood and Turner both could be free agents next summer barring any potential contract extension agreement.
