Coming off a surprise run to the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Mavericks need to live up to expectations. The team lost Jalen Brunson for nothing in free agency and has clearly been unable to sustain success without him despite Luka Doncic being one of the NBA’s top players. They need to make a move before the Feb. 9 deadline.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently reported that Doncic has become more vocal regarding potential roster changes with the Mavericks’ front office. He’s averaging 33.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.8 assists, but the team is just 25-24, ranking sixth in the Western Conference standings. Dallas has lost seven of their last 10 games, and further losses will put them on a deep slide down the standings. The Mavs are 0-5 when Doncic doesn’t play, and he’s been sitting out on many second nights of back-to-backs.
Before the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Rui Hachimura, the Mavericks had been one of the late potential landing spots linked in NBA trade rumors. Hours later, the Washington Wizards had reached a trade agreement to send him to the Lakers in exchange for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks.
In terms of being a team that could have facilitated a trade for Hachimura, the Mavericks likely faced obstacles. They do not have a smaller, expiring contract to leverage as the Lakers had with Nunn. Dallas also has sent out many of their short-term second-round picks, making it challenging to entice the Wizards into making a deal. Also, Hachimura wanted to be dealt to the Lakers, which greatly matters with his upcoming free agency.
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It will be challenging for the Mavericks to pull off much for a big move at the midseason trade deadline. They still owe their 2023 first-round pick to the New York Knicks, and protections on it carry through 2025, limiting their short-term outlook to part with potential draft capital.
Recently, the Mavericks have repeatedly been linked to Bojan Bogdanovic and Nerlens Noel of the Detroit Pistons. The complication with such a trade maneuver is that Bogdanovic will command interest from many potential trade suitors. Dallas doesn’t appear to be in a situation where parting with a future first-round pick is a viable option.
Cam Reddish is another name that has been linked to the Mavericks. The Lakers had the option of getting a deal done for him before acquiring Hachimura, but they chose otherwise. In terms of a possible trade framework, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is quite favorable of Reggie Bullock as a trade target, but giving up much value for a player in Reddish, who will soon reach restricted free agency, doesn’t make much sense.
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Other teams linked to Reddish include the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat, but given the cheap nature of potential trade, others could emerge. For a Mavericks team that has an aging, supporting cast around Doncic with a talent deficit on the wing, it could be an intriguing option to take a chance on Reddish to gain the ability to match restricted free-agency offer sheets.
Numerous guards have been linked to the Mavericks, including Fred VanVleet and D’Angelo Russell. It remains to be seen how competitive they can be in constructing trade offers for such talents. Both players are soon-to-be free agents, so they do have more influence over their landing spot than the typical trade candidate.
There are challenges the Mavericks would face in acquiring either VanVleet or Russell. For starters, VanVleet has been linked to the Lakers among many teams, including the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, and Washington Wizards. There isn’t much of an outlook for them to outcompete the marketplace to get a trade done with the Toronto Raptors. The type of trade assets the Mavericks possess are not the type a team parting with VanVleet would seek.
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Russell won’t have as robust of a trade market, but he has also been linked to the Heat, Suns, and Clippers. The Timberwolves will want a point guard replacement in exchange for Russell since they will be limited in their available options in finding one is well above the salary cap and having moved significant draft capital to the Utah Jazz to acquire Rudy Gobert.
With the Mavs having to navigate Christian Wood’s pending free agency, there just doesn’t appear to be much of an outlook to take on more players that could leave after giving up value at the trade deadline. For a team that is already limited on trade assets, they have to be additionally cautious with risk management.
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A contract extension remains a math problem for Wood and the Mavericks. He is eligible for a four-year extension worth $77 million, but his averages of 18.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks have outplayed that threshold. If the Mavs hold onto Wood through the trade deadline, they can use his Bird rights to exceed the salary cap to re-sign him. However, they would be risking possible free agency departure.
