The Dallas Mavericks will have a lot of priorities this NBA offseason. After finishing the season with a 38-44 record, they failed to qualify for the play-in tournament. It was a disastrous outcome.

Sure, they kept the 10th pick. But it can certainly be argued that such an outcome is worse than conveying the pick this year and being eligible to trade their 2025 first-round pick in addition to the 2027 first-round pick they are currently limited to move in terms of future assets are concerned. 

Right now, the priority is to retain Kyrie Irving in free agency. If he walks, the Mavericks will have problems. Losing Irving could lead to a domino effect. 

After all, what’s keeping Luka Doncic in town? If the Mavericks don’t have a contender around him next season, we wouldn’t be shocked to see Doncic issue a trade request. 

With that said, the Mavericks can’t run it back. They are optimistic that Irving will return, and even if he does, they’ll have much more work. 

The logical next step would be landing a big man to anchor their defense. It would be all the better if it’s an option that can switch in ball screen coverage. 

How about Nicolas Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets?