To say that the Dallas Mavericks have been lucky this decade is an understatement. Winning the title in 2011 against Miami’s big 3 and getting revenge on the Heat from the 2006 Finals was a great way to kick off the 2010’s for Dallas. The next big break came from not being able to sign any free agents, specifically Hassan Whiteside and Deandre Jordan. This all lead to the biggest stroke of luck in the history of the NBA. Trading the number 5 pick in the 2018 draft and a future 1st for Hawk’s number 3 pick and taking Luka Doncic. Dallas enjoyed 20 years of Dirk Nowitzki, one of the most beloved players in league history. Now they get another European player to pull for hopefully a long time. We are still in the honeymoon phase of the Luka era, especially with him winning Rookie of the Year last year. However, Dallas needs to start looking ahead and trying to maximize this time now while Doncic is on his rookie deal.
Experts talk all the time about how crucial it is to maximize your windows. Dallas is in a window right now, which is why they went out and brought in Kristaps Porzingis. They still need one more guy to make that jump from playoff team to contender, but who is that guy? I’m so glad you asked!
I’ll be going over the two different options for Dallas to try and sign a third star, through free agency or the trade market. Without further ado, let’s get Luka some help and try to get Dallas a second title.
FREE AGENCY:
The Mavericks will have around $31 million in cap space this summer, they can get more if they want to offload either Dwight Powell or Maxi Kleber. Unfortunately, the top of the 2020 Free Agency class is not very strong, but there are a few players who could really help Dallas. I’ll make the case for each of them.
Anthony Davis:
Hey that guy is pretty good!! I’m only even mentioning this because of how excited I would be watching Luka and Davis playing on the same team. It’s not going to happen…but…no one thought LeBron would leave Cleveland either.
Gordon Hayward:
Hayward’s had a really nice year, coming off year 2 from that horrendous leg injury he had opening night against Cleveland. Gordon’s got a player option of about $31 million with Boston. If I was him, I would have a hard time turning that down. Unless he wants to sign for a little less and trade that big one-year salary for more years of guaranteed money.
DeMar DeRozan:
Another guy with a player option for next season. I would expect DeMar to opt out to get a new deal. I don’t really love the fit hit here because DeRozan is a guy who needs the ball in his hands and Dallas should want Luka to control the offense at all times. DeRozan is a guy who will also be very expensive this summer, and I’m not sure if it would be worth it to Dallas to give all that money to someone who is 31 and can’t and won’t shoot threes.
Andre Drummond:
If Dallas really wanted to get weird, they would seriously look at signing the big man from Detroit. Sign me all the way up for this team! I would love to watch both Drummond and Porzingis on the court together. Kristaps wouldn’t have to guard centers, and Drummond would feast on one-on-one matchups in the post.
TRADE MARKET
Jrue Holiday:
Jrue is going to be the most popular player at the trade deadline. He would be a yearly All-Star in the East, and his team stinks. Acquiring Holiday is the best-case scenario for Dallas. He’s still young enough to be in his prime for the next few seasons, he’s a bulldog on defense, and he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to make plays. A move like this would automatically put the Mavericks in the upper class of teams in the Western Conference like the Lakers, Clippers, and Rockets.
Kyle Lowry:
Doncic is the de facto point guard for this team, but the Mavs really could use another ball handler. Lowry would immediately be the best guard on this team.
Toronto is still too good to really sell pieces off, but if they dipped a little and wanted to take advantage of one of these Western Conference teams fighting for a playoff spot, Dallas would be a great team to call.
Lonzo Ball:
I’ll be the first to admit that this is a weird one. I don’t know if the Pelicans would even trade Lonzo away at this point, he’s still really young. I just kind of like the fit here with Lonzo and Luka, plus you’d have a great opportunity with nicknames.
Whatever Dallas decides to do, it will define their team for the foreseeable future. New Orleans tried to build too fast when they drafted Anthony Davis and ended up restricting their own ceilings. Dallas can’t afford to make that same mistake with Luka Doncic. As with everything in the NBA, the Mavericks will need to be smart, flexible, and of course, a little bit lucky
Samuel Allen
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