Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
The Mavericks made one of the more surprising moves at February’s deadline when they traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. This was a very savvy move not just because of Porzingis’ unreliability to stay on the floor and Dinwiddie’s emergence, but because it sets them up with greater trade flexibility. Splitting Porzingis’ big contract into two smaller mid-sized contracts gives them a better chance at making a consolidation trade in the future.
Dallas may not have the best trade package out there for an All-Star in terms of young talent or draft picks, but they could be in the mix if one is interested in teaming up with Doncic. There are several big-name players whose names could be in trade rumors this offseason and it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities one of them lists the Mavericks as a preference. According to Tim MacMahon, there could be mutual interest between the Mavericks and Rudy Gobert should the Jazz decide to make significant changes this offseason.
They are limited to trading two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029, but they could also trade a conditional 2025 first-round pick as well as the 26th selection in this year’s draft. They might have to include most of their draft equity in a potential trade for an All-Star due to competition from teams like New Orleans and New York having strong trade packages.
The Mavericks have nearly $100 million in tradeable mid-sized salaries between their seven highest-paid players behind Doncic. Any big consolidation trade will likely involve several of these players. If the Mavericks re-sign Brunson and do not make a significant upgrade via trade, they could look to reduce their payroll to lower their tax payment or even eliminate it completely.
