Trade & FA 2024-25:

[Smitty]

Everyone just needs to get on Team Klay because it's happening.

It’s starting to feel that way. I didn’t know what name the Mavs would see as a fit but getting a starting level “forward” makes a lot of sense. I’m sure we all have our favorites and they all have positive and negatives. Clearly the Mavs are targeting shooting, rightfully so IMO. And adding Klay and Grimes certainly check that box.

[LukaMVP]

if Klay is to be signed here, it would be a 3yr deal but I hope the third year is conditionally guaranteed, and the condition should be something like winning the championship in the first two years of his contract. a championship will justify everything. if the condition isn't met, with his salary off the book we will have space to resign PJ, and gafford (if he remains here by then). Klay ain't the perfect fit for us, sure, but the perfect ones are just too expensive and beyond our range tbh.

[mvossman]

We're worried about injury history here but are targeting Brogdon? 

Brogdon has missed on average 28 games a year. For comparison:

Average Missed Games Per Season:
Kristaps Porzingis- 31 games 
Anthony Davis- 21 games
Gordon Hayward- 22 games
Zion Williamson- 45 games
Kawhi Leonard- 28 games
Joel Embiid- 39 games. 


Brogdon is on the same level of fragility as Kawhi and KP. He is more fragile than Hayward, and AD.

Crap, I miss typed. Meant Bogdan. He would be elite 6th man. Send green and hardy fir him

[Mavs2021]

Bringing this stat back with the Klay news. I was out yesterday and missed all the fuss. 

Mavs need better shooting above the break. Insert Klay.

Klay Thompson´s last five play-off games:

36.2 MPG

8.4 PPG
5.0 RPG
2.0 APG
0.6 BPG
0.6 SPG

14/66 (21.2%)
10/42 (23.8%)
4/4 (100%)

[SleepingHero]

Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
ESPN Sources: Miami Heat F/C Kevin Love is declining his $4M player option, but both sides are enthusiastic about negotiating a new deal in the opening days of free agency. The five-time All-Star has played the past two seasons with the Heat.

[Smitty]

Klay Thompson´s last five play-off games:

36.2 MPG

8.4 PPG
5.0 RPG
2.0 APG
0.6 BPG
0.6 SPG

14/66 (21.2%)
10/42 (23.8%)
4/4 (100%)

Rough week for him!

[SleepingHero]

Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
ESPN Sources: Nine-time All-Star G Russell Westbrook is picking up his $4 million option and returning to the Los Angeles Clippers. Westbrook averaged 11.1 points, 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists a season ago.

[Jmaciscool]

Klay Thompson´s last five play-off games:

36.2 MPG

8.4 PPG
5.0 RPG
2.0 APG
0.6 BPG
0.6 SPG

14/66 (21.2%)
10/42 (23.8%)
4/4 (100%)

Sign me up for someone who can put on a Mavs jersey and actually make 4 of 4 free throws in a playoff game!

[Jmaciscool]

Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
ESPN Sources: Nine-time All-Star G Russell Westbrook is picking up his $4 million option and returning to the Los Angeles Clippers. Westbrook averaged 11.1 points, 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists a season ago.

So this basically confirms George is gone one way or another, right?

[SleepingHero]

So this basically confirms George is gone one way or another, right?

I think this is just confirmation that Westbrook knows he'll make more on that option than in the open market. 

So why not just take the option and let the Clippers trade you for something to a team that will use you.

[mvossman]

Mavs salary for next season (THJ for Grimes trade already accounted) is 160.052 mil + 2.208 mil of McGee dead money, which is a bit over 162.2 mil. However, the allocations are calculated at 163.761 mil, so I assume there is one empty slot salary added to that. First apron minus 163.761 gives you the 14.89 mil space below the first apron. 

FA agent brought into that 14th spot would replace the empty slot salary, which means the actual available salary for the 14th guy is around 16.3 mil (this is the number Keith Smith mentioned). Take away 1 mil cushion and you are at 15.3 mil. If DJJ takes a couple of million below the max MLE, Mavs could get to over 17 mil of first year Thompson salary, if they only send Green out for air.

Source for all salary numbers is Spotrac:  Dallas Mavericks Multi-Year Table (spotrac.com)

Everything will come down to how much Thompson and DJJ will want on their deals, but I can see a scenario where only Green is needed to make things work. 

Personally I wouldn't make Thompson my prime target, but this Mavs earned the benefit of a doubt for me.

The FO has been great, but still make blunders (Grant Williams, attempt to get Kuz). Given the contract they are likely to give Klay, they are not going to be able to pivot if things go bad like they did with Grant.

[SleepingHero]

The FO has been great, but still make blunders (Grant Williams, attempt to get Kuz). Given the contract they are likely to give Klay, they are not going to be able to pivot if things go bad like they did with Grant.

Grant Williams was a blunder, but the idea was correct. The team needed a switch everything defensive minded 4 that can hit a 3. GWill was supposed to be that.

It became clear that while he was a solid player, he wasn't good enough for an increased role. The Mavs took a risk that he was. Plus Grant himself said he came into camp out of shape and not ready. 

Kuzma again was the right idea, wrong player. They needed an upgrade to Grant. Kuzma is 100% that (and he still is), but Kuzma the person is still his biggest weakness. 


The Mavs desperately need scoring/shooting. They didn't have a single player that could reliably hit a catch and shoot 3pt shooter.

Klay Thompson is arguably the best player in NBA history at that one specific skill. Time will tell if it was a "right idea, wrong player" move. But if it wasn't then the Mavs hit big.

[LukaMVP]

Klay won't be the the last move though. we will need further moves to strengthen our D (maybe Thybulle) and that's why we should only send either green or maxi in this deal.

[omahen]

The FO has been great, but still make blunders (Grant Williams, attempt to get Kuz). Given the contract they are likely to give Klay, they are not going to be able to pivot if things go bad like they did with Grant.

Show me a top level contender that didn't make a risky move to win it all. Boston did it with KP (and supermaxing Brown), Denver did it with MPj and his deal,... At the end of it, every team goes more or less all in and only a few of them succeed in their windows.

[mvossman]

I just disagree. That's another guard. He can't play WITH Kyrie and Luka, which is clearly the hurdle they're trying to get over here (regardless of how likely you find it to be successful). Another guard might help with bench scoring, but I think Hardy is ready. 

They need offense from a forward spot. This isn't my favorite of the possible paths we imagined, but it leaves PJ's role intact and identifies (rightly) that DJJ, while crucial, is the weak link, offensively. Now, at the very least, they'll have offensive/defensive options at that spot, and I'm hopeful that Jones' shooting can still improve AND that Klay can still hold his own, defensively. 

I'm not worried about the contract, really, as it's not actually going to be THAT big, as long as it allows for Jones to be retained.

I actually meant Bogdan, not Brogdan. I think you could play Bogdan with Luka/Kyrie just as much as you could Klay.  He provides more playmaking help and I am guessing would be more willing to come off the bench.  Would much rather go that route than an aging shooter who based on GS negotiations may think he is better than he is.

[mvossman]

Show me a top level contender that didn't make a risky move to win it all. Boston did it with KP (and supermaxing Brown), Denver did it with MPj and his deal,... At the end of it, every team goes more or less all in and only a few of them succeed in their windows.

We already made our risky play with Kyrie. Since then we have made smart moves to get younger and better very quickly (from lottery to finals). We just made another such move with Grimes. For a young team that just went to the finals and has shown an excellent ability to make these kind of moves, it doesn’t make sense to take a big risk

[Jason Terry]

Who is going to guard the POA?

Why is there any evidence Klay would be humbled and accept whatever role the TEAM demands after watching a season where this was a problem with the team who drafted him?

Why would we add such a large ego to the chemistry we just built with a team that only had 4 months together?

Did any of you watch the traffic cone defense from this player on a lottery team?

Why are some people acting like there are no better options? If we can get to $22 million why would we not give that to KCP instead, who was a far superior player last season?

This reeks of Kyrie meddling and pushing to have his Anta buddy on the team. It feels like all the other Lebron type armchair GM moves that never work. Perhaps my biggest problem is this

Also, where are all the people who thought the offensive need was creation and penetration? This not only fails to solve that problem but makes it worse

[SweetFidelia]

I’m going to call myself out on my own post on DJJ being finals weak link. Just had a good convo with my brother. I’m more the football guy when it comes to scheme expertise. He’s the basketball guy. His complaint: bad Kyrie and stagnant offense. If Kyrie is on, Boston has to adjust. If Luka was hitting shots, Celts have to adjust. They never had to. His #1 priority is a new offensive coordinator, much more motion, and way less standing around. Use Kyrie much like Steph, running around like a jitterbug coming off screens. 5 out isn’t necessary with a motion heavy attack. That’s his take. Sounds good to me. He loves the Grimes move. He’s not on board with Klay unless he’s 6th man, and he cannot see Klay going for that.

[mvossman]

Grant Williams was a blunder, but the idea was correct. The team needed a switch everything defensive minded 4 that can hit a 3. GWill was supposed to be that.

It became clear that while he was a solid player, he wasn't good enough for an increased role. The Mavs took a risk that he was. Plus Grant himself said he came into camp out of shape and not ready. 

Kuzma again was the right idea, wrong player. They needed an upgrade to Grant. Kuzma is 100% that (and he still is), but Kuzma the person is still his biggest weakness. 


The Mavs desperately need scoring/shooting. They didn't have a single player that could reliably hit a catch and shoot 3pt shooter.

Klay Thompson is arguably the best player in NBA history at that one specific skill. Time will tell if it was a "right idea, wrong player" move. But if it wasn't then the Mavs hit big.

Personally I think it’s the wrong idea as well. There was plenty of talk earlier this thread about shoot only players like Timmy are no longer valuable if they don’t do anything else (defense/creation). That is basically what Klay is now. A glorified Timmy.  He is better right now, but older and declining. How long before he is Timmy?

[DanSchwartzgan]

Mavs salary for next season (THJ for Grimes trade already accounted) is 160.052 mil + 2.208 mil of McGee dead money, which is a bit over 162.2 mil. However, the allocations are calculated at 163.761 mil, so I assume there is one empty slot salary added to that. First apron minus 163.761 gives you the 14.89 mil space below the first apron. 

FA agent brought into that 14th spot would replace the empty slot salary, which means the actual available salary for the 14th guy is around 16.3 mil (this is the number Keith Smith mentioned). Take away 1 mil cushion and you are at 15.3 mil. If DJJ takes a couple of million below the max MLE, Mavs could get to over 17 mil of first year Thompson salary, if they only send Green out for air.

We happen to have a TPE of $16.2mm from the THJ trade.  

This is the scenario I brought up last night where you bring Thompson into this slot.  DJJ takes about $10.5mm and you keep Maxi.  You have your cushion, but you have to trade Green into space, a TPE or someone's NT MLE (or to LAC depending on everything else).  At that point you've traded THJ/Green for Thompson/Grimes.  You gave up some seconds and would presumably get seconds back (at least one of which would go to GSW for the S&T).

One last note.  How positive are we Grimes is here to stay.  One design no one has looked at yet is Grimes/Maxi as the outgoing.  DJJ (and a little OMax) is your backup behind PJ, Green/Thompson share the 3 and you've created more space for Hardy to get some minutes.  You can take Thompson into that same TPE from the Hardaway deal, but DJJ has to take about $11mm.  

I've got to go do some yard work, but I wonder if there is a version where Wiggins, Moody, Maxi and Grimes go to LAC and Thompson coming here for Maxi/Grimes.  You have flexibility in setting Thompson's number (or you sub in Exum instead of Grimes or BP instead of Moody.  I don't have time to work out the math, but it feels like there is a version in there somewhere depending on what Thompson is really willing to take (which we don't know for sure)