TRADE: Davis, Hardy, DLO, Exum to WAS | Middleton, filler, 2 FRPs, 3 SRPs to DAL

[hakeemfaan]

I hope it's not Riccardi. Or Finley. I didn't want either of them in the big chair before this trade, and I still don't. I want someone who is a proven, elite-level GM in negotiation, player evaluation (and development), and roster building. Please, no more "trying to learn on the job" guys.

I can’t upvote this comment enough. 

Franchises go for decades without a true franchise star. 

Bulls, Knicks ( sorry Brunson), Magic, Kings, ..etc  These franchises have been trying for the last two and half decades to recapture their glory days

We got Dirk, Luka, and now Flagg.  Let that sink in. 2 generational players and one who could be. This type of thing only happens to the Lakers and they usually get their stars because they force their way to LA. 

 We had Donnie who never knew about asset management, sideshow Bob, A shoe salesman who as other media members correctly said, was played royally by Pelinka once he realized what that fool was gifting him, to now again thinking of internally promoting someone to oversee the Flagg era?  

There will be all sorts of highly coveted candidates who will readily come here knowing Flagg is here.  I would be very disappointed with not getting a seasoned GM who at least won’t get scared of standing firm in a negotiation battle.

[Dirknows]

This is not the same cap space that we had for years with Cuban plan powder.  They didn't do this to go for a big prize in free agency, they did it to get out from under the aprons and to avoid paying 130 mil in tax for a rebuilding team.  Its clear Dumont was not going to pay that, so they did not have the luxury of waiting another season.  And that is just half the space.  The other half can be used to bring in players with TPEs (potentially with picks attached) and the full MLE.  If I were going to put a ball park value on the room they made I would say:

It would have cost roughly 2 first round picks (or more) to get off 27 mil in the offseason when everyone knows that is what you are doing.
TPEs including one worth 20+ mil.  We could use that to trade for a player or take on salary for a first
The full MLE.  You can get quality players with this.  We got Naji last season for less than this.

That is a very rough stab at the ballpark value, but if we didn't shed any cap but got 3 more firsts in addition to the full MLE, would that trade look better?

Have we ever actually used a TPE ever? Feel like they have always just expired.

[cow]

I can’t upvote this comment enough. 

Franchises go for decades without a true franchise star. 

Bulls, Knicks ( sorry Brunson), Magic, Kings, ..etc 

We got Dirk, Luka, and now Flagg.  Let that sink in. 2 generational players and one who could be. This type of thing only happens to the Lakers and they usually get their stars because they force their way to LA. 

 We had Donnie who never knew about asset management, sideshow Bob, A shoe salesman who as other media members correctly said, was played royally by Pelinka once he realized what that fool was gifting him, to now again thinking of internally promoting someone to oversee the Flagg era?  

There will be all sorts of highly coveted candidates who will readily come here knowing Flagg is here.  I would be very disappointed with not getting a seasoned GM who at least won’t get scared of standing firm in a negotiation battle.

The good news is that no one has been named yet, so if we make it a few weeks after today's TDL, it means Dumont wants to wait util the offseason when the pool of candidates will be the largest.  I'm still not terribly optimistic, but if I was spending Dumont's money, I'd being making Presti a ludicrous offer that dwarfs any current GM.

[Smitty]

The good news is that no one has been named yet, so if we make it a few weeks after today's TDL, it means Dumont wants to wait util the offseason when the pool of candidates will be the largest.  I'm still not terribly optimistic, but if I was spending Dumont's money, I'd being making Presti a ludicrous offer that dwarfs any current GM.

He just saved a cool $230M with the AD trade. Time to reallocate some funds.

[mvossman]

Have we ever actually used a TPE ever? Feel like they have always just expired.

Yep.  When Linsey was here we used one in the Lively draft to take on bad money into the TPE to get a first.  We could easily do the same this coming offseason.

[F Gump]

Have we ever actually used a TPE ever? Feel like they have always just expired.

The Mavs rarely use TPEs. But that's true of most teams. What a TPE represents, in concrete form, is that a team has shed salary in a trade -- and typically that's because they wanted to lower their payroll!! So they don't use the TPE (which takes them back where they came from, and adds back more salary).

There are scenarios in which you can use a TPE to make trade mechanics easier at times. But the vast majority of them just get discarded, and if you celebrated when your team originally gained one, you may not even notice when it goes. (For example, with no fanfare, the Kleber 11M TPE expired a few days ago.) There are plenty of opportunities to use them - but you have to take a player, with a salary, that some team doesn't want, and put him on your payroll. Ugh.

[vfromlmf]

Gafford and PJW out tonight. We might see a shocking starting lineup as soon as Saturday:

Tyus Jones
Max Christie
Cooper Flagg
Khris Middleton
Marvin Bagley

[F Gump]

Yep.  When Lindsey was here we used one in the Lively draft to take on bad money into the TPE to get a first.  We could easily do the same this coming offseason.

I suspect they will have opportunities like that on Draft Day 2026. Be careful what you wish for.   

Unfortunately, while it looked brilliant, using that TPE was TWO really bad moves in one. We used it to take the multi-year bloated contract of an unplayable Richaun Holmes (meant to be an underappreciated reclamation project), and then the pick to select an unplayable OMax Prosper (meant to be a 3-and-D in the times ahead). The idea was good, but the lack of superb scouting and player evaluation experts in the Mavs mix was a killer.

[F Gump]

Gafford and PJW out tonight. We might see a shocking starting lineup as soon as Saturday:

Tyus Jones
Max Christie
Cooper Flagg
Khris Middleton
Marvin Bagley

I'm expecting regular (and often hard-to-understand) "injuries" for the rest of the season.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

Mavs with the 6th most difficult remaining schedule.

Memphis 14
Milwaukee 19
Utah 23

The Jazz have a lot of young pieces playing well right now. Isaiah Collier had 17 points and 22 assists two nights ago.
Anything is possible.

[Scott41theMavs]

As for the repeater tax and flexibility , I concede it is not my money and can see if that was the  primary motivation but for an ownership that has around 70 billion and  signed off on the worst trade ever in giving up Luka, they could have taken one for the fans. I just don’t see anything with this trade that I can see as a positive right now. Hope one of those picks pan out.

It's not just about the repeater tax. It's about being able to do absolutely anything to improve the team given the apron rules. Others have brought up the KP trade (outgoing) as a comparison to this AD trade. It's more like this trade is the opposite of the KP (incoming) trade - not cluttering up the roster and trading away future picks, but rather having cleared decks - and still plenty of tradable player assets - to be able to build with a very young super-probable-superstar the right way instead of the wrong way.

I have a sick feeling that the next five years of this franchise is still effed if we don't move up to the top 4, but to me, there is more room for optimism if that doesn't pan out than there was before the trade.

As far as the attractiveness to a GM, I adamantly believe that the job is more attractive now than before the deal. Unfortunately, I worry that the task may be "too challenging" for potential candidates if we don't move up in the lottery, so hopefully we make a hire before then.

[mvossman]

I suspect they will have opportunities like that on Draft Day 2026. Be careful what you wish for.   

Unfortunately, while it looked brilliant, using that TPE was TWO really bad moves in one. We used it to take the multi-year bloated contract of an unplayable Richaun Holmes (meant to be an underappreciated reclamation project), and then the pick to select an unplayable OMax Prosper (meant to be a 3-and-D in the times ahead). The idea was good, but the lack of superb scouting and player evaluation experts in the Mavs mix was a killer.

If I recall the Holmes contract was for a single year at 12 mil and we used him as trade fodder later that year.  Not near the disaster you are making it out to be.  They missed on the pick which happens.  I think it was clearly an excellent use of the TPE.

[Mavs2021]

That´s the Mavs situation in the summer basically.

   

Would be funny, if the Lakers did a Lebron S&T and acquired Strus/Schroeder to play with Luka. 

[Smitty]

Tim MacMahon: The simplest reason is that they found a trade that made sense, primarily because of the dollars saved and the flexibility that cost cutting provides as the franchise focuses on a long-term rebuild around rookie sensation Cooper Flagg.

If Dallas waited, no deal was going to materialize over the summer that would have made the Doncic trade of last season any less of a disaster. The Mavs' interim front office wisely advised governor Patrick Dumont to consider last year's blockbuster debacle a sunk cost and view this piece of business purely through the prism of 19-year-old Flagg's future.

The Mavs needed to move on from Davis, soon to be 33 and seeking a lucrative contract extension this summer, sooner rather than later. Dallas also managed to dump the contracts of Jaden Hardy and D'Angelo Russell in the trade, going from the fourth-highest payroll in the NBA to under the luxury tax this season. The Mavs can be nimble entering the summer instead of searching for ways to avoid what would have been a massive luxury tax bill.

Dallas hoped to get three things in return for Davis: financial relief/flexibility, draft capital and young talent. It wasn't realistic, considering Davis' contract and durability concerns, for the Mavs to get what they wanted in all three categories. They settled for a ton of financial relief and some draft capital, but no premium pick and a flier on guard AJ Johnson, a late first-round pick in 2024 who has already been traded twice.

Most importantly, the Mavs flipped the page, making it clear that the franchise's sole focus is building around Flagg.

[F Gump]

If I recall the Holmes contract was for a single year at 12 mil and we used him as trade fodder later that year.  Not near the disaster you are making it out to be.  They missed on the pick which happens.  I think it was clearly an excellent use of the TPE.

RH effectively had TWO years left when Mavs got him (one year plus a PO), was useless until traded at TDL, and he was negative ballast that Mavs has to compensate for (when used as salary match) in a trade -- still unplayable and with another 1 1/3 years left for WAS to gag down.

If you think that was a GOOD move - getting 2 players making strong money (RH was over the MLE) that clogged the payroll and the roster limit, and were so bad they couldn't even be used - then we part company on what a good deal would be. I think that's the very epitome of a really bad move.

[mvossman]

RH effectively had TWO years left when Mavs got him (one year plus a PO), was useless until traded at TDL, and he was negative ballast that Mavs has to compensate for (when used as salary match) in a trade -- still unplayable and with another 1 1/3 years left for WAS to gag down.

If you think that was a GOOD move - getting 2 players making strong money (RH was over the MLE) that clogged the payroll and the roster limit, and were so bad they couldn't even be used - then we part company on what a good deal would be. I think that's the very epitome of a really bad move.

Still worth it for the pick.  If they had better ballast they would have used it, and I don't remember there being a major negative to having that salary for the half a year they did (I'm willing to take up a roster spot for a pick). And you keep bringing up the miss on the pick which is a separate conversation. I do appreciate your colorful language to make your point.

[Chicagojk]

I liked Ricardo answer better than Finley’s. Finleys gave me some Nico vibes

https://x.com/townbrad/status/2019570630568615957?s=61

https://x.com/townbrad/status/2019570369653592496?s=61

[BigDirk41]

I liked Ricardo answer better than Finley’s.  Finleys gave me some Nico vibes

https://x.com/townbrad/status/2019570630568615957?s=61

https://x.com/townbrad/status/2019570369653592496?s=61

They shouldn't let Finley speak anymore and definitely Nico vibes. What is he smoking..lol

[cow]

Finley should have been fired for taking Luka's beer after the WCFs. His answer was atrocious. What exactly is the average fan excited about after this trade? Is he expecting CAP Relief posters in the arena?

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

There are probably only ~5 GMs in the league that I really like. Not sure why any of them would be available or want to come here. As such, I don't have a strong opinion on our next GM.

I'd rather go with an unknown than some retread. Just dont let it be Kidd please.

If you can get Lindsey away from Detroit, I'd be fine with him being President and Riccardi being GM.