06-23-2023, 01:58 PM
Hollinger draft article
Best night: Dallas
I would have never believed the Mavs would be able to dump Dāvis Bertāns’ contract while only moving down two spots in the draft and still walk away with the absolute perfect-fitting piece for them in Dereck Lively II. Getting a Tyson Chandler clone on a cost-controlled four-year deal to catch alley-oops and protect the rim next to Luka Dončić and possibly Kyrie Irving is the absolute best-case scenario for what could have possibly happened for Dallas. Doing it while fixing the cap sheet? Brilliant.
It speaks to the disparity in value between the two trades that Dallas dumped a bad contract to move down just two spots, from 10 to 12, and then took on a similar but smaller contract from Sacramento (Holmes) to obtain the 24th pick. That player, defensive stopper Olivier-Maxence Prosper, also is a fairly ideal fit.
With Bertāns removed, the Mavericks can now re-sign Irving at or near his max and still have the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception available to tackle their glaring lack of depth. Dallas should also have a small trade exception ($5 million) left over from the Bertāns trade. The Mavs will likely barely skirt the tax apron, but they can now pull off something that seemed extremely difficult 24 hours ago.
I hate to say it, but the final-week tank turned out to be worth it.
Best night: Dallas
I would have never believed the Mavs would be able to dump Dāvis Bertāns’ contract while only moving down two spots in the draft and still walk away with the absolute perfect-fitting piece for them in Dereck Lively II. Getting a Tyson Chandler clone on a cost-controlled four-year deal to catch alley-oops and protect the rim next to Luka Dončić and possibly Kyrie Irving is the absolute best-case scenario for what could have possibly happened for Dallas. Doing it while fixing the cap sheet? Brilliant.
It speaks to the disparity in value between the two trades that Dallas dumped a bad contract to move down just two spots, from 10 to 12, and then took on a similar but smaller contract from Sacramento (Holmes) to obtain the 24th pick. That player, defensive stopper Olivier-Maxence Prosper, also is a fairly ideal fit.
With Bertāns removed, the Mavericks can now re-sign Irving at or near his max and still have the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception available to tackle their glaring lack of depth. Dallas should also have a small trade exception ($5 million) left over from the Bertāns trade. The Mavs will likely barely skirt the tax apron, but they can now pull off something that seemed extremely difficult 24 hours ago.
I hate to say it, but the final-week tank turned out to be worth it.
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