TRADE: Willie Cauley-Stein to DAL | UTA 2nd to GSW

[Dahlsim]

One last thing on WCS..

I agree WCS is a cheap and reasonable short term solution. However, how about next season? Powell will be out at least half of it. If WCS plays well, he will certainly reject his PO. Are we prepared to pay him MLE money? I wouldn't, we have enough money locked up in centers already. I guess we can always take another vet min guy. If he will play badly, we will be most likely looking for another short term solution, while Bobi and WCS take two roster spots for limited production.

The Mavs do not "have enough money locked up in centers already." It would be a miracle of the highest order if Powell came back even 80% of what he was pre-injury, given his reliance on athleticism (I'm convinced that his lob days are done), and that's going to put him as about the 11th or 12th man on a contending team at best. We need to look at his contract moving forward as dead money, like we had John Wall and stretch-waived him or something, and build the roster around that. Viewing Powell as part of the center rotation for the long term is a recipe for roster-building failure.

If WCS becomes the best-case version of himself - a very rich man's Brandan Wright - then MLE money will be a bargain. And this past offseason taught us that plan powder isn't the way to go if you want a big free agent - having assets available to trade is.

My fear is that RC blinds himself to whatever benefits WCS brings to the court, no matter how hard he works, due to missing few defensive rotations or having "bad body language" on the court or something like that, and completely doghouses him. Fear number two is that WCS plays well and the Mavs are so stupid as to let him walk for nothing. An important part of this discussion is that Javale McGee is starting well for the best team in the league (having done so the prior year as well, but he's better this year) and Noel is contributing quite well for the Thunder. There's a lot to be said for learning how to be a coach in the modern NBA.

Good point which I had been making about getting another center that could help the Mavs.  It has to be someone that RC will actually play more than spot minutes.  That has not been easy for a 5 in the modern NBA under RC system. They require a rim running athlete, defense, hustle, rebounding are the main skills with some offense sprinkled in as PnR, cut, lob action, screen well etc.  

Putting aside personality fit questions, which I don't think we can know yet (remember the Carlisle + Rondo disaster ? ) if WCS can behave and get along this looks like a solid double or triple if not an outright home run by the Mavericks at the price paid.  Still really sad to see Powell go down just when his career was ascending but for a meh player and meh 2nd rounder this a fantastic get for Donnie and company! 

Cheaper, 2 years younger and 2 inches taller is a great starting place for a guy that you not have even thought to trade Dwight Powell for.  
His game fits Carlisle.  As much as I remain a proponent of better Boban usage, it was not going to go far in RC system and definitely not far enough to replace the starter.  
BBIQ is the worry for me.  Powell's was high as most of the Mavs are it seems.  WCS?    I guess we'll see soon.  
If he gets the system he could be a + even though Powell was playing very well.  The Mavs needed a guy to bang inside and this is about as close as they were going to get without sacrificing real roster talent or flexibility.