Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[F Gump]

Ball has played 35 out of 82 games in each of the last two seasons. The Mavs want a starting PG  to tide them over until a re-signed Kyrie gets back in the later part of next year. That's the position that needs to be filled. Personally, I'd be looking to get someone who might, possibly, fill that spot.

Well yeah, so would we all -- that's what everyone's been talking about. Your criticism of Ball isn't saying anything that isn't already well noted, and understood, and well-discussed, and factored into the mix already!

The most recent name is Chris Paul. Tyus Jones was noted earlier. Ball is only a piece of a bigger puzzle to make names like Paul and Jones possible. (BTW, Giddey, who you proposed, isn't even an option. Impossible. Mavs have no way to get him, or any FA who can't be signed for 5.7M TxpMLE or less, as has been mentioned multiple times.) In the post immediately before yours, the idea included BOTH Ball and one of either Paul or Jones. It did not propose Ball as a standalone solution.

If you don't think Paul and/or Jones would be suitable, bring something else to the table.

But here's the thing. Right now, the Mavs are over A2 and can only offer minimum salary, so even Paul and Jones may be out of reach. The Kyrie redo helps by letting them slip under A2, but at the redo numbers being rumored, the Kyrie redo alone doesn't open any extra spending opportunity too. What can you do with minimums?

That's where trading for Ball comes in. Using a Martin-Hardy-Powell package, it opens OTHER doors for another better PG solution (by adding payroll room and roster space, tools they lack now). They could then have the 5.7MLE to use to maybe attract Paul or Jones or ideally both. And as a bonus, it leaves an obvious possibility and hope that Ball might help too, but even if he ends up a useless carcass, what was lost? Are you despairing over some super valuable player they could have otherwise landed for Martin-Hardy-Powell? It even works if it's only Martin + one of the other 2 as outgoing, although I'd prefer all 3.