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

[F Gump]

I'm curious, if we don't move AD unless we get premium picks and don't end up moving him at all, what is your plan for rebuilding this team?  Every first the Mavs currently have will likely fall into your category of useless.  When they actually start owning their own picks Flagg will be in his prime and those will probably be "useless" as well.

That's a good question, but my answer is different than you might expect.

My plan to rebuild around CF would focus on using the existing talent on the roster - OR THE EQUIVALENT THEREOF IN TRADE -  to put alongside CF. 

So a starting point is AD. He plays next to CF and they are better. Or --- he is swapped for a player (or pick) who will eventually be the same sort of talent. The NO pick has that potential, and none of the rest being discussed with ATL does. So if I don't get that return from ATL or elsewhere, I keep him. 

The assumption that this means he gets extended by DAL is weird. He has TWO more seasons after this one. Yes he wants an extension, but no, I'm not doing it this summer even though R Paul acts like it should be automatic. It's not. Maybe we get there in summer 2027. Maybe in May 2028. Maybe he gets traded before then. Maybe not. I am quite willing to let it play out and have him line up next to CF.

The Mavs issue really isn't a lack of talent. It's an ill-fitting set of otherwise talented pieces. Talent-for-talent (rather than throwing the existing talent in the trash, and then trying to find that level of talent in the draft) is where I would go. And I would start with an expert GM doing the roster building.