Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

It isn't hard to find Kyrie Trade videos on Youtube despite Masai's comments about owing it to the team to keep Kyrie.  I had forgotten that Masai spoke with DeRozan just days before the Kawhi trade leading him to believe he was core to the team, so maybe, as some suggest, Masai is just pumping up Kyrie's value.

I've mentioned in previous posts that I'd be a fan of something to Houston built around Jabari Smith.  Same would go for Minnesota built around  Jaden McDaniels (he and DiVincenzo are almost an exact match in a June trade).  The other team that gets a lot of mention is Detroit.  I'd be a fan of adding Holland to this team.  But, the way I want to do this trade is what I want to mention.  Detroit has the option of operating under the cap if they move on from Tobias and use Duren's $19.5mm cap hold until they get their other business done.  Dallas isn't far enough under the cap for it to matter, but if Detroit were to do what I'm suggesting, Dallas doesn't have to fully salary match.  A Kyrie deal for Holland and Duncan Robinson saves Dallas $14.5mm.

Robinson is Non-Guaranteed for 27-28 and could be a valuable trade chip at the TDL (and not worthless between now and then).  I'm not quite as far under the cap as I want to be, so I next trade Klay to Orlando for Isaac.  This saves me $3mm more and gives me another non-guaranteed contract for 27-28 that I can use at the TDL.  I might also make Orlando take AJ Johnson saving another $3mm.  I can accomplish something similar by trading Gafford into someone's exception or for less returning money than his outgoing.

The point of all of this (besides Holland) is I want to get far enough under the cap to go after Payton Watson or Ayo Dosunmu.  I realize we have to give up the $21mm TPE, but I think the dollars under the cap give greater flexibility.  Watson is RFA, but there is a number Denver won't match...probably in the mid 20's.  If they do, then Dosunmu is my guy and Minnesota also has a number they won't go past.  The point being the return for Kyrie could be more than just the direct return from Detroit.  If engineered properly, it can get us to a place where we can go into the marketplace to add another young-ish player to Holland and #9 (or 12 if we were to do the OKC deal for Topic).  You could massively reset the youth movement in such a scenario.

I can appreciate this as an exercise in contemplating an alternative to a straight up trade of Kyrie. I would be nervous if this was the strategy because it would require a lot of moving parts that would be out of the Mavs' hands:

-- having a FA like Dallas 
-- having the original teams not match (or putting a chair in front of the door, if you will)
-- other teams not gumming up the process 

If there was a deal with Detroit, I wouldn't let them short-change much simply to give the Mavs flexibility (giving up less assets compared to other deals). I suppose I'd prefer a bird in the hand and, then, if someone like Dosunmu wants to sign here, work out compensation with the team. 

The Rockets trade I've seen repeatedly is Kyrie for Jabari, Sheppard, the Nets 2027 and the Mavs' 2029.  It's good to have picks, but I want nothing to do with those players. I feel like Smith is the antithesis of a Masai/Shmidtz cerebral player. And Sheppard is a defensive nightmare. If this was offered, I'd try to reroute the players.

Sheppard to Atlanta for #23 (a McCollum replacement)?
Jabari to a forward hungry team in the lottery?