Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[F Gump]

Nice discussion on Strus.  He is pretty good and can help teams.   Good thinking.

I just think the Mavs are thinking bigger.  They may not use the trade exception but they may be closer to making a big move than we think/hope.  I think they want to keep flexibility.  They have a good group of contract players in their 20's at market rate.  They have a few draft picks.    And they have flexibility.   I don't see them adding another mid teens player to get a swap.  I think they have bigger plans on their next move and will prioritize flexibility.   

Yep. On Strus -- what's the reward DAL would get for taking him off CLE payroll? And going over the tax line, which will create the Mavs own payroll issue, which would force a salary-cutting scramble (probably at a cost in assets) later in the year? Any pick swap with CLE would be of no real value, because it would convey nothing (since the Cavs would have a worse pick than the Mavs). Strus himself, with ongoing lack of availability stemming from a Jones fracture, and with other lineup priorities for the Mavs, isn't going to offer much (if any) oncourt value at all. Unless you land some CLE FRPs in the down-the-road years (2031 and 2033), I just don't see the point.