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

[mvossman]

@MavsFilmRoom
“The expected suitors, which — as ESPN first reported — are expected to include Detroit, Atlanta and Toronto. Yet as several league sources indicated, the actual level of interest from the aforementioned teams remains to be seen.“

“As one league source shared, there are even some indications that the Mavericks are still considering upgrading this current core rather than parting with their veterans.”


This is from Sam Amick's latest article.

My worst nightmare.  Extending AD and burning the remaining assets in a futile attempt to win now would set a Flagg timeline back several years.  This is probably just posturing to improve trade positioning but who knows?  The people making these decisions are the same ones that sat around while Nico traded away Luka.

[F Gump]

The TOR idea holds NO interest from me. Meh players on big contracts plus meh picks. No thanks.

My baseline is that you send a young player with emerging major upside, or the equivalent in a pick (the NO pick, for example) if you want the talent of AD added to your team to increase your chances of getting to the top. If you don't give that type of asset, then Mavs should keep him.

Too many people are scared of AD. But if the pile of scraps and randos and junk is the trade value for him, I want to be the buyer (keep him) not the seller. It's way too low.

[mvossman]

I know this snippet of info  surprises some, but it shouldn't. Gaff is a good center who has much-needed big man skills (defend the rim, block shots, rebound, good scoring skills around the basket). We seem to have forgotten what its like when teams can dominate you inside and you lack the centers to stop them (stuck with DP, for example).

But teams value that a lot. 

In addition, because of his looming free agency, and the possibility youbmight be forced to a choice of matching a way-overpaid offer, or lose him, Mathurin is not as valuable as you might think. He's going to get a fairly sizable jump in pay, and that puts financial strrsss on the team that has him.

Man, I will believe it when I see it.  Mathurin is only 23, a good scorer with decent defense and it looks like he might be taking a jump this season.  Gafford is a solid center but he is 4 years older and doesn't have the upside.  Mathurin upcoming free agency is an issue, but it still feels like he is the more valuable asset.  They would have to make more moves before next season in order to generate the room to pay him though.

[Winter]

I agree with Dan that we don't truly know AD's value... and probably won't until we see a hard offer from a team. At that point, fans will at least know the baseline. We should know that soon enough.

The Mavericks have signaled that they would wait if the offer at the TDL wasn't good - they wanted to see Kyrie, AD, and Flagg play together. That sounds like FO message to bidders that we won't take a garbage offer, but there's some truth there. I can see why they would want to say that publically, but what is it really saying?

If Kyrie comes back with a reasonable game, AD stay healthy, and Flagg continues to get better... this team will not be a lottery team. But what kind of team is it? To put this a different way, is there really a meaningful one or two-year future that includes Kyrie, AD, and Flagg? Is this team competing for a championship? If you don't believe that, then aren't we pretty much wasting time with AD? (and Kyrie for that matter).

I get the idea of waiting until there's a better offer, but as a fan, that's about as unexciting a thing I can think of. I'll spend the rest of this season watching Flagg develop and hoping the injury prone players over 30 years old don't fall apart on me before we trade them.

[Dirknows]

I agree with Dan that we don't truly know AD's value... and probably won't until we see a hard offer from a team. At that point, fans will at least know the baseline. We should know that soon enough.

The Mavericks have signaled that they would wait if the offer at the TDL wasn't good - they wanted to see Kyrie, AD, and Flagg play together. That sounds like FO message to bidders that we won't take a garbage offer, but there's some truth there. I can see why they would want to say that publically, but what is it really saying?

If Kyrie comes back with a reasonable game, AD stay healthy, and Flagg continues to get better... this team will not be a lottery team. But what kind of team is it? To put this a different way, is there really a meaningful one or two-year future that includes Kyrie, AD, and Flagg? Is this team competing for a championship? If you don't believe that, then aren't we pretty much wasting time with AD? (and Kyrie for that matter).

I get the idea of waiting until there's a better offer, but as a fan, that's about as unexciting a thing I can think of. I'll spend the rest of this season watching Flagg develop and hoping the injury prone players over 30 years old don't fall apart on me before we trade them.

I get Kyrie is gonna want to play as soon as he can, but hopefully someone can try and convince him to take his time. Don’t think it will work as long as AD is around, even if he’s not I’m sure Kai just wants to play some ball. I’m fine if we end up with the 8-10th lottery spot, gives us a reasonable chance to move up, and will likely get a good player if we don’t. Just gonna be hard to navigate if we have AD, Kyrie and Flagg together.

[numnuts23]

I agree with Dan that we don't truly know AD's value... and probably won't until we see a hard offer from a team. At that point, fans will at least know the baseline. We should know that soon enough.

The Mavericks have signaled that they would wait if the offer at the TDL wasn't good - they wanted to see Kyrie, AD, and Flagg play together. That sounds like FO message to bidders that we won't take a garbage offer, but there's some truth there. I can see why they would want to say that publically, but what is it really saying?

If Kyrie comes back with a reasonable game, AD stay healthy, and Flagg continues to get better... this team will not be a lottery team. But what kind of team is it? To put this a different way, is there really a meaningful one or two-year future that includes Kyrie, AD, and Flagg? Is this team competing for a championship? If you don't believe that, then aren't we pretty much wasting time with AD? (and Kyrie for that matter).

I get the idea of waiting until there's a better offer, but as a fan, that's about as unexciting a thing I can think of. I'll spend the rest of this season watching Flagg develop and hoping the injury prone players over 30 years old don't fall apart on me before we trade them.

Any thought of a window in the next 1-2 yrs with AD and Kyrie is immediately washed away with the juggernaut in OKC and the future one is SA.  
I think it would be pointless to try and make it happen right now.  

The team has to build AD's value, because right now it's the key to the future.  If they fumble this (which is why they need to just hire a GM now) - it could be a pretty bleak future with very limited draft assets and an aging roster.  

If they somehow have stuck gold with Nembhard, it helps quite a bit - as him/Flagg/Lively (a healthy Lively) are a very good start.

[Mavs2021]

Regarding ADs current trade value strategy. Most think we need to win to increase his trade value. Winning right now is playing checkers, losing is chess.

What kind of threat/leverage would a team use at the TDL, if we are 11-30 sitting 4-5th from the bottom?

The worse our record is, the better is our future. That means less pressure to trade players for bad packages.

If we are heading toward a projected 14th pick our leverage is complete a**. Even if we turn that 14th pick into a superstar in the summer, in that specific moment aka the TDL we have less leverage the better our record is. So winning means less probability to get a good draft pick and less leverage in trading players in February.

[Smitty]

Any thought of a window in the next 1-2 yrs with AD and Kyrie is immediately washed away with the juggernaut in OKC and the future one is SA.  
I think it would be pointless to try and make it happen right now.  

I struggle to see the alternative. I think we could simply shift our mindset and ask, what makes this team good next season? If the trade you have baked in your head is meh for those guys, then what's the solution? There is zero incentive for the Mavs to not being as good as possible next year.

[Winter]

I get Kyrie is gonna want to play as soon as he can, but hopefully someone can try and convince him to take his time. Don’t think it will work as long as AD is around, even if he’s not I’m sure Kai just wants to play some ball. I’m fine if we end up with the 8-10th lottery spot, gives us a reasonable chance to move up, and will likely get a good player if we don’t. Just gonna be hard to navigate if we have AD, Kyrie and Flagg together.

Pretty much agree. I've gone round and round on my thinking about it, but I'm done now. I'm just not of the opinion that we're going to increase ADs value.

I appreciate that Flagg got to experience some HoF players, but I don't see any way AD, Kyrie, and Klay are key components of a competing Mavericks team. They are forcing this team to live in limbo the longer they are here. Get busy and find these guys a new home! Get some young players and 2-3 draft picks. Don't dawdle!

signed: Cooper Flagg

[Scott41theMavs]

The TOR idea holds NO interest from me. Meh players on big contracts plus meh picks. No thanks.

My baseline is that you send a young player with emerging major upside, or the equivalent in a pick (the NO pick, for example) if you want the talent of AD added to your team to increase your chances of getting to the top. If you don't give that type of asset,  then Mavs should keep him.

Too many people are scared of AD. But if the pile of scraps and randos and junk is the trade value for him, I want to be the buyer (keep him) not the seller. It's way too low.

Sorry to be obnoxious with this line of (rare) posting, but I just want them to get a real GM who will make the right decisions and negotiate well. Sounds like Lindsay to me.

[Smitty]

I struggle to see the alternative. I think we could simply shift our mindset and ask, what makes this team good next season? If the trade you have baked in your head is meh for those guys, then what's the solution? There is zero incentive for the Mavs to not being as good as possible next year.

To elaborate more. Several teams try, and fail, to assemble a roster with 3 players of Davis, Irving, and Flagg's caliber. If you're the GM, why would you trade Davis for pennies on the dollar before you ever see it on the floor. Why would you make your team worse when there's no incentive to do so... Having no draft pick next year. It all needs to make sense. Fear of Davis getting severely injured isn't an acceptable reason for a terrible trade imo.

[F Gump]

Sorry to be obnoxious with this line of (rare) posting, but I just want them to get a real GM who will make the right decisions and negotiate well. Sounds like Lindsay to me.

Good point. Cart and horse stuff. To have the wisdom to navigate trades (and extract full value in a trade), you need an expert GM. (Not just a GM in general)

Lindsey interests me more than most suggestions. 

But I'm still holding out for Presti, of course.

[Chicagojk]

To elaborate more. Several teams try, and fail, to assemble a roster with 3 players of Davis, Irving, and Flagg's caliber. If you're the GM, why would you trade Davis for pennies on the dollar before you ever see it on the floor. Why would you make your team worse when there's no incentive to do so... Having no draft pick next year. It all needs to make sense. Fear of Davis getting severely injured isn't an acceptable reason for a terrible trade imo.

It is a tricky situation though.  If I woke up after the draft and we had another real exiting young player to pair with Flagg this situation is completely different.  I would be fine keeping AD and Kyrie.   This team would be positioned as well as almost any team outside of OKC, SA and Houston moving forward.   

The issue is how do we get there.   If AD has ears he has certainly heard of his value.  I would expect inspired play from him.  If not, that is a glaring warning light.  Flagg is a lunatic and a winner.    The Mavs front court is good (even without Lively).   If they get average backcourt play this team will win more than they will lose imo.  

So how do we get to a place where we can secure another young building block and not wind up with the 15th pick in the draft.    It is easy to say just throw this season away, but much harder in reality when you are talking about alphas and guys with pride.   

I also don't want to even bring extension to the table either.

[Dirknows]

Good point. Cart and horse stuff. To have the wisdom to navigate trades (and extract full value in a trade), you need an expert GM. (Not just a GM in general)

Lindsey interests me more than most suggestions. 

But I'm still holding out for Presti, of course.

Yeah not having a GM right now sucks, but no GM is better than our last GM.

[Chicagojk]

Yeah not having a GM right now sucks, but no GM is better than our last GM.

I am surprised they are moving slow hiring a GM.  I get taking time, but I would think there would be more urgency.   Is a permanent GM needed now?  Time will tell.  I would like one before a potential AD trade.   If this trade was to happen now, it may really limit future moves.  Especially if it was to Toronto.  BTW, I am not a fan of that trade at all.   I don't think a temporary GM team can or should make that trade.  It is also concerning that Cuban and Kidd may have influence.  Neither should have any imo.

[Winter]

To elaborate more. Several teams try, and fail, to assemble a roster with 3 players of Davis, Irving, and Flagg's caliber. If you're the GM, why would you trade Davis for pennies on the dollar before you ever see it on the floor. Why would you make your team worse when there's no incentive to do so... Having no draft pick next year. It all needs to make sense. Fear of Davis getting severely injured isn't an acceptable reason for a terrible trade imo.

What you're saying is that AD is not in the Mavs future, but I want to wait until the optimum time and see if I can get more for him (even though he's getting older with particular health issues). We know we want to trade him, we're just debating on when (or the quality of the trade).

I realize it's probably not a popular opinion, but I think the "optimum time" is largely fool's gold. It's not like AD is getting younger and healthier. I get that the market for AD may be bad. So bad that we don't trade now. But I think we may need to lower our expectations about what to expect.

[Smitty]

It is a tricky situation though.  If I woke up after the draft and we had another real exiting young player to pair with Flagg this situation is completely different.  I would be fine keeping AD and Kyrie.   This team would be positioned as well as almost any team outside of OKC, SA and Houston moving forward.   

The issue is how do we get there.   If AD has ears he has certainly heard of his value.  I would expect inspired play from him.  If not, that is a glaring warning light.  Flagg is a lunatic and a winner.    The Mavs front court is good (even without Lively).   If they get average backcourt play this team will win more than they will lose imo.  

So how do we get to a place where we can secure another young building block and not wind up with the 15th pick in the draft.    It is easy to say just throw this season away, but much harder in reality when you are talking about alphas and guys with pride.   

I also don't want to even bring extension to the table either.

I understand the appeal of a top draft pick this summer. I'm all for it if that's the way it works out. It's why I want the NOP pick in any Davis trade with ATL.

The Mavs sit at 10 right now and have been more injured than last season, played some of their worst basketball, and still no Kyrie. I just have a hard time seeing how they get all the way down to 5-6, where those TOP guys are.

Your tricky situation description is pretty accurate.

[Smitty]

What you're saying is that AD is not in the Mavs future.

The "future" in the NBA is more season to season than anything else. Maybe you can stretch it to a 2-year outlook. I'm saying AD is absolutely on the roster next year if the return is something like bad contracts from Toronto and a FRP or two in the 2030's. I have no desire to make my team worse next season.

I get that the extension talks are tied into this also, but the Mavs don't have to do anything about that this summer. I make Davis show that he can stay healthier and be the best player on a good team all year. The "trade value" and "extension price" will work itself out then.

[Chicagojk]

The "future" in the NBA is more season to season than anything else. Maybe you can stretch it to a 2-year outlook. I'm saying AD is absolutely on the roster next year if the return is something like bad contracts from Toronto and a FRP or two in the 2030's. I have no desire to make my team worse next season.

I get that the extension talks are tied into this also, but the Mavs don't have to do anything about that this summer. I make Davis show that he can stay healthier and be the best player on a good team all year. The "trade value" and "extension price" will work itself out then.

OKC may change this viewpoint, but it certainly feels like the NBA is moving into a 3 year window type thing with teams.    Gone may be the days where you have 3 guys for 10 plus years.  We will see.   

If we are lucky to have Flagg here for 15 years and he is good, we may have 4 different cores over that time period.

[Chicagojk]

I understand the appeal of a top draft pick this summer. I'm all for it if that's the way it works out. It's why I want the NOP pick in any Davis trade with ATL.

The Mavs sit at 10 right now and have been more injured than last season, played some of their worst basketball, and still no Kyrie. I just have a hard time seeing how they get all the way down to 5-6, where those TOP guys are.

Your tricky situation description is pretty accurate.

Yeah, Mavs have been awful for most of the year.   AD and the centers have missed most of the season.  They had terrible point guard play, poor shooting and Flagg has been figuring things out.  With all that they were still in a ton of games late.  I find it hard to believe with AD back (for now), average pg play (maybe better), better shooting and Flagg getting comfortable that this team isn't going to win.   It may not be a ton, but maybe more than they lose.