Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[DanSchwartzgan]

I´m almost ready to pencil him in for one of the guard positions at this point. The Mavs are not that unprepared.

Let's do it and see what it looks like (assumes no other changes other than Cisse or someone else as the third C and not knowing if SDL is coming over or not):

Lively              Gafford         Cisse 
PJW                Morez
Flagg              Naji               Martin
Christie           Klay               de Larrea/AJ
Kyrie               Sexton           Nembhard

[dirkfansince1998]

Sexton is a tank commander. Puts up scoring volume on bad teams. Never made the playoffs. His advanced metrics are beyond bad. Especially on defense. Is the goal to improve the team or to create a more watchable product?

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

 

Consider the emotional damage Johs Green will do, when you yell at your TV: Shoot the damn ball.

Would only have to do that until February when we flip his contract again!  Or we just let it roll off the books and give us more flexibility to go after some of those free agents.  Did you have a list of those 2027 FAs in mind?  Looking through the list I'm not seeing any targets that really jump off the page to me.

[Smitty]

Sexton is a tank commander. Puts up scoring volume on bad teams. Never made the playoffs. His advanced metrics are beyond bad. Especially on defense. Is the goal to improve the team or to create a more watchable product?

Care to share what free agent guard (MLE) would improve the team in your opinion?

[Smitty]

Let's do it and see what it looks like (assumes no other changes other than Cisse or someone else as the third C and not knowing if SDL is coming over or not):

Lively              Gafford         Cisse 
PJW                Morez
Flagg              Naji               Martin
Christie           Klay               de Larrea/AJ
Kyrie               Sexton           Nembhard

Probably a .500 team but more entertaining to watch than last year. Have to assume Kyrie and Lively will miss several games. Point-Flagg may be the way they're going with this thing...

[DanSchwartzgan]

Sexton in his 8-year career has averaged 60 games played per season. The high mark being his rookie year, playing in all 82. He has averaged 29.0 MPG in 457 games. 357 as a starter. With career averages of 18.3 points, 3.6 assist, 2.7 rebounds, 0.8 steals. Shooting splits of 47.2 %FG, 38.9 %3PT, 84.1 %FT.

He's a 6'3 combo-guard with a 6'7.25 wingspan and 8'2.5 standing reach.



I'm pushing Sexton to Mavs now. It's the only way to cope with losing Ayo and Coby before free agency even started...

Based on Ayo and White, does it take more than the MLE to get Sexton?  He made $19mm last year.  Going a little over the MLE might actually help us, though we'd have to give up some little something to Chicago probably.  I would guess Simons is their higher priority as Tre Jones and Dillingham can both back up the PG spot.

[dirkfansince1998]

Care to share what free agent guard (MLE) would improve the team in your opinion?

A wise man once stated that free agency is kinda dead. But looking at it from a pure get better next season perspective in the MLE range I would take players like Smart or Alvarado over Sexton.
But that's besides the point. Sexton is terrible. Beyond bad. Not having him on the roster is addition by subtraction.

[Mavs2021]

Sexton is a tank commander. Puts up scoring volume on bad teams. Never made the playoffs. His advanced metrics are beyond bad. Especially on defense. Is the goal to improve the team or to create a more watchable product?

I find these whole arguments so lazy. Washington was also a loser his whole career until he came to the Mavs. Sometimes elite 3rd/4th option players are just in situation, where they are asked to do too much, because they are actually the best player on a bad team. What´s Sexton supposed to do on the Bulls? Let Patrick Williams shoot the ball instead? Was he a bad player on Utah with Markkanen. No. They were basically 0.500 every year until they shamelessly started to tank after the All-Star break. Is Anfernee Simons a winner now, cause he was on the 56 wins Celtics last year, who got worse, when they traded him for Vucevic? Guys that repeatedly put up 19 PPG on 50/40/90 shooting cannot be bad players. Is Coby White a winner now, cause he went from the Bulls to the Hornets?

If we sign Sexton for the MLE, eat Poeltl´s contract to acquire RJ Barrett and pull a Herro out of our a**es for Thompson + Middleton + Martin, we got

Irving / Sexton
Herro / Barrett
Flagg / Marshall
Washington / Johnson
Lively / Poeltl

I bet you we win 45 games semi-healthy, Sexton averages 16/4 off the bench on high efficiency with bad defense, but suddenly he´s a winner.

[Smitty]

A wise man once stated that free agency is kinda dead. But looking at it from a pure get better next season perspective in the MLE range I would take players like Smart or Alvarado over Sexton.

Maybe they go for a 32 year old or a 5'11 guard. I'm skeptical. Smart had a bit of a resurgence last year. If you get that same guy, I agree that he could be useful.

[mvossman]

Care to share what free agent guard (MLE) would improve the team in your opinion?

May have to go trade route. It’s starting to look more painful they didn’t get any creation at 9

[Smitty]

May have to go trade route. It’s starting to look more painful they didn’t get any creation at 9

For sure. That would be my preference. It's easy to have the opinion that player X is no good and will not help when the options aren't that great. Outside of a legit trade like the OKC one, I see a lot more Point-Flagg in our future. Maybe the Tatum comp is the most reasonable one?

[Mavs2021]

A wise man once stated that free agency is kinda dead. But looking at it from a pure get better next season perspective in the MLE range I would take players like Smart or Alvarado over Sexton.
But that's besides the point. Sexton is terrible. Beyond bad. Not having him on the roster is addition by subtraction.

Do you still need to score points, dribble and shoot during this basketball thingy? I seriously cannot comprehend that phenomenon that somebody like Alvarado can be equally shit on offense as a another player is on defense, but that´s somehow okay.  And that´s before we even figure in our current roster configuration, where literally ONE GUY, a 35 year old coming off an ACL injury, can dribble/handle/pass a basketball and shoot a three.

[dirkfansince1998]

I find these whole arguments so lazy. Washington was also a loser his whole career until he came to the Mavs. Sometimes elite 3rd/4th option players are just in situation, where they are asked to do too much, because they are actually the best player on a bad team. What´s Sexton supposed to do on the Bulls? Let Patrick Williams shoot the ball instead? Was he a bad player on Utah with Markkanen. No. They were basically 0.500 every year until they shamelessly started to tank after the All-Star break. Is Anfernee Simons a winner now, cause he was on the 56 wins Celtics last year, who got worse, when they traded him for Vucevic? Guys that repeatedly put up 19 PPG on 50/40/90 shooting cannot be bad players. Is Coby White a winner now, cause he went from the Bulls to the Hornets?

If we sign Sexton for the MLE, eat Poeltl´s contract to acquire RJ Barrett and pull a Herro out of our a**es for Thompson + Middleton + Martin, we got

Irving / Sexton
Herro / Barrett
Flagg / Marshall
Washington / Johnson
Lively / Poeltl

I bet you we win 45 games semi-healthy, Sexton averages 16/4 off the bench on high efficiency with bad defense, but suddenly he´s a winner.

And I trust large scale data points like 5-year RAPM over message board wisdom. Sexton is a Trae Young level defender. Large sample size. No reason to assume that he can or will be any better.

[SleepingHero]

Thinking a little more about Sexton...

What about Gafford to platoon at C in Chicago for S&T Sexton and Essengue?

Dallas can just sign Sexton outright for up to the MLE, so there has to be something more for sending out Gafford.  With Wilson, Buzelis and Swain, Chicago is kind of covered with young 3's and 4's.  They are also still paying Patrick Williams.

Essengue seems like a fit with what we seem to like.  Masai passed on him in favor of CMB a year ago, but I recall Essengue coming to Toronto for a workout during a trip to the US while he was still involved in European playoffs.  It would be a real coup to add him as additional positional size in the front court.

Noa thanks to Essengue

The Mavs cap sheet isn't in such dire straits that they need to jettison off good players for guys they can just sign outright. We absolutely have a log jam at 4 to 5, but given how injury prone Lively can be, are we really under that much pressure to completely revamp the roster? The biggest issue we have is finding another creator at the 2 so Kyrie isn't alone. I don't think Masai would be interested in Sexton cause of his size and ability to fill that role. Smitty's suggestion of White made a lot of sense (especially for the MLE), but Charlotte made their choice. 

What I think makes the most sense would be to send AJ Johnson off for a future distant 2nd, and find a SnT deal to Miami for Middleton+Klay for Norm. 

Kyrie/ De Larrea/ Nemby
Christie/Klay
Cooper/Naji/Caleb/AJ Johnson
PJ/Morez/Tobi
Lively/Gafford/____(Cisse?)

[dirkfansince1998]

Do you still need to score points, dribble and shoot during this basketball thingy? I seriously cannot comprehend that phenomenon that somebody like Alvarado can be equally shit on offense as a another player is on defense, but that´s somehow okay.  And that´s before we even figure in our current roster configuration, where literally ONE GUY, a 35 year old coming off an ACL injury, can dribble/handle/pass a basketball and shoot a three.

That's okay. I guess you are winning your fantasy league with Randle, Lavine and Sexton lineups. Thankfully we have reached a point where we have more data points than just scoring and team building isn't just about PPG.

[mvossman]

For sure. That would be my preference. It's easy to have the opinion that player X is no good and will not help when the options aren't that great. Outside of a legit trade like the OKC one, I see a lot more Point-Flagg in our future. Maybe the Tatum comp is the most reasonable one?

I’m seeing same, which does not make me happy. With Burries it was easy to picture an offense with Kyrie, Burries and Flagg sharing creation duties. I’m struggling with the offensive vision now

[SleepingHero]

Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3)
Two big Hornets transactions reported so far and I’m told there’s more to come.

[Smitty]

Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3)
Two big Hornets transactions reported so far and I’m told there’s more to come.

Bridges on the move...?

[Mavs2021]

And I trust large scale data points like 5-year RAPM over message board wisdom. Sexton is a Trae Young level defender. Large sample size. No reason to assume that he can or will be any better.

Okay. And who is Jose Alvarado, you are proposing instead. Oh right he´s a champion and a stud now after spending five years on the ass Pelicans. 28 years old, averaging 4.6 pts and 1.2 ast in the play-offs shooting 40/30/83, playing 12 minutes per game. That´s your solution to our play-making/shooting issues? He was the 10th man on a championship team after being a loser his whole career. You the same people that told me Dwight Powell is the best Mavs center of the last decade, cause he has the best advanced stats. Not getting into that dumb argument again.

[mvossman]

I find these whole arguments so lazy. Washington was also a loser his whole career until he came to the Mavs. Sometimes elite 3rd/4th option players are just in situation, where they are asked to do too much, because they are actually the best player on a bad team. What´s Sexton supposed to do on the Bulls? Let Patrick Williams shoot the ball instead? Was he a bad player on Utah with Markkanen. No. They were basically 0.500 every year until they shamelessly started to tank after the All-Star break. Is Anfernee Simons a winner now, cause he was on the 56 wins Celtics last year, who got worse, when they traded him for Vucevic? Guys that repeatedly put up 19 PPG on 50/40/90 shooting cannot be bad players. Is Coby White a winner now, cause he went from the Bulls to the Hornets?

If we sign Sexton for the MLE, eat Poeltl´s contract to acquire RJ Barrett and pull a Herro out of our a**es for Thompson + Middleton + Martin, we got

Irving / Sexton
Herro / Barrett
Flagg / Marshall
Washington / Johnson
Lively / Poeltl

I bet you we win 45 games semi-healthy, Sexton averages 16/4 off the bench on high efficiency with bad defense, but suddenly he´s a winner.

PJ is not a good comp. On bad teams good defenders get under valued, but “good” offensive players get over valued. They tend to struggle when the can’t spend all of their effort looking for their shot.