2021 FREE AGENCY: Markkanen wants out of CHI | DAL "definitely interested"

[Chicagojk]

Snippet from a back and forth conversation with John Hollinger this morning on the Athletic

From everything I’ve been told, they are going to pursue Kawhi Leonard and then, once the door is slammed in their face, pivot to a hard pursuit of Lowry. I think he makes sense for them as a target because he couldn’t possibly fit better, and the worry about his age isn’t as strong for me because the Mavs plus Lowry are plausibly good enough to contend … especially in a West with no obvious front-runner.


Re-signing Hardaway and signing Goran Dragic with MLE money would be significantly less exciting to me. Dragic is also 35 and he lost a lot of juice last year. I think he’s a nice backup at this point but I’m not sure you’re getting more from him than you are from Jalen Brunson. From a playoff perspective, you’re running it back but not really fixing anything. 

This is a pretty lame free-agent market and that might end up being their best option, but I would look pretty hard at some other options (Spencer Dinwiddie, notably, or perhaps Lonzo Ball) before resigning myself to that path. 

[color=var(--newCommunityTheme-linkText)]https://theathletic.com/2737509/2021/07/29/the-mavericks-need-a-star-next-to-luka-but-does-it-have-to-be-a-true-second-star/?source=user_shared_article[/color]

 Hollinger notes the Richardson Trade value will be interesting.  He says someone may have an interest in his 11 million salary but you may need to wait until the music stops in free agency, so timing is a problem.    By then, Hardaway may have found another opportunity.   

He says moving Powell (and possibly Trey Burke) is another way to create $.   Mentions Hardaway at 12-15 million.  I think that is low.   He says Mavs would need to attach something desirable to get off Powell and Burke.  They mention Brunson.   Man, I would dislike moving Brunson to get off Burke and Powell.