DAL OFFSEASON: Trade & FA | Mavs "mostly done...but you never know."

[KillerLeft]

I'm a fan of WCS's potentia

Simple thing with WCS and Mavs. Once Powell comes back he is fighting for a third string center role with Bobi. A fight he will most likely lose. Not really a place to show yourself and hope for a higher contract in 2021. More like a place after which the next stop will be China.

So I repeat - if I am him, I am looking for an option where I will have a chance to play 20 mpg (it will only happen in Dallas if KP and Powell are injured). And it is not about guaranteed minutes in contract. It is about a simple pecking order. For example, as it is now, Charlotte will have only one center under contract in 2021 (Zeller). Detroit also looks like a place with very weak center rotation. Lakers might need a cheap center if McGee or Howard leave. Phoenix might be an option if Baynes leaves. Washington is also weak at C. 

If he opts in, I would explore to trade him (we don't need another center with Powell back in rotation). Boston looks interesting - WCS for Poirier, Ojeyele and one of those picks for example. Or at least a pick swap like 18 for 14 or 31 for 26.

Oh, it's not that I don't understand your logic. I do. Yours is just not the conclusion I come to, personally. 

Your take on this suggests that the extra money, even just for this one season, doesn't mean anything to him. I'd bet that it does. You're suggesting that he's smart enough to decide that guaranteed (or a higher perceived opportunity for) playing time represents a ladder to a more established career, but that he's NOT smart enough to realize that getting experience with a team/system for which he's well suited and with a history of developing other players in his exact, current predicament might help even more. 

You're assuming that the teams you mentioned view their rosters the same way you do, and similarly reach the conclusion that he's a fit for them. You're also assuming that Powell and Boban are both inevitably in the Mavericks' plans for the near and mid-range future, when it's pretty clear that whatever path they ultimately choose, ridding themselves of Powell's contract and going all in on 2021 free agency is at least being considered. Hell, Boban could very easily be a thrown in on a deal during the draft or the first week of free agency. I could go on. The point is that there are many variables to which we're not privy. 

Now, any and all of these "ifs" and more could be correct or incorrect, but my opinion is that when you remove anything that's not speculative, the most likely scenario (far from a given, of course) is that the dude pokes his head up, checks the temp on what's out there for him, and ultimately opts in. I hope he does, but I won't take it too hard if he doesn't. I will be super pissed if the Mavs overpay for the dude THIS offseason, however.