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

[KillerLeft]

Great post, KL. Thank you for taking the time. 

Grant and Holiday wouldn't be change for change sake, it would be a grand slam, and there's probably no way to make it happen. 

I'm with IGT's post above that the Mavs simply need more defense in the starting lineup - specifically, more than they had when THJ and either Powell or Curry were starting.

I'm doubling down on the "get something other than THJ" position. If you're just going to let him walk in '21 anyway, I would speculate that 2020-21 is actually the one year you can least afford to have him here. Many people pointed out how locked in and significantly improved Luka was on defense in the latter half of the Clipps series. Given how rapidly the man levels up (I swear his career arc is like a video game sometimes), I wouldn't be surprised if he's a plus defender by 2021-22. But then it's this year that THJ as a starter would hurt next to Luka.

Oh, I think they actually like THJ, and I understand why. Now, that doesn't mean they disagree with you that he's overmatched in his current role, but then again, they might. 

He's going to want to play here when his contract expires - this has been a much more positive experience for him than NY. It will be up to the Mavs to decide whether that happens. If they want him, I'd bet good money that he'll get a more reasonable contract than the one NY gave him. They paid him on the potential they saw for him to grow into being a star player, and we can ALL agree that that ship has sailed. I doubt any GM or even his management team is holding onto that thought. I think it's possible he ends up back here on a shockingly team friendly deal, specifically because of the great trajectory that Luka's Mavs era is solidly traveling. 

He DID contribute this year. A lot. He DOES fit in with the culture and locker room. All I'm saying is that you don't throw that in the trash.  

But, just to give you an idea of where I am, IF trading THJ gets you a Middleton/Grant type of player who is ready to effectively take on a starting role for a contender in an area of need, AND you're confident you have a plan to plug in the hole created by his absence (maybe Curry, who could work next to Luka, given the right mix) then...sure. I'd put Curry up in a similar deal and be fine with THJ starting one more year. I just have a hard time believing that the kind of deal I'm envisioning is readily available this off-season. But, who knows? You definitely try.

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Milwaukee doesn't really have a way to trade for CP3 without sending off Middleton bc CP3's contract is so massive. I imagine Milwaukee would rather have expiring THJ over Bledsoe. They struggled shooting in the playoffs. I don't think Mavs would value Bledsoe enough over THJ who is obviously a good fit here and is on an expiring contract.

If you can show me a legal trade that does some kind of 3-way CP3 deal it would be interesting but the salary matching would be very difficult as far as I can tell. That being said I think Houston had a crazy trade last year with a ton of moving parts.

I managed to create a massive 3-team 11 player trade between the Bucks, Mavs, and OKC that works financially. 



I don't know how well you can see that image. But essentially here's the trade in text form

DAL Receives: Middleton and Adams. 

Bucks Receive: CP3, THJ, and Powell

OKC Receives: Ersan Ilyasova, Bledsoe, Wright, Justin Jackson, and Courtney Lee SnT, plus whatever picks to make it work. 

So this software was a little wonky. It counted all the free agent cap holds of both teams and didn't give a way to renounce them to free up the cap space. So in order to make the trade legal, I had to force Connaughton to the Mavs even though he's a free agent to free up 155K in space. I chose him randomly, any cap hold on the Bucks would accomplish this. Also since the Mavs couldn't renounce Lee's hold, he had to be SnT to make the money work. 6M the first year, then 2 years min. 

Overall I think this trade would work without including Lee and a random Buck player, as long as their holds were renounced for. 

So the cut down version would be Adams+Middleton to the Mavs. CP3+THJ+Powell to the Bucks.. Ersan+Bledsoe+Wright+Jackson to the Thunder. Plus whatever draft compensation the Thunder would want. Given that the Mavs are taking Adams contract from OKC plus they're getting out from CP3, I think it would be relatively light. Bucks might want more value, but since it's basically swapping out CP3 for Middleton while getting another starting 2 in the process, AND  retaining most of their team, I think they'd be for it.

Ok, so this is a great example. This trade probably won't happen, but if I'm the Mavs I do this in a heartbeat. However, I have a feeling it's for different reasons. 

Middleton would be a HUGE score, as he's a two-way player who, like Grant, would look great right between DFS and KP in the starting lineup. Totally worth taking on his guaranteed money, imo. 

I do NOT think Adams helps this team, like, at all. To get Middleton, I take that one-year deal, but I think there are people here who would constantly bitch about him not playing, and I would 100% understand that choice. That dude is not a winning player in today's game. If that contract has even one more year on it, I don't even consider it. Powell is a much, much better player than Adams. I know many won't agree, but I suspect that the majority of those people's understanding of pro basketball is stuck in 2011. 

If you could do this and keep WCS, I think you might have something. That's still a risk with Powell/WCS and Curry (your new starting off guard)/THJ, but I'm so sure about Middleton's fit here that I'd do it.