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

[StepBackJay]

I mean its not like THJ was a defensive stalwart in his time here. In fact he was pretty freaking bad just by watching him. I cannot imagine Lavine to be any worse than THJ. And what Lavine lacks in the defensive department, he blows out the water on offense. He's 10x the offensive player THJ is, with the same ability to get absolutely scorching hot.

Right, but we're not talking about a long term investment in THJ. We talk favorably about him because we view him as a stepping stone to cap space, and because he actually outperformed expectations significantly. 

LaVine would be the OUTCOME of that plan. You'd essentially be jumping the gun on the 2021 thing and blowing your wad early. I know the cap mathers will swoop in and say it's still technically possible to carve out a max slot, and that's awesome, but I don't think the Mavs do it without being able to live with him as the guy they've been looking for. 

So, to me, it's a big decision, and not just a simple matter of "which one of these two guys would I rather have this year?"

I don't think you'd blow your wad because you would be sending out salary in the deal to offset money coming in. Any type of LaVine trade would need to be powder-friendly.