2021-2022 MAVS NEWS: 4th in West | WCF loss [ARCHIVED]

[Mavs2021]

I don’t want to send Maxi for Lauri not because I think Maxi is indispensable, but because I don’t want to give one of our few assets away for Lauri. Yes Lauri does have an elite skillset but a young guy with an elite skillset falls out of favor for a reason. Grass is always greener on the other side. 

Get Lauri or someone else  if you can without giving up Maxi. Then use Maxi for another move. That’s what good organizations do. The Mavs have historically not maximized assets. They need to change that if they want to start doing things differently from the last regime.

What do you think Maxi Kleber´s trade value is? An active All-Star? If it becomes a straight swap of Kleber + Burke vs. Markkanen, it also becomes a salary dump of Burke that creates an additional roster spot.



Also, if I´m Nico, maybe my thinking is there are only two outcomes:



1. Porzingis returns to form and becomes the defensive presence of the past, then it´s a good fit with Markkanen.

2. Porzingis does not return to form and I have to sell very low, say Harris+Bamba. At least my C replacement only has to be good at rebounding, shot-blocking and rim protection now, cause I theoretically already have the 20 PPG stretch shooter replacement in-house. 


Also if you take Kleber + Porzingis off the 2022/2023 salary cap (Harris +Bamba expirings), we are a Dwight Powell expiring contract away from having $20-25M in capspace next summer.

Let´s not forget this is not Nico´s team yet. He has no attachment to some of these players.

Additional thinking in that direction...


Maybe it goes even further and Nico already has a deal for Porzingis in place/mind. What if the plan is to move Porzingis to Sacramento for Hield + Holmes, but they have to wait until some pieces are trade package eligible? Generally speaking it seems rather strange that the Kings haven´t shoved some chips into the middle yet, whether it´s for Porzingis or somebody else.