Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[mvossman]

Okay. How would you rearrange the lineup?

The same way Dan and I had it earlier, replacing Mathurin with Risacher.  I don't think they made the move for Risacher to play him third string and I don't think Mathurin and Naji make sense on the court together (two wings who can't shoot).

[mvossman]

Idk...I agree Mathurin with Marshall isn't the perfect fit, but I'm one (apparently in the minority) who doesn't expect Marshall to be here much longer, with or without Mathurin. 

And...Aldama and De Larrea being on the floor (and even Johnson, to an extent) represents more spacing than the BEST spacing lineups the team had last year, right? And, Biberovic, Sasser and Risacher are all available, possibly even forcing their way in with this group. 

AND, how often do you play 5 replacement players together at the same time, anyway?

You may be right on Naji, but there has been no hint of him being shopped.  Way more noise around Klay and Gafford (and even PJ).  

If they can actually trade Naji for legit asset and sign Mathurin to a reasonable contract I will be totally fine with it.  But I don't think it makes sense to have both on the roster and I have no interest in paying Mathurin the 19+ mil Dan was suggesting.

[KillerLeft]

You may be right on Naji, but there has been no hint of him being shopped.  Way more noise around Klay and Gafford (and even PJ).  

Agree there hasn't been much smoke around shopping Marshall this summer. Until they extend him (which they could do next week, for all I know), I'm going to keep my eye on the situation for sure.

[vfromlmf]

Good thing basketball teams don't use hockey shifts. Fun fact, I read somewhere the starting five of an NBA team only plays together an average of around 10 minutes per game. Bench guys even less. Obviously that varies per team.

Dan, I like where you're going with the theory.

If you do some digging on Mathurin, Rick Carlisle, who I still respect as one of the top minds in basketball, once said he spent more time with Mathurin than any other young player in his career. He called him a professional scorer and said he came out of the womb with 20 points. He called him a Kawhi-like bucket getter. But in the same conversation, he said Mathurin's heros growing up came from an era that looked totally different than today's NBA. It's not hard to read between the lines. Carlisle saw the potential, and he worked hard to modernize Mathurin's approach because his game didn't align with today's NBA. Then he was traded.

I have no idea what Mathurin's game looks like now but I do think the Mavs could use a bench scorer. And with the right developmental staff maybe he can become much more. Sort of in keeping with other recent moves. Add developmental talent and see what happens.

[mvossman]

Good thing basketball teams don't use hockey shifts. Fun fact, I read somewhere the starting five of an NBA team only plays together an average of around 10 minutes per game. Bench guys even less. Obviously that varies per team.

They don't, but generally the top 8-10 guys get most of the minutes, and if that consists of a starting lineup that doesn't have great spacing and a second unit that is worse, your team is probably going to have issues with spacing, and having good shooters on the back of the bench is not going to make enough of a difference.

[Scott41theMavs]

Good thing basketball teams don't use hockey shifts. Fun fact, I read somewhere the starting five of an NBA team only plays together an average of around 10 minutes per game. Bench guys even less. Obviously that varies per team.

Dan, I like where you're going with the theory.

If you do some digging on Mathurin, Rick Carlisle, who I still respect as one of the top minds in basketball, once said he spent more time with Mathurin than any other young player in his career. He called him a professional scorer and said he came out of the womb with 20 points. He called him a Kawhi-like bucket getter. But in the same conversation, he said Mathurin's heros growing up came from an era that looked totally different than today's NBA. It's not hard to read between the lines. Carlisle saw the potential, and he worked hard to modernize Mathurin's approach because his game didn't align with today's NBA. Then he was traded.

I have no idea what Mathurin's game looks like now but I do think the Mavs could use a bench scorer. And with the right developmental staff maybe he can become much more. Sort of in keeping with other recent moves. Add developmental talent and see what happens.

I was going to ask you, what makes you think May could do anything with him if Carlisle couldn’t? Then I remembered how RC dealt with every rookie prior to Luka and to some extent Brunson and said, “Never mind, answered my own question.”

[KillerLeft]

I was going to ask you, what makes you think May could do anything with him if Carlisle couldn’t? Then I remembered how RC dealt with every rookie prior to Luka and to some extent Brunson and said, “Never mind, answered my own question.”

Carlisle DID do something with him, though...this is a GOOD player. They didn't trade him to get rid of him, they wanted Zubac who is cost controlled in an extremely team-friendly way and the center is a vital part of Carlisle/Haliburton's pick and roll spamming approach. Plus, IND is one of the cheapest teams (again, part of why they pounced on Zubac, even including that pick), so they probably knew they'd never be able to keep Mathruin.

[Scott41theMavs]

Two things:
1) Someone in the Discord was saying, if we’re doing the reclamation thing, why not Murray. He would be a great fit, and he’s sort of the fallen angel being discussed in the other thread.
2) Masai, come on already. I know the moves are keeping you busy, but pretty please with sugar on it address the medical/training staff.

[Scott41theMavs]

Re: SH’s Lavine idea: after a year of trying to get that guy to play defense, any defense, May would look like Kidd.

[mvossman]

Two things:
1) Someone in the Discord was saying, if we’re doing the reclamation thing, why not Murray. He would be a great fit, and he’s sort of the fallen angel being discussed in the other thread.

Not sure they are interested in doing the reclamation thing on a guy who will be on the wrong side of 30.  He is also a very poor three point shooting guard (34% career and 30% last two years).

[KillerLeft]

Re: SH’s Lavine idea: after a year of trying to get that guy to play defense, any defense, May would look like Kidd.

He’s expiring, right? Tell him not to even report to the team, for all I care. Shop his deal at the trade deadline, or just let it expire. I’d be in it for draft capital.

[Scott41theMavs]

Not sure they are interested in doing the reclamation thing on a guy who will be on the wrong side of 30.  He is also a very poor three point shooting guard (34% career and 30% last two years).

Ah well. So it’s Mathurin (whom I’ve already said won’t be a serious option because this Kawhi thing is going to drag out and then detonate), Scoot, Sharpe, or bust I suppose.

[Scott41theMavs]

He’s expiring, right? Tell him not to even report to the team, for all I care. Shop his deal at the trade deadline, or just let it expire. I’d be in it for draft capital.

Well, that would be phenomenal for those of us who want to see Seva make the main roster and get a lot of minutes. That may or may not be conducive to actual wins and team structure. I guess another plus to it is that it would probably make Cjeter’s head explode like the Hindenburg.

[SleepingHero]

He’s expiring, right? Tell him not to even report to the team, for all I care. Shop his deal at the trade deadline, or just let it expire. I’d be in it for draft capital.

I mean for all of Lavine's warts, he's a 20+ppg scorer with 50/40/80 efficiency. He's a good player with a poor injury history.

Bad defensive guy sure, but I'm not really that concerned about that when paired with a potential lineup of Kyrie/Cooper/Morez/PJ/Lively.

[KillerLeft]

I mean for all of Lavine's warts, he's a 20+ppg scorer with 50/40/80 efficiency. He's a good player with a poor injury history.

Bad defensive guy sure, but I'm not really that concerned about that when paired with a potential lineup of Kyrie/Cooper/Morez/PJ/Lively.

Yeah, if you want to try to make LaVine work for a while, that’s fine. Everything I’d be thinking about is two years down the road, so I don’t really care about that part.

EDIT: if there's no prize other than LaVine involved, I'm out on the idea. I'd rather just keep Gafford or PJW or whatever other outgoing players might be involved. When it comes to switching players out for ON COURT purposes, I'm pretty laser focused on youth, personally.

[Scott41theMavs]

Wrt draft capital and Lavine, we’re offering a buyout candidate, a guy slightly overpaid for his contract, and a guy making at least three times his on-court worth. If the Mavs got a first rounder - or even a swap - out of that, the debate would be if Masai is the new Presti, or the new Ainge. And yes, I know, Kangz gonna Kang.

[speedkilz88]

Russian news claims Seva is getting a two way.



MFFL
@Mavs_FFL
BREAKING: Seva Ishchenko will receive a two-way contract, per Vladimir Spivak ???

[vfromlmf]

Carlisle DID do something with him, though...this is a GOOD player. They didn't trade him to get rid of him, they wanted Zubac who is cost controlled in an extremely team-friendly way and the center is a vital part of Carlisle/Haliburton's pick and roll spamming approach. Plus, IND is one of the cheapest teams (again, part of what they pounced on Zubac, even including that pick), so they probably knew they'd never be able to keep Mathruin.

This is an important point and my post sort of incorrectly implied he was traded because he couldn't modernize his game. You're right to note Mathurin was traded because they needed to rebalance the roster and add Zubac. That said, if Mathurin was actually Kawhi, instead of just a Kahwi-like scorer, he certainly wouldn't have been moved. 

Mathurin reminds me a bit of Corey Maggette. Not a star but a good player. Not a complimentary player, but an alpha scorer. I like the idea of adding him to the rotation.

[KillerLeft]

This is an important point and my post sort of incorrectly implied he was traded because he couldn't modernize his game. You're right to note Mathurin was traded because they needed to rebalance the roster and add Zubac. That said, if Mathurin was actually Kawhi, instead of just a Kahwi-like scorer, he certainly wouldn't have been moved. 

Mathurin reminds me a bit of Corey Maggette. Not a star but a good player. Not a complimentary player, but an alpha scorer. I like the idea of adding him to the rotation.

He's FOR SURE not Kahwi Leonard, and I hope I haven't given the impression that I think he is...

...but I think he's pretty far north of Corey Maggette, on the other hand. I'm not sure what a good comp might be, considering he's still like 23 or 24. I think if he lands in the right situation with the right coach and team he could end up being a fairly big deal, honestly. And, isn't that sort of an emerging theme of the late summer here in Dallas?

[mvossman]

He's FOR SURE not Kahwi Leonard, and I hope I haven't given the impression that I think he is...

...but I think he's pretty far north of Corey Maggette, on the other hand. I'm not sure what a good comp might be, considering he's still like 23 or 24. I think if he lands in the right situation with the right coach and team he could end up being a fairly big deal, honestly. And, isn't that sort of an emerging theme of the late summer here in Dallas?

He is still young, but he is really not much different a player in his 4th year than he was as a rookie.  I know development is not linier, but that is concerning.  I would also argue that this FO is targeting players with a team oriented mindset (which explains why the majority has been European) and I'm not sure Mathurin fits that bill.  I guess we will see.

EDIT: actually the last player I remember looking at that had a good rookie season and then didn't improve much for years after is Kuzma. Not saying they are the same player, but there are some similarities. Offensive scorers who are not great 3 point shooters, don't create much for others and not great defenders. I'm sure Mathurin will turn into something better, but there are hints.