Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[cow]

Interesting idea. In essence, Mavs give up about 17M net in cap room this year, and assume longggggggg-term liability (Braun at AAV of over 22M for 4 more years after this one). The gain? Better players, hopefully, but not at primary area of need (PG/creating). Braun especially, who is a SG. And Braun regressed last season.

One obstacle I'd have to be satisfied would be that Braun's injury issues last year are solved.. He missed about half the season.

That's a good chunk of payroll, but if spent wisely, it is NOT putting Mavs in problem territory. Is it worth it, or does it gut Mavs ability to spend without actually fixing what needs to be fixed?

To me that's the bigger issue to weigh against what other options the Mavs have for using the TPE. If this is the only choice, that's one thing, but I would really hope there's some sort of move (even if it's one of this sort) that is yielding a credible solid PG type, rather than a SG.

In a vacuum, I think Braun is as interesting as the best SG FAs out there which, in my mind, comes down to Grimes (starter with a bit of playmaking) or Monk (more of a sixth man).  The issue I see is that purposed framework probably makes Denver worse with the players being swapped and further depletes them of an almost empty cupboard of assets in exchange for salary relief.  Is that salary relief enough to help build around Joker again?   PJW + Christie (Klay could work in this spot too) for Braun + Cam makes more sense in my head, but I'm not sure Denver could return enough to get me excited.  I guess those far off swaps could be valuable but I'd rather have something more tangible that Denver can't offer.  I'm not worried about Braun's injuries, but I do wonder if he can regain form, especially without Joker's gravity.  An interesting reclamation project anyway.