Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[KillerLeft]

IF and that's a big IF, but if he continues to improve and he's efficient shooting, I won't be surprised if we see a starting front court of Morez, Aldama and Flagg by the end of the season UNLESS Lively gets healthy and becomes a regular again. Lively deserves to start when healthy. I don't think Gafford will be here at the start of the season and I have a feeling that the rotation is going to look a lot different than people are predicting. I think they are bringing the Euros over to play immediately. That's not a win now move, but it can definitely be great for long term growth of this team.

I'm not ready to predict starters just yet, but I'd be surprised if Aldama is among them. 

Johnson is trickier. I can't imagine they'd start him next to Gafford (or even Lively) right out of the gate, given what he brings to the table right away, offensively. I think his most likely way to be a positive on that end early in his career stems from him doing Gafford/Lively things...hopefully a little closer to Lively on the versatility scale. Given that they're clearly and undeniably focused on shooting as a means of creating space, I just can't see them thinking those combos at the 4/5 are the way to go, personally. If this was the finished roster I'd put my money on Gafford starting with Johnson coming off the bench, mostly at the 5...but, I also kind of think most of the top 10 picks will probably be starters from day 1, so it's interesting, and that's basically why 2/3 of Dallas fans assumed Gafford was gone on draft night. 

I do think Aldama/Gafford is a combo with some potential, but I could also see Flagg/Gafford starting at the 4/5 and Aldama/Johnson being the main bench pieces at both of those positions. One of them can fit with both Flagg and Gafford, the other can fit with Flagg instead of Gafford, and they can play together. 

I really, really think either PJW or Gafford will not be here when the season starts. I could be wrong, obviously.