07-20-2026, 01:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-20-2026, 02:01 PM by KillerLeft.)
Really, the Mavs didn't give anything up, so this is all developmental upside.
The only downside, and something we should keep our eyes on, is that option on 10/31. If they care enough about him as a potential part of their future, that's going to be a significant amount of money to commit for next season, when several things will need to happen, such as...will they want Lively back? Will they want Naji Marshall back? Are Gafford and PJW still here? Etc...
I kind of lean towards the idea that they wouldn't have bothered with this trade if they were (for sure) just looking at him as a short term Mav, so I kind of expect them to take the option, but...maybe the plan is not to take the option, let him play out the year and decide next summer where he stacks up on the priorities list? You run the the risk of losing him in the best case scenario of his season, but it would have to be one hell of a season for someone to come along and offer him at above what you can pay, so that could potentially be a pretty good gamble, especially since you might not want him at all, I suppose.
What's interesting about this for me is the implications it has on some of the other salaries on the roster. If I really believe in Risacher and I'm really invested in his future here (no idea whether they are, and the trade was so cheap there really aren't clues there), I kind of feel like I need to shed some long term salary by the deadline at the latest in order to give myself the flexibility to do what I might want to do with guys like Christie, Lively and Risacher (there are a lot of coming question marks, all of a sudden), and ideally, I'd probably want to have the OPTION of getting all three of those guys inked to their next deals (in the absolute best case for all of them) WITHOUT going into the tax next season. Maybe they'll be ok with paying tax that soon, but I'd be tempted to avoid starting that clock for a 3rd season if possible, I think.
Obviously, there are scenarios where you don't want any of them back, or maybe just Christie, etc. But, in the best case of everyone's developmental season, I would expect the books to demand some tough decisions next summer.
The only downside, and something we should keep our eyes on, is that option on 10/31. If they care enough about him as a potential part of their future, that's going to be a significant amount of money to commit for next season, when several things will need to happen, such as...will they want Lively back? Will they want Naji Marshall back? Are Gafford and PJW still here? Etc...
I kind of lean towards the idea that they wouldn't have bothered with this trade if they were (for sure) just looking at him as a short term Mav, so I kind of expect them to take the option, but...maybe the plan is not to take the option, let him play out the year and decide next summer where he stacks up on the priorities list? You run the the risk of losing him in the best case scenario of his season, but it would have to be one hell of a season for someone to come along and offer him at above what you can pay, so that could potentially be a pretty good gamble, especially since you might not want him at all, I suppose.
What's interesting about this for me is the implications it has on some of the other salaries on the roster. If I really believe in Risacher and I'm really invested in his future here (no idea whether they are, and the trade was so cheap there really aren't clues there), I kind of feel like I need to shed some long term salary by the deadline at the latest in order to give myself the flexibility to do what I might want to do with guys like Christie, Lively and Risacher (there are a lot of coming question marks, all of a sudden), and ideally, I'd probably want to have the OPTION of getting all three of those guys inked to their next deals (in the absolute best case for all of them) WITHOUT going into the tax next season. Maybe they'll be ok with paying tax that soon, but I'd be tempted to avoid starting that clock for a 3rd season if possible, I think.
Obviously, there are scenarios where you don't want any of them back, or maybe just Christie, etc. But, in the best case of everyone's developmental season, I would expect the books to demand some tough decisions next summer.