2023 DRAFT: Mavs take Lively, OMP, sign Mike Miles to 2-way, sign Jordan Walker

[mvossman]

Much as I hate the idea of trading down from a very solid drafting range, the fact of the matter is that this is a threadbare roster, with lots of junk cluttering things up. If the Mavs could get a solid rotation player and then still get Lively (who ought to be able to make an impact on this team as a rookie considering how miserably bad the frontcourt and defense are), I understand the move. The main reason I'm still shaking my head about it is that while this team has become trustworthy with drafting when they do, they have become very bad with whom they target in trade - not to mention in trade negotiations. I'm bracing for impact on the trade because I no longer trust them with trades.

I would argue this team has had mixed results both in trading and in drafting.  Technically Luka was a trade.  The Jury is still out on the Kyrie trade.  The last pick we had around 10 was a bust and Green has been ok but the guys folks wanted instead (Bane, Bey and Maxey) have all been better. What this team has been truly bad at is free agency.