MAVS NEWS:

[SleepingHero]

@TheDunkCentral
Dallas could explore trading Jaden Hardy, per @JakeLFischer


“The Mavericks committed in early July to re-signing guard Dante Exum to bolster their backcourt to cope without Kyrie Irving (knee) for the season's first few months but need to shed one of their 15 standard contracts on the books to do so. It's believed that their push to make a trade to do just that — whether it involves Prosper or another player such as Jaden Hardy — will result in a resolution by week's end.”

[F Gump]

So they may need to waive and stretch?  That would be disappointing
Jake Fischer reports that a resolution on finding a new home for O-Max Prosper or Jaden Hardy is expected to happen by 5 PM ET tomorrow.
Reason being that is the deadline to waive-and-stretch contacts, which is what the Mavs may ultimately have to do with Prosper or Hardy…

In this case a stretch-waive is a nothing burger. OMax is what makes most sense, or Powell. Each is only 1 year of salary, at a small number, and 1/3 of the salary gets moved into each of the next 2 seasons. For OMax, that's only about 1M per season. 

I can't imagine they would have any interest in s-w Hardy because the cap hit in future years would be much bigger and last much longer (2.4M each year for this year and 4 years after this one). The mention of Hardy would have to do with finding a taker, and perhaps it being more likely with Hardy.

A s-w is merely the default option if they can't find a REASONABLE price to get rid of OMax or Hardy (being speculated by media) or Martin or Powell (which imo should also be on the table), since it is a choice they control (it doesn't take the cooperation of another team). I'm sure they will trade either, if the other team will take them and it's not going to cost much. It shouldn't take more than a 2nd R.

Isn't anyone else but me yet seeing how bad Nico's player evaluation and GM work is, even beyond the terrible Luka trade? OMax was a Nico 1st R pick, Hardy was a Nico 2nd R pick and also has an absurd contract that the Mavs didn't have any good reason to offer, Martin was a player considered to be on a bad contract and Nico took him AND gave up a pick to get him for an expiring contract player (which an awful understanding of the economics of salaries). Taking on Martin doomed the Mavs to multiple years of really bad tax consequences for a player who has little use and where they were offering a player whose contract would expire in 2 months. In every case, as well as with Luka, doing nothing was the right thing, but Nico applied his "magic" and boom it's years of struggle instead.

I am one who thinks BW is worth the cost of a 2nd, or a small s-w, to keep. And they need players like him while Kyrie is out, and perhaps even longer imo. He is EXACTLY why you do player development, to find guys like him with promise and be able to get value from them in upcoming years.

EDITED TO ADD -- By the way, the Mavs would have the ability to send enough cash along with either OMax or Hardy, and even more besides, to more than cover their full salary due this season. That might be a way to minimize or even eliminate the need for sending a pick. They can send up to 8M-ish, and the salaries that could be more than covered are Hardy 6M, Powell 4M, and/or OMax 3M.

[KillerLeft]

@TheDunkCentral
Dallas could explore trading Jaden Hardy, per @JakeLFischer


“The Mavericks committed in early July to re-signing guard Dante Exum to bolster their backcourt to cope without Kyrie Irving (knee) for the season's first few months but need to shed one of their 15 standard contracts on the books to do so. It's believed that their push to make a trade to do just that — whether it involves Prosper or another player such as Jaden Hardy — will result in a resolution by week's end.”

Trading Hardy would be even better than trading O-Max, if possible. 

If Hardy is here, I hope he gets a chance to redeem himself, but if they can trade him they probably should.

EDIT: in fact...while I couldn't care less about attaching cash, IF this is going to take attaching a 2nd round pick, I'd feel much better if that pick was used to jettison an actual undesirable contract, like Hardy's, rather than solve a simple mathematical problem related to bodies, which is what moving O-Max would be.

[ThisIStheYear]

Not sure the Mavs will be able to trade OMax. A stretch waive just to get Exum is a waste.

[myconsumerclub]

Obviously Nico has made some bad trades and the harm they have done to the team has cost us. The loss of Kai Jones who we might have been able to find a way to keep was terrible. I hope he has a long and productive career wherever he sticks but he would have made a nice back up for a 6th big. Powell would have been cut or traded if I had been in charge. Of course next offseason we may be wanting to replace him with a rookie they want to develop that is 7' and shoots 3's at 40% so not to terrible of a loss.

The lousy roster management that NICO has engaged in may keep us tied to guys we no longer want to play much and now we are unable to keep a roster spot open for when some team cuts a good player.

OMax 3 MIL produced well enough when he got minutes just did not get enough minutes to develop any momentum and game. He only has this season left so he is an expiring contract if a team trades for him they can resign as RFA or let the salary drop off.
Powell 4 MIL Obviously a bench warmer and nothing more at this point. He to is an expiring contract
Hardy 6 MIL got a few years on his contract still
Martin 9.5 MIL almost 30 million owed this season and 2 more years.

Got to play a few of them to to sell some team on making a trade and get them to develop an interest in our end of bench guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnFEB23iLiM&t=83s omax trade in the works

[Smitty]

Obviously Nico has made some bad trades and the harm they have done to the team has cost us. The loss of Kai Jones who we might have been able to find a way to keep was terrible. I hope he has a long and productive career wherever he sticks but He would have made a nice back up for a 6th big. Powell would have been cut or traded if I had been in charge. Of course next offseason we may be wanting to replace him with a rookie they want to develop that 7' and shoots 3's at 40% so not to terrible of a loss.

The lousy roster management that NICO has engaged in may keep us tied to guys we no longer want to play much and now we are unable to keep a roster spot open for when some team cuts a good player.

OMax 3 MIL produced well enough when he got minutes just did not get enough minutes to develop any momentum and game. He only has this season left so he is an expiring contract if a team trades for him they can resign as RFA or let the salary drop off.
Powell 4 MIL Obviously a bench warmer and nothing more at this point. He to is an expiring contract
Hardy 6 MIL got a few years on his contract still
Martin 9.5 MIL almost 30 million owed this season and 2 more years.

Got to play a few of them to to sell some team on making a trade and get them to develop an interest in our end of bench guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnFEB23iLiM&t=83s omax trade in the works

Nico has made some blunders, as has every NBA GM, but this roster is actually very talented. I think it's flawed to some degree, with more elite talent in the frontcourt, causing some overlap, but talented nonetheless. The only dead weight is Hardy IMO. He's just not good enough at all the 'other things' to play in the rotation at the NBA level, and $12M guaranteed is a waste of financial recourses, when every dollar matters in this apron world.

Some might argue that Omax and Martin are dead weight or expendable but it's hard for me to be hypercritical of the Omax pick because I was pumped when it happened and thought it was good GMing at the time. Martin is still this team's best perimeter defender, so I can't put him in the dead weight/expendable category until we see him healthy and on the court in games that matter. If he looks as bad offensively as he did at the end of last year then sure, he's going to be hard to move, and his money will affect future roster decisions in a negative way.

Overall, I think the Mavs are in a good place, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what Cooper Flagg will be.

[Chicagojk]

Hardy and Omax probably should get new places to play.    The minutes here are going to be real hard to come by.  Kidd has no confidence in Omax.  He has given Hardy several opportunities.  At times, he has taken advantage of them.  Although, his weaknesses that limit his minutes just hasn't gotten better.   I think there is something with both though.  Not sure if they ever figure it out though.

I wonder though, what is the advantage of stretch waiving either compared to stretch waiving Powell?   Powell is pretty much a vibe guy now.    He is expiring next year.    Would the slight chance Omax or Hardy show something, make them more valuable than Powell?

[Winter]

Hardy and Omax probably should get new places to play.    The minutes here are going to be real hard to come by.  Kidd has no confidence in Omax.  He has given Hardy several opportunities.  At times, he has taken advantage of them.  Although, his weaknesses that limit his minutes just hasn't gotten better.   I think there is something with both though.  Not sure if they ever figure it out though.

I wonder though, what is the advantage of stretch waiving either compared to stretch waiving Powell?   Powell is pretty much a vibe guy now.    He is expiring next year.    Would the slight chance Omax or Hardy show something, make them more valuable than Powell?

In my opinion, the difference between Powell and Omax (or even Hardy) is that Powell is at least predictable in what he will bring... and turnovers aren't likely to happen. Both Omax and Hardy might be a significant net minus on any given day.

That said, you can easily make a case that Powell has almost no good way to see court time. None. There literally is 4-5 better candidates at his position now. If he plays, it will likely be during an injury bug or a blowout. Powell is the Mavericks Udonis Haslem. If he's staying, it won't be because he's at all a meaningful player (except in some way fans will likely never see).

[F Gump]

Hardy is EXTREMELY unlikely to get s-w'ed because it would be more cap hit per year, and more years, of a drain on their cap. 4 future years at 2.4M each. However, if it is going to cost a pick to get a taker no matter what you do, and some team is willing to take Hardy off our hands, I am definitely pulling the trigger on THAT trade and player loss, because having Hardy's salary on their books next summer would create A2 issues again. But DP and OMax expire and go away.

For comparative purposes, a s-w of OMax costs them 2 future years of cap hits at about 1M each, while DP would be 1.333M for 2 years.

I still think that attaching a big check to the leg of one or more players you want to get rid of might make it easier to avoid using a pick. Mavs can send up to about 8M, which more than covers OMax 3, DP 4, or even both. Or, it could cover MOST of Hardy's salary for 2 years, making Hardy a cheap financial outlay for a team who might want to give him a test run.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

[Charania] The Dallas Mavericks are waiving 2023 first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper via stretch provision, sources tell ESPN.

[Chicagojk]

I have no problem with the Omax swing and miss.   Although it should have been a sign when Cuban was crowing about the pick right after. ha ha.  He seems like a great kid and a strong worker.   He just seemed lost on the floor. Confused where to be and just a tad slow on reaction.   He got off to a slow start in college, so maybe he battles and finds a role.  It is going to be an uphill battle.   It is a shame he got hurt.  He desperately needed court time to grow and show what he could do.   I will be rooting for him if he gets another shot.

BTW, there are some guys who will probably have a better career than Omax but not a clear miss.  GG may be the one who could still hit, but he is also raw.

https://x.com/NickVanExit/status/1961544363361628332

https://x.com/NickVanExit/status/1961544363361628332

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1961542252297375756


Mavs will carry a cap hit of $1,002,360 for the next 3 years for OMax.

[F Gump]

https://x.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1961542252297375756


Mavs will carry a cap hit of $1,002,360 for the next 3 years for OMax.

I prefer to word that a different way:

THIS SEASON the Mavs cap charge for OMax's contract will be reduced by $2,004,720 (which opens up that much added room under A2) down to $1,002,360 - it was previously set to be $3,007,180.

The next two future seasons will repay that reduction with a cap hit in each year of $1,002,360 in each year.

This is another consequence of the needless Grimes-Martin deal, which was a financial atrocity for the team. There are likely to be more.

[Chicagojk]

have baked thought.  Assuming PJ extends, which of the three won't be with the team in 12 months: PJ, Klay or Marshall?   Maybe there are bigger changes and more movement.  Maybe Flagg develops really fast and solves some of the weird fits.    Although, just looking at those three players it seems like at least one is moved.

Personally I feel Klay is better at SF now (with two good creators).   At his age, maybe he is best as a heavy bench player or at least a 50/50 rotation piece.   Not sure I like him much as a SG.

PJ is the best of the bunch, but I don't think his best fit is SF.   This year will be a good evaluation for him.

I am not sure what position is best for Marshall.   He can sort of do a lot but also has some clear holes in his game.   

If I had to guess, I would pick Klay is either dumped or moved in the next 12 months.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/Fullcourtpass/status/1961596375457513971


Cuban on Luka

[Chicagojk]

cant really tell much but....

https://x.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/196...7423613208

[F Gump]

cant really tell much but....

https://x.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/196...7423613208

Tojaso. 

I have very openly been of the opinion Kyrie will be playing WAY WAY WAY sooner than people are doom-and-glooming, and predicted we would start seeing this sort of content in camp (Kyrie on the court doing things). It's happening even earlier than that.

[DallasMaverick]

cant really tell much but....

https://x.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/196...7423613208

For sure.

According to the ortho who almost did my ACL…

3 months after surgery, you feel great. And strong. And your new ACL is about 25% as strong as it needs to be, so lots of guys overdo it, and tear the new one.

Gotta be patient.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

Where is everyone who flamed me last offseason for saying OMax isn’t an NBA player?

[ballsrchr]

Where is everyone who flamed me last offseason for saying OMax isn’t an NBA player?

I suspect they are still here.  Sometimes opinions change with the influx of more information.  

Sometimes these opinions change because of a tiny grain of information implanted by a previous opinion--maybe yours--that was read in an earlier thread.

Sometimes opinions change with the direction of the wind.  You know...go with the flow.

You generally have good opinions.  Keep up with the good work.

In any case...I still think that Omax "may" someday become a good basketball player--with good coaching. Good coaching is a conundrum.  I have no problem with him being traded.  I don''t generally like using a stretch waive though.  My phone must been off because I missed the call when the Mavs...dare I say "brain trust" called for my opinion.