2019-2020 Mavs Trade Discussion + Salary Chart

[Mavs2019]

To me Doncic, Porzingis, Curry, Kleber, DFS and Brunson are the untouchable core. Franchise cornerstones and established young-ish roleplayers on long-term value contracts.  


THJ has turned into the surprise headache.  Luckily the Mavs have another season to see how real this all is. He´s currently shooting 5% above his 3pt career average. He´s still not contributing much in terms of assists or rebounds. So assuming he can maintain a +38% 3pt percentage next year, I´d happily give him a 44/4 extension.

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Total "no thank you" to LaVine.  So, we agree there.

I'm a little surprised by the THJ take.  I get not trusting that this season's numbers were real, but real or not the numbers were really good.  He was arguably a top 10-12 SG this season.  It would be interesting to know how teams view him.  Is he Luka's outstanding running buddy?  Or, a flash in the pan who will return to his Knick ways when not playing next to Luka?    

The team has said it wants to extend him during the upcoming off-season.  So, we won't get another "season" to evaluate unless you are talking about the bubble as being a "season".  I don't think there's a chance 4/$44 is the right number.  I think the best we can hope for is something starting in the $14mm-$17mm range.  Bledsoe got 4/$70 last summer.  Gary Harris got 4/$84 the summer before that.  Will Barton comes off the bench and got 4/$53.  Who knows what impact COVID will have on contracts, but it wouldn't surprise me to see an extension starting in the $17mm-$18mm range.  

The real question is can we do better with the money available if you don't keep THJ.  If your 4/$44 number is right, then we won't get value in a trade (he probably won't opt out if that is his real market).  But, let's say he does opt out this off-season creating some cap room.  Do we get in the bidding for Bogdanovic (RFA)?  Is he really better than Hardaway?  Or, maybe you go for one of the above MLE players at a different position.  If Curry is your SG, do you use the Hardaway cap room to go over the MLE for Wood?  Bertans?  Ibaka?  Grant?  Is KP/Wood/DFS/Curry/Luka better than KP/DFS/THJ/Curry/Luka?  If we wait until the 21 off-season, then we have to forego the MLE this season and trades that add salary in order for the 21 cap room to be meaningful.  I think the more likely outcome is we extend him at a number at least 150% of your $44 million number.

It was actually not a no on Lavine. I´m actually leaning more on him doing a THJ once you get him into a winning culture. All I read about him is that he´s a real hard worker. He tore his ACL at a crucial stage of his career, just shy of his 22nd birthday, recovered quickly and was then settled with two of the worst headcoaches in NBA history. Those are strong arguments for a culture/coaching upgrade changing his perception around the league. 

I don´t think there is a chance in hell THJ opts out, unless the Mavs make another rash unnecessary extension decision like Powell.

I´m not even concerning myself with FAs above the MLE level this summer. We won´t have any capspace. The Mavs using 18+31 for a trade seems a much more likely scenario. I think DeRozan remains an interesting trade target, given that he could threaten the declining Spurs with an opt-out, but agree to opt-in for a potential contending trade partner.