Trade & FA 2023-24: OKC The Favorite For Nic Claxton Should He Leave BRK

[omahen]

I agree that we need another power forward type to complete the rotation.  Dwight Powell is a reasonable stopgap and has demonstrated positive value on the court for several years as the starter.  He may become useless in the playoffs but he can manage as our starter this year.  Maxi can cover some minutes at center then Lively is obviously the future there.  I think Lively can start to earn some regular rotation minutes as the season goes on then will be ready to play 20-25 minutes per game next season.  I would rather not spend assets on a center for this year when we have invested our best draft pick in years on Lively.

Importantly, we can obtain a decent, young, power forward time through free agency without sacrificing yet more draft picks.  There are a few talented players left we could acquire for a portion of our MLE.  Derrick Jones Jr is the best but Darius Bazley is already a good defensive player and has improved his 3-point shooting.  Both could contribute as the 10th/11th man and are both young with the potential for development and improvement.

I can't agree with that. Last season clearly demonstrated that Powell is not a reasonable stopgap solution. There was zero protection at the rim once the first line of defense was beaten, which happened often and will continue to happen often since we have Irving and Luka guarding on perimeter (1-4 is basically perimeter in modern NBA). The second problem was rebounding. Grant Williams is an upgrade at PF, but he is still relatively small for the position. 

Ideally, Mavs center rotation would be:
- Primary center taking roughly 30 minutes at the position. Something Mavs don't have and what we are considering to be filled with a mix of Holmes and Powell. So a third center on Sacramento team and Powell
- Lively playing developmental minutes and
- Maxi playing roughly 20 minutes per game either at PF or C. His minutes can increase in specific situations where the primary center could have problems
- break in case of emergency solution in Powell as deep bench

As I said plenty times before, problem is that Holmes and McGee contracts are difficult to move while they are eating capspace and roster spots. 

Mavs have two capable wing defenders in Green and GW. Green can guard positions 1 and 2 and GW can guard 3 and 4. We only have two replacements on the bench - Exum replaces Green and Omax replaces GW. I like both of them, but I have my doubts at this point if any of them is actually capable of playing significant NBA minutes (will their offense be good enough to stay on court). Problem occurs in times if one of the primary defenders is out. There is just not enough depth. Maxi can help against some of the big wings. 

Seth contract can be considered as great, but where will his minutes come from? He is basically playing totally same role as Hardy and THJ and as long as they are on the team, I just don't see minutes for him. 

By all accounts we can assume Mavs know they have not done enough and have recognized that THJ and McGee (and Holmes, but more difficult to move him) are basically redundant on this team, while eating over 35 mil of cap space. Something I totally agree with. All three of them have 2 years left and the partner team would need to see value in having them on roster. We can be pretty sure that no one in the league sees value in having Holmes or McGee on the roster at the money they are paid. THJ could be seen as a positive player in the right situation. But, Mavs are unsuccessfully trying to move him for value for quite some time now. 

So, as I wrote yesterday. In my opinion, Mavs can go to a season like this, but they have to be aware they are not anywhere close to a contender and that it can easily happen that result will be similar as last season. I think there is a considerable possibility of this to happen, certainly far above neglectable. But, situation next summer will be much better with THJ, Holmes and McGee expiring and 3 picks available for trade. Irving will also be a year older in this window and who knows if still available. Is this acceptable? Especially, is Luka fine with this? Be realistic with them, or dissapointment can be huge. Personally, I can also accept this option, if Mavs are realistic about what they have. 

If this is not acceptable (lets be honest, Mavs really lost all of the trust in the five years of mistakes they were making), than I think the only alternative is to bring the 2027 pick into play for a better starting center and some wing depth, while part of the pick value will be offset by the non expiring status of Mavs contracts.

[Smitty]

I can't agree with that. Last season clearly demonstrated that Powell is not a reasonable stopgap solution. There was zero protection at the rim once the first line of defense was beaten, which happened often and will continue to happen often since we have Irving and Luka guarding on perimeter (1-4 is basically perimeter in modern NBA). The second problem was rebounding. Grant Williams is an upgrade at PF, but he is still relatively small for the position. 

Ideally, Mavs center rotation would be:
- Primary center taking roughly 30 minutes at the position. Something Mavs don't have and what we are considering to be filled with a mix of Holmes and Powell. So a third center on Sacramento team and Powell
- Lively playing developmental minutes and
- Maxi playing roughly 20 minutes per game either at PF or C. His minutes can increase in specific situations where the primary center could have problems
- break in case of emergency solution in Powell as deep bench

As I said plenty times before, problem is that Holmes and McGee contracts are difficult to move while they are eating capspace and roster spots. 

Mavs have two capable wing defenders in Green and GW. Green can guard positions 1 and 2 and GW can guard 3 and 4. We only have two replacements on the bench - Exum replaces Green and Omax replaces GW. I like both of them, but I have my doubts at this point if any of them is actually capable of playing significant NBA minutes (will their offense be good enough to stay on court). Problem occurs in times if one of the primary defenders is out. There is just not enough depth. Maxi can help against some of the big wings. 

Seth contract can be considered as great, but where will his minutes come from? He is basically playing totally same role as Hardy and THJ and as long as they are on the team, I just don't see minutes for him. 

By all accounts we can assume Mavs know they have not done enough and have recognized that THJ and McGee (and Holmes, but more difficult to move him) are basically redundant on this team, while eating over 35 mil of cap space. Something I totally agree with. All three of them have 2 years left and the partner team would need to see value in having them on roster. We can be pretty sure that no one in the league sees value in having Holmes or McGee on the roster at the money they are paid. THJ could be seen as a positive player in the right situation. But, Mavs are unsuccessfully trying to move him for value for quite some time now. 

So, as I wrote yesterday. In my opinion, Mavs can go to a season like this, but they have to be aware they are not anywhere close to a contender and that it can easily happen that result will be similar as last season. I think there is a considerable possibility of this to happen, certainly far above neglectable. But, situation next summer will be much better with THJ, Holmes and McGee expiring and 3 picks available for trade. Irving will also be a year older in this window and who knows if still available. Is this acceptable? Especially, is Luka fine with this? Be realistic with them, or dissapointment can be huge. Personally, I can also accept this option, if Mavs are realistic about what they have. 

If this is not acceptable (lets be honest, Mavs really lost all of the trust in the five years of mistakes they were making), than I think the only alternative is to bring the 2027 pick into play for a better starting center and some wing depth, while part of the pick value will be offset by the non expiring status of Mavs contracts.

This is a lot to digest so I'll try my best to state where I agree and disagree. Great post by the way! Powell was resigned to be a backup center. Full stop.

I believe, as currently constructed, the Mavs may view Maxi as a C/F not the the other way around. That means you can at minimum split the center minutes in half if you'd like. Holmes 24 | Maxi 24. It won't look like that but 18 & 18 seems reasonable. Then you have 12 minutes of either Powell or Lively. 

Of course that means that OMax is having to cover the backup PF minutes (16-18). Jae Crowder played 78 games his rookie year and 17.3 mpg. Brunson played 73 games and 21.8 mpg. Both second round picks. I feel confident in saying Omax will be able to cover the backup 4 spot behind GWill.

I don't think Curry has the same role as Hardy or THJ at all. Curry might be the only capable player from the bench that can play PG in the NBA. We know THJ can't, Hardy has been really bad at it and who knows what Exum can do. If one of Kyrie and Luka aren't playing then THJ is the 6th starter, leaving a capable PG (Curry) to run the bench unit. Hardy is a scorer and will have a role on this team but I think all of us will be complaining about how much time THJ is getting and how little Hardy gets....

I think the Mavs are very close to contention. If Nico and Co. think they are one piece away, I have zero issue with them using the FRP to bring that player here. I think most would agree that a top 5 center would make this team a 'contender'? Kyrie-Luka-Green-Williams-Capela? is much better than what they started in the WCF 2 years ago.

[omahen]

If no bigger move is done, I think OKC is the most logical solution for the McGee "situation". They have too many players on the roster and will be cutting some young guys as it is. So it doesn't really hurt them to send them to a third team. They have plenty of room below the tax, but no more exceptions to play with. So salaries would need to match. I have no idea, which of their gazillion of unproven youngsters they like and which they don't. I think some of them can't be aggregated in a deal (Garuba, Washington). Or am I wrong about that?

The basic idea is to send McGee and two SRP for a couple of youngsters OKC doesn't need. I think this is better than just dumping McGee to a team with cap space like SA or Utah. If I understand the rules correctly, OKC needs to send back salary of at least 50 % of McGee salary, which means 2.867.140. Mavs also has a small TE left to take a player or two in directly, if needed because they can't be aggregated.

They don't have any usefull bigger salaries as it is to think about taking more salaries back scenarios. I think Poku, Dieng and all three Williamses are off the table in any case, as long as we are speaking about those SRP scenarios.

Mann is the only player that could be redundant in OKC and has enough salary for a direct deal. Small PG, bad shooter, not really interested at all. Mavs had some interest in Garuba before, but his salary is not big enough for direct deal and I am not sure if he can be aggregated with other players. Washington is another inefficient PG. Isaiah Joe is a good shooter SG, but Mavs already have three players on this position and role. Wiggins is a wing who had a good shooting year. Looks interesting. Robinson-Earl is a PF/C, who can shoot some, but didn't really improve in his second season.

Based on this, I would have interest in any combination of Garuba, Wiggins and Robinson-Earl.

[omahen]

This is a lot to digest so I'll try my best to state where I agree and disagree. Great post by the way! Powell was resigned to be a backup center. Full stop.

I believe, as currently constructed, the Mavs may view Maxi as a C/F not the the other way around. That means you can at minimum split the center minutes in half if you'd like. Holmes 24 | Maxi 24. It won't look like that but 18 & 18 seems reasonable. Then you have 12 minutes of either Powell or Lively. 

Of course that means that OMax is having to cover the backup PF minutes (16-18). Jae Crowder played 78 games his rookie year and 17.3 mpg. Brunson played 73 games and 21.8 mpg. Both second round picks. I feel confident in saying Omax will be able to cover the backup 4 spot behind GWill.

I don't think Curry has the same role as Hardy or THJ at all. Curry might be the only capable player from the bench that can play PG in the NBA. We know THJ can't, Hardy has been really bad at it and who knows what Exum can do. If one of Kyrie and Luka aren't playing then THJ is the 6th starter, leaving a capable PG (Curry) to run the bench unit. Hardy is a scorer and will have a role on this team but I think all of us will be complaining about how much time THJ is getting and how little Hardy gets....

I think the Mavs are very close to contention. If Nico and Co. think they are one piece away, I have zero issue with them using the FRP to bring that player here. I think most would agree that a top 5 center would make this team a 'contender'? Kyrie-Luka-Green-Williams-Capela? is much better than what they started in the WCF 2 years ago.

Thanks. Agree about Curry being the "break in case of emergency" PG. A thing I did forgot to add. Mavs still lack capable third creator, and will have big problems every time Luka or Irving are out. PG is not natural position for Curry and he would be far better utilized in the THJ role (just on smaller minutes), imho.

[Kidnova]

This is a lot to digest so I'll try my best to state where I agree and disagree. Great post by the way! Powell was resigned to be a backup center. Full stop.

I believe, as currently constructed, the Mavs may view Maxi as a C/F not the the other way around. That means you can at minimum split the center minutes in half if you'd like. Holmes 24 | Maxi 24. It won't look like that but 18 & 18 seems reasonable. Then you have 12 minutes of either Powell or Lively. 

Of course that means that OMax is having to cover the backup PF minutes (16-18). Jae Crowder played 78 games his rookie year and 17.3 mpg. Brunson played 73 games and 21.8 mpg. Both second round picks. I feel confident in saying Omax will be able to cover the backup 4 spot behind GWill.

I don't think Curry has the same role as Hardy or THJ at all. Curry might be the only capable player from the bench that can play PG in the NBA. We know THJ can't, Hardy has been really bad at it and who knows what Exum can do. If one of Kyrie and Luka aren't playing then THJ is the 6th starter, leaving a capable PG (Curry) to run the bench unit. Hardy is a scorer and will have a role on this team but I think all of us will be complaining about how much time THJ is getting and how little Hardy gets....

I think the Mavs are very close to contention. If Nico and Co. think they are one piece away, I have zero issue with them using the FRP to bring that player here. I think most would agree that a top 5 center would make this team a 'contender'? Kyrie-Luka-Green-Williams-Capela? is much better than what they started in the WCF 2 years ago.

You're putting a lot more faith in Holmes than I am.  The fact that the Kings were willing to give up a FRP to get off of what isn't a horrible contract makes me think he may be last guy off the bench. I hope I'm wrong and he's actually the 12/8 guy he's been at times in his career, but I'm not expecting it.

[Smitty]

You're putting a lot more faith in Holmes than I am.  The fact that the Kings were willing to give up a FRP to get off of what isn't a horrible contract makes me think he may be last guy off the bench.

Yes I must believe in him more than you. And that’s okay. There’s no way for any of us to know what he can do right now, because we haven’t seen him play in a while. 6 months ago in a spot start he got 16 & 11. I don’t think he’s lost a step or anything. Probably overpaid, like DP over the years. But he lost his job and role when they got sabonis. I don’t expect him to be the reason the Mavs are successful but I don’t think he’ll be the reason the Mavs aren’t successful either.

https://youtu.be/ylpDh9chwak

[SleepingHero]

If Minnesota is going to wait on Bufkin, why wouldn’t Toronto do the same.  Aren’t they just as devoid of PG play?  Trade machine says that’s 8/3 rather than ‘sometime in September’.

Is Minny going to wait on Bufkin? Or are you just assuming that?

In either case, it's interesting to see the time to acquire Bufkin be so close. If the supposed insider is to be believed, that could be why TOR is holding everything up.

[Chicagojk]

Maybe they stalled because the Pistons woke up? LOL

https://twitter.com/mavsfilmroom/status/...56928?s=46&t=iwQP5yZoJF3Ulzfb9MH7Cg

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/MavsFilmRoom/status/...56928?s=20

Mavs Film Room ?? (@MavsFilmRoom)
In this article, Tim Cato says the Mavs and Pistons discussed a trade framework around Tim Hardaway Jr. and JaVale McGee for Bojan Bogdanovic and Kylian Hayes but talks stalled at some point.


From Tim Cato's article:

Late last week, multiple league sources said that the Mavericks and the Detroit Pistons renewed conversations about a Bojan Bogdanović trade. Dallas had previously considered trading for Bogdanović at last season’s deadline, but Detroit’s asking price of a first-round pick was considered too high for the Dallas front office.

League sources say that the talks were sturdy enough to discuss a potential trade framework — Bogdanović and Killian Hayes coming to Dallas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and JaVale McGee going out — but it’s unclear what else would have been required from each party to expand it to a four-team deal and what ultimately caused those talks, however serious, to stall. (Dallas is incredibly cautious to trade its 2027 first-round pick, one team source says, which the team could not put typical protections due to the first-rounders which it owes.) By Tuesday afternoon, Dallas’ front office was content with completing the Williams sign-and-trade as it existed without additions.

[omahen]

I perfectly understand why Dallas wouldn't give 2027 FRP for Bogi and Hayes. They are not worth it. Hayes could be useful as third PG for Dallas, while Bogi is a little better version of THJ. On the other hand I perfectly understand Detroit that 2 SRP is not enough for the proposed deal.

Cato also says:
- Powell is the favorite to retake the starting center job if no other moves are made (yuck!!!). They do have some optimism about Holmes
- at least one more move is coming - McGee either traded or stretch-waived

[Smitty]

“Dallas’ front office does not view its offseason as complete, and at least one move — JaVale McGee being traded or stretch-waived, as first reported by ESPN — is certain to happen before training camp begins. While Dallas could still trade for a big man, the team is content to enter next season with the centers currently on the roster.

If that’s the case, Dwight Powell would be the favorite to retake his starting spot. But multiple team employees have expressed optimism in a rejuvenated Richaun Holmes after the 29-year-old center fell out of the Sacramento Kings’ rotation last season. As Nico Harrison said on Wednesday’s summer league broadcast, “(Holmes) told me he was in jail the last couple years.” The thinking, those sources say, is that Holmes only lost his rotation spot after Sacramento’s offense was reimagined around Domantas Sabonis and will fit better into Dallas’ guard-based schemes.”

[Jason Terry]

Pistons get:
Mavs 2028 FRP swap, top 10 protected and turns into 2028 2nd
THJ
Mcgee
2025 2nd

Mavs get:
Bojan
Hayes

This would give us a true 3rd point guard and another point of attack defender (Hayes) . Plus a big upgrade in bench scoring (Bojan). Bojan was the best defender for Utah in that Mavs-Jazz series. Easily the best offense in the league after a move like this

If we did something like this i could see us going small at the 5. Maxi and Grant playing at the 5. Green/Bojan/Omax/Grant/Maxi……those 5 guys eating up almost all of the playoff 3-4-5 minutes

[mvossman]

I can't agree with that. Last season clearly demonstrated that Powell is not a reasonable stopgap solution. There was zero protection at the rim once the first line of defense was beaten, which happened often and will continue to happen often since we have Irving and Luka guarding on perimeter (1-4 is basically perimeter in modern NBA). The second problem was rebounding. Grant Williams is an upgrade at PF, but he is still relatively small for the position. 

Ideally, Mavs center rotation would be:
- Primary center taking roughly 30 minutes at the position. Something Mavs don't have and what we are considering to be filled with a mix of Holmes and Powell. So a third center on Sacramento team and Powell
- Lively playing developmental minutes and
- Maxi playing roughly 20 minutes per game either at PF or C. His minutes can increase in specific situations where the primary center could have problems
- break in case of emergency solution in Powell as deep bench

As I said plenty times before, problem is that Holmes and McGee contracts are difficult to move while they are eating capspace and roster spots. 

Mavs have two capable wing defenders in Green and GW. Green can guard positions 1 and 2 and GW can guard 3 and 4. We only have two replacements on the bench - Exum replaces Green and Omax replaces GW. I like both of them, but I have my doubts at this point if any of them is actually capable of playing significant NBA minutes (will their offense be good enough to stay on court). Problem occurs in times if one of the primary defenders is out. There is just not enough depth. Maxi can help against some of the big wings. 

Seth contract can be considered as great, but where will his minutes come from? He is basically playing totally same role as Hardy and THJ and as long as they are on the team, I just don't see minutes for him. 

By all accounts we can assume Mavs know they have not done enough and have recognized that THJ and McGee (and Holmes, but more difficult to move him) are basically redundant on this team, while eating over 35 mil of cap space. Something I totally agree with. All three of them have 2 years left and the partner team would need to see value in having them on roster. We can be pretty sure that no one in the league sees value in having Holmes or McGee on the roster at the money they are paid. THJ could be seen as a positive player in the right situation. But, Mavs are unsuccessfully trying to move him for value for quite some time now. 

So, as I wrote yesterday. In my opinion, Mavs can go to a season like this, but they have to be aware they are not anywhere close to a contender and that it can easily happen that result will be similar as last season. I think there is a considerable possibility of this to happen, certainly far above neglectable. But, situation next summer will be much better with THJ, Holmes and McGee expiring and 3 picks available for trade. Irving will also be a year older in this window and who knows if still available. Is this acceptable? Especially, is Luka fine with this? Be realistic with them, or dissapointment can be huge. Personally, I can also accept this option, if Mavs are realistic about what they have. 

If this is not acceptable (lets be honest, Mavs really lost all of the trust in the five years of mistakes they were making), than I think the only alternative is to bring the 2027 pick into play for a better starting center and some wing depth, while part of the pick value will be offset by the non expiring status of Mavs contracts.

Disagree on the Powell stuff.  When the McGee experiment failed spectacularly, replacing him with Powell changed the season around.  We won games because we started him at center.  That is exactly what you want from your stopgap center.  Can he anchor team defense, and account for nearly zero perimeter defense?  No, but he can give you quality backup minutes and an occasional start when necessary.  

I agree with most of the rest of this, but I think its clear the Mavs are focusing on door number 1 (reset) as opposed to 2 (contend now).  They spent almost all of their assets on guys 24 and under.  That is not the move of a team in full win now mode.  The focus seems to have shifted to long term growth and improving the locker room.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

When THJ was in the group photos at summer league, I was resigned to the reality they couldn't flip him for a center.

Gonna be interesting if he or Josh Green starts. THJ and Hardy playing together doesn’t seem like an ideal fit.

[omahen]

Disagree on the Powell stuff.  When the McGee experiment failed spectacularly, replacing him with Powell changed the season around.  We won games because we started him at center.  That is exactly what you want from your stopgap center.  Can he anchor team defense, and account for nearly zero perimeter defense?  No, but he can give you quality backup minutes and an occasional start when necessary.  

I agree with most of the rest of this, but I think its clear the Mavs are focusing on door number 1 (reset) as opposed to 2 (contend now).  They spent almost all of their assets on guys 24 and under.  That is not the move of a team in full win now mode.  The focus seems to have shifted to long term growth and improving the locker room.

For the first part. How many games did we win last season?  I didn't really say anything bad about Powell. I have no problem with him as third center on the contract he has. I have a huge problem with him as a starting center.

I also don't really have a problem with long term growth. But Kyrie makes very little sense in this picture. There is no long term with him. And despite I am happy with the contract he signed, I don't believe he will be increasing his value, especially not on a long term. If the plan is to flip him in 6 months, than I am fine. Than whole thing makes a lot of sense. Hope Luka is on board with all of this, though.

[Okstate819]

https://twitter.com/mavsfilmroom/status/...32544?s=46&t=rv4zaqJDDak5MkqpF38S0Q

For all the PJ Washington fans:

“At this juncture, it appears the Hornets would prefer to work on a sign-and-trade rather than Washington accepting the qualifying offer.”

However, he hasn’t received any offers that reach $16 million annually

I repeat, Don’t worry about playing time or who starts. Go get PJ Washington. Charlotte wants to work a s&t with somebody.

[Smitty]

https://twitter.com/mavsfilmroom/status/...32544?s=46&t=rv4zaqJDDak5MkqpF38S0Q

I repeat, Don’t worry about playing time or who starts. Go get PJ Washington. Charlotte wants to work a s&t with somebody.

Do it! THJ would look good in a Hornets uniform.

[Okstate819]

I perfectly understand why Dallas wouldn't give 2027 FRP for Bogi and Hayes. They are not worth it. Hayes could be useful as third PG for Dallas, while Bogi is a little better version of THJ. On the other hand I perfectly understand Detroit that 2 SRP is not enough for the proposed deal.

Cato also says:
- Powell is the favorite to retake the starting center job if no other moves are made (yuck!!!). They do have some optimism about Holmes
- at least one more move is coming - McGee either traded or stretch-waived

Id be ok offering the 2027 1st if I can also get a heavily protected 1st back. Maybe not in this trade specifically, but for the right player/s.

[mvossman]

Pistons get:
Mavs 2028 FRP swap, top 10 protected and turns into 2028 2nd
THJ
Mcgee
2025 2nd

Mavs get:
Bojan
Hayes

This would give us a true 3rd point guard and another point of attack defender (Hayes) . Plus a big upgrade in bench scoring (Bojan). Bojan was the best defender for Utah in that Mavs-Jazz series. Easily the best offense in the league after a move like this

If we did something like this i could see us going small at the 5. Maxi and Grant playing at the 5. Green/Bojan/Omax/Grant/Maxi……those 5 guys eating up almost all of the playoff 3-4-5 minutes

The only reason to do this is if you think you can turn around Hayes.  With a true shooting in the mid 40s, he has to be one of the worst shooters in the league.  Bojan is a better offensive player than Timmy, but its hard to see Luka and Bojan on the court together defensively.

[omahen]

https://twitter.com/mavsfilmroom/status/...32544?s=46&t=rv4zaqJDDak5MkqpF38S0Q

I repeat, Don’t worry about playing time or who starts. Go get PJ Washington. Charlotte wants to work a s&t with somebody.

Interesting. I have it difficult to see Mavs starting something like Irving-Luka-GW-PJ-Center. PJ as full time small center also doesn't make a lot of sense, imagine playing that line-up against Denver giants. Moving GW (or PJ) to bench would be most logical conclusion, but we risk that the one relegated to bench is not happy with this. 

On top of that, I seriously doubt Charlotte has much interest in THJ, as long as they are overpaying Rozier on the position. I don't see the two SRP moving the needle and I certainly don't want to include 2027 with all the doubts stated in first paragraph. Charlotte would be probably more interested if we would take Rozier, but Mavs don't have matching contracts for Rozier and PJ.

This SnT would be more possible if Mavs would have the whole Bertans TE. But that train is gone.