Name: Mavs willing to trade anyone not named Luka Doncic or Kristaps Porzingis in order to win now
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Mavs willing to trade anyone not named Luka Doncic or Kristaps Porzingis in order to win now

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5:28 PM on Oct 27, 2020 CDTFinancially, NBA teams are in a dead period. Personnel hiring and firing can occur, but no business involving players can transpire until the 2020-21 season’s salary cap and other economic parameters are agreed upon.In reality, last week’s rather abrupt news that the NBA hopes to move up the season’s projected start to Christmas Day has personnel departments feverishly paddling, like duck feet under water.And according to multiple league sources, no one is churning harder than Mavericks president and general manager Donnie Nelson, who has made it clear to peers league-wide that:That’s a lot to digest, especially the draft scenario, which is the most surprising development. The sources did not specify whether the Mavericks are trying to trade into the lottery’s upper, middle or lower tier.Regardless, all of the above signals that, contrary to reports that they want to avoid adding future-season salaries so that they could enter the offseason of ’21 Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, the Mavericks are in urgency mode.As in strike now, with as much force and expense as necessary, as 21-year-old superstar Doncic enters his third year, a season for which he’s already been cast as a Most Valuable Player favorite.And a season with a timetable that from all indications has been exponentially sped up since commissioner Adam Silver stated in late-September that a Martin Luther King (Jan. 18) or later start was probable.A Christmas Day start would mean that the Nov. 18 draft would start a frenetic five weeks of draft, free agency, training camp (beginning Dec. 1) and opening night. Perhaps disgusted Cowboys fans soon will have a welcome local sports diversion, after all.The Mavericks' compulsion to improve the roster, I’m told, has nothing to do with this season’s calendar and everything to do with the franchise’s calibrated-around-Doncic biological clock within the Western Conference landscape.Last summer’s seismic, free-agency driven shifting created a Western Conference full of dynamic duos — boasted by the Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, Jazz, Mavericks and Rockets.The Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, emerged as champions of the coronavirus-protracted 2019-20 season, and in 2020-21′s likely 72-game season, Golden State’s returning-from-injury Steph Curry and Klay Thompson will give the conference another power duo.What all of this has created is an arms race to become the first three-star Western Conference team, or at least the closest thing to one.Unlike last summer, when they carried $30.3 million of cap space into the summer and failed to land big-fish targets (first) Kemba Walker and (then) Tobias Harris, the Mavericks are projected to have no cap room and thus only a mid-level exception, which would be just under $10 million if owners and players agree to a $115 million salary cap.Roughly two-thirds of the NBA’s 30 teams are projected to be over or near the salary cap, which is bad news for the current free agency class and means the most viable way to acquire stars will be through trades with teams seeking cap relief.Not surprisingly, I’m told that in the wake of Doncic’s monster 28.8-point, 9.4-rebound, 8.8-assist, All-NBA first-team season, more than a few player agents have whispered to the Mavericks that their client sure wouldn’t mind being part of Dallas' promising future.The Mavericks are famously tightlipped about their intentions but, historically, their past player acquisition attempts have foreshadowed future ones.Remember when Dallas chased centers year after year: Dwight Howard (2013), DeAndre Jordan (2015) and Hassan Whiteside before belatedly landing Jordan? And Deron Williams (2012) before signing him in 2015?Recent history strongly suggests that their newest fixation is players who are versatile enough to play small forward and stretch power forward.The Athletic reported that the Mavericks have interest in Jerami Grant, though it appears likely he will remain in Denver.What about Harris, who last summer turned down the Mavericks' slightly less-than-max offer to remain in Philadelphia at five years and $180 million? Harris' most productive seasons have been under new Sixers coach Doc Rivers (with the Clippers) and Philadelphia seems more likely to break up the Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid duo, but the Mavericks interest in Harris is well-documented.A more likely possibility would seem to be Danilo Gallinari, 32, coming off a season of averaging 19 points, five rebounds and 40.5% 3-point shooting with Oklahoma City.After last season’s trade deadline, owner Mark Cuban revealed that the Mavericks had a trade in place for a player he declined to name but that the deal fell through because the player wanted to test free agency this offseason rather than agree to an extension with Dallas. That player, turns out, was Gallinari.Last week Gallinari tweeted a photo of himself wearing a blank jersey with the words “Where to next?” It’s debatable whether Gallinari would constitute a third star here, but a sign-and-trade between the Mavericks and rebuilding Oklahoma City makes a lot of sense.It certainly would be viewed and welcomed by Doncic as a roster upgrade as he enters year three of his four-year rookie contract — with the Mavericks guaranteed to pick up his fourth-year option on the first possible date, after the NBA re-opens for business.While the prospect of losing Doncic in two years is low, given that Dallas will be able to offer him a significantly higher max-deal than anyone else, the franchise needs to show him it’s in a compete-for-titles-now mode.That’s a more promising plan than hoping to improve from within while keeping the proverbial powder dry for a shot at Antetokounmpo next summer. That’s the plan that compelled Dallas to trade back in the 2013 draft and miss out on Antetokounmpo in the first place.The powder stayed dry, but the plan blew up in the Mavs' face, anyway.+++Related:.Get the latest news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox.By signing up you agree to our

5:28 PM on Oct 27, 2020 CDTFinancially, NBA teams are in a dead period. Personnel hiring and firing can occur, but no business involving players can transpire until the 2020-21 season’s salary cap and other economic parameters are agreed upon.In reality, last week’s rather abrupt news that the NBA hopes to move up the season’s projected start to Christmas Day has personnel departments feverishly paddling, like duck feet under water.And according to multiple league sources, no one is churning harder than Mavericks president and general manager Donnie Nelson, who has made it clear to peers...

Mavs willing to trade anyone not named Luka Doncic or Kristaps Porzingis in order to win now

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