King’s Ransom: Mavs To Sign Warriors' Draymond Green & Trade For Lakers' LeBron James?
The Dallas Mavericks have shown the need to bolster their personnel to achieve improvement on defense once the offseason comes around. Without a dynamic rim protector, on-ball stopper, or impactful low-man, there is a need to add game-changers on that end.
During a recent episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Simmons floated a "half-baked idea" predicting Draymond Green to end up with the Dallas Mavericks to play with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, with LeBron James later finding his way there.
“I have my half-baked idea for Draymond’s next season,” Simmons said. “I think he ends up in Dallas with Kyrie and with Luka, and the LeBron tries to figure out a way to get there eventually. Yea, that’s my prediction.”
Simmons sees Green as being an ideal match considering he'd bring significant defensive versatility while not being focused on touches.
“Yea I dunno, I’m feeling a Dallas scent,” Simmons said. “There’s some Dallas stuff that feels scenty to me. (Draymond is kind of what they need. Someone who cares about defense, and doesn’t care about shooting.”
Green has a $27.6 million player option after this season, which he is surely to decline in order to reach a long-term agreement on a contract. With how expensive the Golden State Warriors' payroll has become, it may be challenging for them to retain all of their key players.
James will begin a two-year, $97.1 million contract next season, but has a $50.7 million player option in 2024-25. It remains to be seen what his decision will be given it's so far out in the future. If he chose to opt out, he could sign elsewhere, but again that's a lot of money to turn down at 39.
Before the Mavs can worry about which players they are going to add to their team, they first need to retain Irving's services. He will be a free agent this offseason after being acquired in a midseason trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
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