NBA Trade Talk: Should Mavs Pursue Draft Night Deal With Rival Spurs?

With an exciting season officially in the books, the Dallas Mavericks have fully shifted their focus to upgrading their roster this offseason. The first opportunity to do that will come on June 23, as the NBA Draft will get underway in Brooklyn. If Dallas decides to trade their only pick, why not try to move up in the draft order while also adding more depth to the roster around Luka Doncic?

In a recent hypothetical trade piece, ClutchPoints suggested three of the best moves the Spurs could make on draft night, and one of those moves involved a deal with the Mavs.

The Mavs would receive pick 20, Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott in exchange for Tim Hardaway Jr., the 26th pick and a future first-rounder.

Dallas has not been afraid to trade first-rounders in the past and may be willing to do so in order to land two healthy role players and move up in the draft. They could trade a pick as late as 2026. The Mavs would also land two rotation pieces in exchange for one that

missed the playoffs with a broken foot

. Although Hardaway should be back for next season, McDermott and Richardson can give them more depth.

Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson are no strangers to Dallas. McDermott played in 26 games for the Mavs during the 2017-18 season after being traded from the New York Knicks. He shot 49.4 percent from 3-point range during his time in Dallas, which is the highest it's ever been for him with one team.

Richardson spent the 2020-21 season with the Mavs after being traded from the Philadelphia 76ers on draft night. Although Richardson was beloved by his teammates, he didn't mesh well with former head coach Rick Carlisle and shot a career-low 33 percent from deep that year. He bounced back this season by shooting 41.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Although the Mavs would essentially be doing the same thing in this scenario as they did by trading Kristaps Porzingis this year – trading one bloated contract in exchange for two smaller contracts – the difference here is Dallas giving up a future first-round pick. For a team hoping to eventually pair a true second All-Star next to Doncic, being asked to give up future draft assets might be where the Mavs lose interest.

The trade piece went on to explain the Spurs' thinking behind the deal as well:

San Antonio only has one additional first-rounder in the future. It belongs to the Chicago Bulls and they are not expected to get it until 2025. They could use more draft capital as they pursue their rebuild.

Although [the trade scenario presented] wouldn’t be immediately worth it for the Spurs, it never hurts rebuilding teams to have more picks down the line. They would still have three firsts in the 2022 NBA Draft and could flip Hardaway once he completely recovers.

Hardaway Jr., after signing his four-year, $74 million deal with the Mavs last summer, was having a down year before injuring his foot. In 42 games this season, he was shooting just 33.6 percent from deep, which was his lowest percentage since the 2017-18 season with the Knicks.

In the two seasons prior to this one, though, Hardaway Jr. shot 39.1 and 39.8 percent from deep respectively. Whether he sticks in Dallas or gets traded elsewhere, he could be in for a bounce-back year.

You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg

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