NBA Trade Rumors: Mavs Interested in Wizards’ Rui Hachimura
Due to the rest of the Western Conference having a weird season, the Dallas Mavericks are still occupying fifth-place in the standing despite having just a 25-23 record and losing seven of their last 10 games.
One area of concern for the Mavs is their big-man depth. Both Christian Wood and Maxi Kleber are out with injuries, and JaVale McGee has proven to be nearly unplayable so far. That leaves Dallas with Dwight Powell as its only option at center.
There are many routes the Mavs could take ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 9 trade deadline, but could one of those routes be a familiar one with the Washington Wizards? According to a report from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, it could be something for us to keep our eyes on.
Several teams have expressed interest in trading for Hachimura, including the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings, league sources told HoopsHype.
In 30 games for the Wizards this season, Rui Hachimura is averaging 13 points and 4.3 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per game. He’s shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from deep. Last season, Hachimura shot a career-high 44.7 percent on 3s.
Adding Hachimura into the mix doesn’t necessarily fix the Mavs’ rebounding issues — Dallas is dead-last in the league in rebounding — but any serviceable big man would be a sight for sore eyes at this point. Perhaps the Mavs could find a way to get Daniel Gafford in a potential package deal as well.
The Mavs are familiar with the Wizards when it comes to making deals, as they traded Kristaps Porzingis for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans last year. Dallas is just as close to home-court advantage (1.5 games) as it is to being outside the play-in tournament range all together, so it’ll be interesting to see how the next few weeks play out.
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