The NBA Semi-Finals are fully underway, and the Dallas Mavericks will be watchers just like they were for the first round matchups. There are players that ended up on the losing side of their teams’ respective first round matchups That doesn’t mean they cannot be winning pieces for a team like the Mavericks. It’s only early May, but let’s take a look at some players Dallas could pursue in free agency & the trade market from the teams who lost in the first round.
Atlanta Hawks
Clint Capela
John Collins
Atlanta enters another off-season searching for answers to a multitude of questions. Their starting point is likely to be above the first luxury tax apron. Their newly-formed front office will be tasked with improving the roster while avoiding a high luxury tax bill for an underperforming team. Clint Capela and John Collins are prime candidates to be moved. Collins has been involved in trade rumors for more than two years at this point, his future with the franchise is unpredictable at best. Clint Capela on the other hand would be a significant upgrade to the big man rotation for the Mavericks, and seems likely to be moved. Capela is owed just under $44 million total over the next two seasons as he enters into his 10th season in the Association. I would love to see Dallas attempt to trade for Capela if their efforts to acquire a younger big man fall short.
Brooklyn Nets
Nic Claxton
Seth Curry
Dorian Finney-Smith
Royce O’Neale
The Brooklyn Nets enter the 2023 offseason in a precarious position. They enter above the salary cap and without control of their own first round pick until 2028. With little incentive to tank, they’ll most likely position their assets for major upgrades in the future. After acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith from Dallas at the previous deadline, and Royce O’Neale from Utah in summer 2022, both players seem like likely options to find new homes for the 2023 season. Those two seem like more likely trade targets for Dallas than Nic Claxton, who is a young, talented big man with tons of growth potential. If Brooklyn wants to remain competitive, they won’t trade Claxton in a move that doesn’t return a star-level player.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Jarrett Allen
Danny Green
Cedi Osman
Ricky Rubio
Cleveland’s lack of depth and playoff-level talent at the wing position was exposed in their first round exit in 5 games against the New York Knicks. They were heavily shopping the trade market for wing depth during the regular season, with no luck prevailing. I’ve seen nothing firm reported that they plan to ditch the big man duo of Evan Mobley & Jarrett Allen, but if they did decide to move on from one of the two to help provide depth in other areas, Jarrett Allen is the obvious choice. Although Allen underperformed in this seasons’ playoffs, he is still a fringe all-star level talent on a team-friendly deal. He is owed $20 million flat per year over the next 3 seasons. Allen just turned 25 years-old and is likely just reaching the prime of his career. This is my most intriguing and favorite choice for Dallas to chase this offseason to upgrade the big man position. It would likely mean moving on from fan favorite and ascending talent Josh Green, but Allen is the type of big man who would be stamped as Dallas’ best center since Tyson Chandler in 2011.
Los Angeles Clippers
Nic Batum
Robert Covington
Terrance Mann
Marcus Morris
Mason Plumlee
Norman Powell
Ivica Zubac
Los Angeles enters another off-season with their two all-stars not finishing healthy. Paul George failed to play in any of the 5 games in the Clippers’ 1st-round defeat to the Phoenix Suns, and Kawhi Leonard missed the finals 3 games (all losses) after re-aggravating a knee injury, later to be diagnosed as a torn meniscus, in game 1, and playing through pain in game 2. It’s been the same script for 4 seasons since the Clippers landed Leonard & George in a blockbuster summer of 2019. Load management hasn’t worked its magic to keep the star duo on the court when it mattered most. The Clippers have never had a lack of talent or depth in these 4 seasons. L.A. enters the summer just a tick above the 2nd luxury tax apron, with the only impactful free agents of their own being Mason Plumlee & Russell Westbrook. Westbrook is rumored to be likely to stay with the Clippers for the next season. Outside of getting healthy, I could see L.A. piecing together multiple trade assets to acquire another higher-level talent. They may also be looking to shed some salaries in an effort to pay less of a luxury tax bill. I would like to see Dallas attempt to pry away Nic Batum and/or Ivica Zubac in a trade of some fashion. If neither of those become reality, Mason Plumlee for the vet minimum would be a nice pick-up and an upgrade over JaVale McGee, the only true center under contract for the 2023-2024 season in Dallas.
Milwaukee Bucks
Jae Crowder
Goran Dragic
Joe Ingles
Brook Lopez
Wes Matthews
Khris Middleton
Bobby Portis
This year’s playoff run ended way too soon for the Milwaukee Bucks, who went into the post-season with the league’s best record of 58-24. After their upset series loss of 4 games to 1 against the 8 seed Miami Heat, Milwaukee faces a precarious position. This same core won a championship just 2 seasons ago, and has been a perennial title contender for the last half-decade. Yet, they now face the reality of an aging core of role players and a window that may have begun to close for the current make-up of the roster. Tim Cato of The Athletic reported the possibility of the Mavericks pursuing All-Star Forward Khris Middleton, who has a player option for just over $40 million next season, before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2024-2025. I don’t see how this idea fixes Dallas’ self-professed rebounding & defensive issues, so I see this as unlikely. They have the assets to pull of a trade as such, but it would be unwise to use a majority of them to bring in an over-30 year old forward who improves your offense, but doesn’t majorly address your key roster issues. I have been a part of the Bobby Portis Fan Club for several years now, and he is my #1 option that Dallas should look into trading for from Milwaukee. He would provide a veteran, hard-nosed presence that plays solid defense and rebounding. The type of player you want as a 5th starter or key piece off the bench. Dallas has already shown interest in the past, with Shams Charania from The Athletic reporting in the summer of 2021 that Portis chose re-signing with the Bucks over leaving for the Mavericks. I would not be surprised if Dallas goes knocking on Milwaukee’s door closer to the 2023 NBA Draft.
Memphis Grizzlies
Steven Adams
Dillon Brooks
The only other team that I would consider in the stratosphere of Most Disappointing Team for this season other than the Mavericks, would be the Memphis Grizzlies. Off-court issues, immaturity and a couple of untimely injuries derailed Memphis’ playoff run capabilities and ended up losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games in Round 1. Memphis is well positioned with their draft assets and a slew of young talent to be able to significantly upgrade their roster this offseason. I don’t see Dallas as any major player for anyone who played for Memphis this season, but the two I would entertain would be Steven Adams and Dillon Brooks. I know, I know. Brooks’ words are bigger than his game and he was a big reason that Memphis garnered a negative spotlight during the playoffs, but he is not likely to get a large contract as an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and I would entertain the idea of Brooks on the Mavericks if it were for a discount. Adams on the other hand, would be the ideal type of veteran big man to pair with this roster, if the likes of Clint Capela, Jarrett Allen & others don’t pan out. Adams is owed $12.6 million each of the next two seasons, and I would much rather have Adams around for that number than to pay JaVale McGee & Dwight Powell that same amount combined. I don’t see the clear motive for Memphis to move on from Adams for cheap, but Adams may have intentions to move elsewhere after his leadership fell on deaf ears amongst some of the young core of the Grizzlies.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Kyle Anderson
Taurean Prince
Naz Reid
The Minnesota Timberwolves may be in the worst position of all the playoff teams going into this off-season. That is saying A LOT considering they have possibly the most exciting young guard in the entire league in Anthony Edwards. The Rudy Gobert-Karl Anthony-Towns big man duo was a clear failure this season, and they exhausted their entire draft asset pool to obtain Gobert. The likelihood of trading Gobert is slim-to-none, and I have a hard time believing they would move on from KAT also. The addition of Mike Conley was a great move at the trade deadline for Minnesota, and he is exactly the type of veteran presence they needed. With their only true option to upgrade would be to shuffle pieces around, I would love to see Dallas go after Kyle Anderson and Taurean Prince as players who could be key rotation players in Dallas. Neither are going to single-handedly elevate Dallas from a lottery team to contender status, but acquiring one of them is a good step in that direction. This off-season is not about one singular move for the Mavericks, it is about a series of moves that progress their contention status. Anderson and/or Prince would be a step in the right direction.
Sacramento Kings
Harrison Barnes
Richaun Holmes
Alex Len
Trey Lyles
The greatest story of the 2022-2023 season to me was the Sacramento Kings. Although they lost in 7 games to the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the 1st round, going toe-to-toe with the dynasty that is the Warriors was astronomical growth for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004. They have a fantastic salary cap situation comparative to other playoff teams, with the only key rotation players not under contract for next season being Trey Lyles & Harrison Barnes. Sacramento doesn’t have too much reason to salary dump Richaun Holmes, who was previously a key rotation center for Sacramento before the acquisition of all-star Domantas Sabonis, because they are in position to improve their roster without having to attach assets to Holmes to move his contract. If they ever entertainted that idea though, I would like for Dallas to thrown their hat in that ring. Holmes is not a game-changer, but he is a steo above JaVale McGee and arguably a more impactful player than Dwight Powell. More realistically, I would love for Dallas to do their best to sign Trey Lyles this summer. Lyles had an impressive season and playoffs for his role, and if his contract demands are too rich for Sacramento but still in the realm of possibilities for Dallas, he is up there for me with the likes of Bobby Portis for who I want Dallas to go after.
This off-season for Dallas is about building a roster for a 7-game series setting. Each move needs to be a positive step in that direction. There are plenty of options, big and small, for Dallas to entertain from the 8 teams ousted in the 1st round of the playoffs. Whether or not Dallas is aggressive enough remains to be seen.