DALLAS — With August approaching, the annual NBA remodeling period has seemingly reached a lull. While superstar malcontents in Portland and Philadelphia continue to hold up the remaining musical chairs as they wait out their front offices in divorce proceedings, the Dallas Mavericks have moved on to wait and see mode, looking for one or two strategic imports to round out an otherwise successful retooling.
In a different era, Dallas would have been one of the franchises caught stargazing at the list of impact talent, seeking to elbow their way into the mega star conversation, only to be left to fill their roster with stop-gaps and third choices when they were eventually told no. Instead, the Mavericks went to work early to fill out their rotation with quality players that they expect to help better support perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic.
The Mavericks had also roped in a star early. Though the mid-season trade for Kyrie Irving ended with Dallas missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018-2019, an unfathomable outcome for a team that made the Conference Finals a year prior, Irving returned on an extension this summer to once again act as Doncic’s running mate with a clean slate and what they hope is a better supporting cast.
Based on their assets and the available free agent class, Dallas believed their best shot at contention was giving the Luka-Kyrie backcourt an honest shot and a full program together.
Dallas entered negotiations with the ability to simply outbid any other team, with the opportunity to dole out a five-year pact and nearly $273 million of Mark Cuban’s dollars. The Mavs also entered the free agency frenzy unsure of Irving’s intentions.
On Irving’s part, there was a lot of smoke in the lead-up to the free-spirited star’s decision, as he seemingly manifested meetings with teams that neither had the desire nor the ability to secure his commitment away from the Mavericks. Usual talent hogs such as Los Angeles and Phoenix pivoted to other interests.
With the Mavs holding the majority of the cards they held firm on a smaller offer, which Irving took over an inferior deal with a team like the Houston Rockets where he might have been the team’s top player but wouldn’t be set up next to another superstar like Doncic.
The end result was Irving re-signing for just three-years at $126 million.
The outcome was an absolute win for Dallas. They retained their All-Star backcourt duo for at least two seasons, and with Kai in the bag, the desire to stargaze was over on the first day of free agency.
With the big fish already in the net, the Mavericks were determined to avoid a repeat of their disastrous 2022-2023. The front office pounced on their supplemental targets and managed to come out tougher, younger, and more athletic.
Dallas was opportunistic when they saw the reshuffling of the Boston Celtics roster as they pried away power forward Grant Williams via a sign and trade deal while offloading Reggie Bullock. Williams shot 40% from beyond the arc over the last two years while playing stifling defense against multiple positions.
At 24, he is also eight years younger than the well-liked Bullock, who was moved to San Antonio. Williams is a talker who brings a commanding presence to the Dallas frontcourt, something that the Mavericks have lacked in recent years. He takes over for Bullock and joins Josh Green in the starting lineup at the cost of two second-round picks.
Given their need for a top flight defender who can score off the backcourt’s playmaking, Williams could end up being the steal of the offseason for Dallas.
The Mavericks went a familiar route to land a second shooter with the reunion with Seth Curry, who continuously finds his way back in a Dallas uniform. Curry is now a MFFL three times over, and seemingly places Tim Hardaway Jr. on the bubble. Keeping Hardaway seems to be in direct conflict with bringing back Curry, as Hardaway’s minutes will likely dwindle with Curry’s addition and the continued progression of second-year man Jaden Hardy. Curry is a 43% career three-point shooter compared to Hardaway’s 36%, and while Hardaway is bigger, his defense remains negligible.
Continuing their run at mid-2010’s former first round guards, Dante Exum is returning after a couple of seasons playing in the EuroLeague to round out the backcourt depth chart. Exum will be counted on for his defense and the hope that his overseas shooting numbers hold up.
Dallas also reinforced the wing via the draft with Olivier-Maxence Prosper, a forward out of Marquette who had quite an intriguing Summer League, holding his own defensively and showing a big motor in the tournament. Center Richaun Holmes arrived from Sacramento as penance for the rights to acquire Prosper, on the same night that the Mavs also selected Duke’s Dereck Lively II as their center of the future with the 12th overall pick.
The 29 year-old Holmes will likely get some heavy minutes and some looks at the rim from Doncic and Irving if he’s on the opening day roster, while Lively learns the league.
Surely the thinking was that acquiring a center and drafting another would have closed the door on the return of Dwight Powell, the longest tenured Maverick, but just as it seemed his tenure would finally be ending, Powell re-signed on a team-friendly deal a bit above the veterans minimum.
With the free agent additions and the selection of two first-rounders, the Mavs infused the end of their rotation with some much-needed change. Gone is oft-injured Davis Bertans, the last connection to the Kristaps Porzingis trade to Washington. Late season addition Justin Holiday signed with Denver, and Javale Mcgee remains on the Mavs roster in name only. Markief Morris, Frank Ntilikina, Theo Pinson, and Mckinley Wright IV are also still on the market for other teams to pick through, but their time in Dallas is at an end.
Christian Wood has been the top player available on the free agent market for several weeks but has struggled to find a new home. The Mavericks will hold out hope that a team likes him enough to allow Dallas to drag out an asset or two from sign and trade participation.
With where the Mavericks were at the end of the regular season, the offseason has to be considered a masterstroke by Nico Harrison, Michael Finley, and co. and there still could be more to come.
Rumors of Deandre Ayton and Clint Capela have persisted but seem paused as the league navigates bigger trades for bigger names. If the Mavs can’t land a center before the season, the roster still gives them the ability to enter the season in good shape and wait to pounce on an opportunity.
Kudos to Dallas. The front office went into the offseason needing to convince a mercurial star to stick around while putting together a supporting cast for him and their homegrown superstar and they landed several solid pieces to surround Irving and Doncic.
The onus now falls to head coach Jason Kidd to make the pieces work, to the star players to bring out the best version of those around them, and to the young Maverick core to continue to develop. It remains to be seen if the Mavericks did enough to regain contender status but you can’t say they didn’t try.
How would you grade the offseason for the Mavericks so far? Share your thoughts with Irvin on Twitter @Twittirv.