The Dallas Mavericks find themselves at a crossroads leading up to the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
Dallas heads into this week’s action with a pedestrian 26-25 record and as the seventh seed in the Western Conference despite Luka Doncic’s brilliant season.
It’s led to speculation that general manager Nico Harrison and Co. are going to be active ahead of the deadline. They have already been linked to Minnesota Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell.
With that said, it now seems that Dallas is looking to go big-game hunting. According to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News, the Mavericks are open to trading pretty much anyone on the roster outside of Doncic to find another superstar player.
Caplan notes that other teams have asked the Dallas Mavericks about Dorian Finney-Smith, but received a ton of push back from the organization. He is now readily available.
Toronto Raptors star guard Fred VanVleet is a logical option for Dallas. He continues to play at a high level and could be headed out of Canada as a free agent this coming summer.
Thus far on the season, VanVleet is averaging 19.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists. Though, his 39% shooting is a bit troublesome.
We’re also not sure how much of an upgrade he’d be over Spencer Dinwiddie at the point in Big D.
There’s a scenario in play that suggests Dallas could look for a wing to team up with Doncic out on the perimeter.
At 23-26, the Chicago Bulls could entertain offers for star guard/forward DeMar DeRozan. He’d be absolutely electric with Doncic in Dallas.
The five-time All-Star is averaging 26.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists on 51% shooting from the field on the season.
Dallas could entice Chicago with a package surrounding young guard Josh Green.
Finney-Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. would be cap fillers headed to Chicago while the team picks up multiple future first-round picks from Dallas.
Either way, it’s becoming clear that the Dallas Mavericks are planning on being active ahead of the deadline. They certainly are a team to watch.
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