Mavericks considering Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson as trade targets

The Mavericks are talking about trading for a combo forward by Thursday’s deadline and have “kicked tires” on both Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of the Hornets and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of the Raptors, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. He adds that discussions are still in the exploratory stage.

Both players have expiring contracts, but it would be much tougher to match salary for Kidd-Gilchrist, who is making $13M this season. The second pick in the 2012 draft, he has spent his entire career in Charlotte, but his numbers have declined drastically in recent seasons. He has gotten into just 12 games this year and is averaging 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per night.

Hollis-Jefferson, who has a $2.5M salary, has appeared in 38 games for Toronto, averaging 7.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG. He signed a one-year deal with the Raptors as a free agent in July.

There’s more Mavericks news to pass along:

• Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the franchise-altering trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis from the Knicks, Townsend observes in a full story. Owner Mark Cuban was surprised by how quickly the deal came together, while coach Rick Carlisle says Porzingis has been doing a “great job” in a “transition year” after missing all of last season following a torn ACL in his left knee. After clashing with management in New York, Porzingis is much happier in Dallas. “This organization has treated me incredibly,” he said. “As family. Mark is unbelievable. And everybody who works here, it’s really high-level, high-class. It’s an honor to be part of this.”
• The Mavericks are considering a stricter load management plan for Porzingis, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. He missed 10 straight games last month with soreness in his right knee.
• Second-year shooting guard Ryan Broekhoff made the first start of his NBA career last night in Houston, Townsend relays in a separate story. Carlisle said parts of the starting lineup will be filled based on a “game-to-game situation,” but the decision was surprising because it was only Broekhoff’s second game back after being injured on December 29. “I was actually nervous,” he said. “I haven’t been nervous for a game in a long time, maybe since my first NBA game last year in Phoenix. There was a little nervous energy throughout the day. These things, you never know when they might come, so I just tried to put my best foot forward to help the team.”