For years, the Dallas Mavericks front office had been criticized for their inability to build a contender around Luka Doncic. But they've pulled all the right strings over the past year-and-a-half — trading for Kyrie Irving, gambling on a Dante Exum revival, signing Derrick Jones Jr., drafting Dereck Lively II and finally, the mid-season trades that brought them Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington.
Those moves brought them to the NBA Finals but they fell woefully short against the high-level depth of the Boston Celtics. The Mavericks opened their championship window but also backed themselves into a corner. They're essentially capped out heading into this offseason. Their 2024 first-round pick goes to the Knicks. They own their 2025 and 2026 first-round picks but can't trade either because of the Stepien Rule. Their 2027 first-round goes to the Hornets. Their 2029 first-round pick goes to the Nets. The Thunder and Spurs can swap picks with them in the 2028 and 2030 drafts and they can't trade their 2031 first-round pick until after the 2024 NBA Draft.
All that is to say, the Mavs need to make some upgrades but don't have a lot of options to make it happen. But there are still some under-the-radar moves they can pull off to improve this roster, even if it means sacrificing more of their future to open that championship window a bit wider.
Before this season, Jones Jr. was a fringe role player who had bounced between four teams in seven seasons and was known mostly for his electric leaping ability. Now he's a key piece on a contender. He played a career-high 76 games this season, averaging career-highs in both scoring and 3-point percentage. He often took the most challenging defensive matchup on the wing and his enormous vertical leap and catch radius made him a lob threat from anywhere on the floor — an especially dangerous variable when Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving were running a pick-and-roll.
Jones Jr. is an unrestricted free agent and will likely be looking for more money and more long-term job security. But as long as the Mavs can keep his salary in a reasonable range, he's absolutely worth bringing back. There are better shooters available and better defenders available but no one who combines both with the elite athleticism Doncic and Irving can get so much out of.
2. Trade for Dorian Finney-Smith
Finney-Smith blossomed with the Mavs going from a fringe rotation player to one of the better 3-and-D wings in the league. In his final three full seasons in Dallas, he was their primary defender for elite guards and big wings and he made 38.9 percent of his 3-pointers. Of course, his burgeoning value meant he was an attractive trade piece and he was ultimately sent to Brooklyn in the deal that brought Kyrie Irving to Dallas.
But the Nets are floundering, not sure if they're competing or rebuilding and have two players ahead of him in the rotation — Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson — locked up for the next few years. If they could get a reasonable contributor and a future first-round pick back they might be willing to send him back to Dallas, say Maxi Kleber and the Mavs 2031 first-rounder which is eligible to be traded after the draft. It's a gamble since the Mavs are already so short on draft capital but it would further strengthen their wing rotation with shooting and defense, in a familiar face.
This might be too much of a gamble if the Mavericks already have Luka Doncic, P.J. Washington, Derrick Jones Jr., and Dorian Finney-Smith at the forward spots. But putting more versatility, defense and shooting into that frontcourt rotation makes the Mavericks more resilient against injuries and bad individual matchups, as well as allowing them to continue building around their strengths.
Isaac missed most of three seasons recovering from a knee injury but he re-emerged as a key contributor for the Magic last season, shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc and averaging 15.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.8 blocks per 36 minutes in 58 games, mostly off the bench.
At 6-foot-10 and with fantastic agility he's an exceptional and uniquely disruptive defender. He can smother individual matchups or work as a free safety shutting down the middle of the floor. Pairing him with any of the Mavs' other wings (in this hypothetical scenario) along with either Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively in the middle is the recipe for an elite defense, even with Doncic and Irving in the backcourt.
Isaac is under contract for one more year at just over $17 million. It's not clear how he fits into the Magic's long-term plans and they may be willing to move him now and recoup some value before trying to decide what to do with his next contract. Offering Tim Hardaway Jr. and the Magic's choice of Jaden Hardy, A.J. Lawson or Olivier-Maxence Prosper gives Orlando the perimeter scoring boost they so desperately need and enough future upside to consider this even without a first-round pick coming back.
This may seem like three trades to get at the same thing but the Mavs are fixed at the center spot. Doncic and Irving is locked in as their backcourt for the vast majority of the minutes in any potential playoff series and Dante Exum and Josh Green are enough depth to make it through the regular season. Getting as many possible combinations of shooting and defense at the forward spots is the most obvious way for them to get better.
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