Teams that might otherwise be interested in trading for the Mavericks‘ Dennis Smith Jr. may prefer to try their luck with a talented crop of point guards in free agency, writes Sean Deveney of Sporting News. The Magic and Suns, who have been mentioned in trade rumors involving Smith, will both have cap room available this summer and could try to upgrade at the position without giving up any assets.
Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker will headline this year’s class, which will also feature D’Angelo Russell and Terry Rozier. They are all more traditional point guards than Smith, who was bumped out of that position in Dallas when the Mavericks drafted Luka Doncic.
“He is very athletic, but he’s not a playmaker and not a great shooter,” a front office executive said of DSJ, per Deveney. “If you have money under the cap this offseason, there are other guys you can pursue who fit better, who can pass and score.”
There are also concerns that Smith is already clashing with management midway through his second season in the league, Deveney adds. Dallas is reluctant to give up on such a talented young player a year after taking him with the No. 9 pick, but another source says he will eventually be traded, whether it happens before the February 7 deadline or sometime in the future.
Deveney shares a couple more trade-related rumors:
- The Nuggets may be willing to use their trade exceptions to help improve their defense. After some early-season progress, Denver has been allowing 115.3 points per 100 possessions over the past 15 games, placing the team 29th in the league. The Nuggets have three active trade exceptions, worth $13.7MM, $12.8MM and $5.9MM. They can’t be combined, but any of them could be enticing for teams looking to get rid of salary before the deadline.
- Jabari Parker‘s return to the Bulls‘ rotation came more out of need than coach Jim Boylen’s declaration that he has displayed more effort in practice. Deveney claims that Chicago’s front office hasn’t made any progress in its effort to trade Parker and needs him back on the floor to help spark some interest. The former No. 2 overall pick has responded by averaging 14.7 PPG in 18.0 minutes per night over past three games.
- The Bulls have no desire to accept salary beyond this season, so Deveney speculates that in order to move Parker, a three-team deal might be necessary with an under-the-cap team involved. Deveney also notes that the Knicks and Pelicans have expressed interest, but Chicago doesn’t want Courtney Lee or Solomon Hill, who are both signed through next season.
who wouldve thought that garpax would sign a player to a $20mil contract who already didnt fit the lineup & now they cant trade em either. unheard of from them
Was that front office executive that commented on him from the Mavericks? If so, that was pretty stupid to say!
This whole situation was stupid. If they wanted to trade him they shouldn’t have commented on it for weeks and then act all offended when he’s finally had enough and wants to leave. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was a fo worker for the mavs they have underachieved for 20 years. It’s like how do you have dirk for 20 years and win a title. And a title that he dragged the team to.
This guy must have read my comment about the Magic.
Pretty sure this kid wants to get paid, in order to do that you need to ball out. Kind of hard if the ball is not in your hands. Sounds like a contender would end up with some Dion Waiters/Terry Rozier type of me first annoyance.
Like him, but just put him on the Sixers. How well is it going to go when he is the 5th option behind Embiid, Jimmy, Redick, Simmons.
He had free reign last year. Doncic, I’ll admit is way better than him.
Suns roster is also loaded with better talent.
The Knicks would make basketball sense.
Idk that the Mavs would take on the salary, but Matthews + DSJ for Wall would be interesting. And in the spirit of anti-tanking as DSJ can play this year for Wash.
Mavs have no Salary after next season. Esp if they dump Barnes for expiring contracts. Would put them at 60M. 48M to play with. Maybe a landing spot for Boogie if he looks good. That would be a decent squad if healthy. Wall Doncic Boogie. Big risk, big reward or total failure.
I’ve been a Wall fan, but have to remember that his contract extension kicks in next year at $37m and grows to $47m in a few seasons. Still a good player, but no team is dumb enough to take him in a trade at those salary numbers. Well, maybe the Knicks.
His contract looks unpalatable now, but 7 players under contract make 34M or more next year. Durant, Kyrie, Kawhi, Butler, Klay set to join that group. In 2-3 years you’ll have at least 1 albatross contract per team.
I was surprised that the Mavs, of all teams, were so openly thrilled to draft him last year at #9. Largely because, at least since Cuban’s been there, they have no history of drafting young raw players and having it end well, and this kid was a true project who played PG, which usually requires the most (uncritical) development time. In Cuban’s tenure, what young raw players have they drafted (or traded for while still that) and saw become even good NBA starters or rotation players-? Josh Howard (2003) and Devin Harris (2004) were Mav draftees to Mav starters (but from a different time and place in terms of how polished American coming out of college were). Carlisle is great HC and the FO finds good players (usually), so they have their evaluation strengths. But maybe they didn’t realize that they were getting a player that was going to need time before he’d help them win games, or, more likely, the kind of patience that required. Doncic is 19, but hardly raw. Brunson, 3 years at Nova, 2 titles, national POY, is as polished as an American kid gets coming out of college. I wonder if dealing with them made dealing with Smith’s learning curve more frustrating.
Yeah he fell in the draft for a reason. But that made him a value pick! Jump on it!