The Mavericks plan on pursuing Khris Middleton and Kemba Walker this offseason with the hope of landing one of the All-Stars, as Marc Stein of the New York Times details in the latest edition of his newsletter.
Stein cautions that Dallas is still laying out its free agency plans. The franchise is prioritizing shooting, athleticism, and veteran presence as it looks to surround Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis with an improved squad.
The Mavs have slightly under $46MM in guaranteed salary on the books next season against a projected $109MM salary cap. That figure doesn’t include Dwight Powell‘s $10.3MM player option nor does it include any of the team’s cap holds. Realistically, the team’s available space could be capped around $30MM, as I previously detailed.
However, should Dallas find themselves with the need for additional cap space, the organization could carve out room by using the stretch provision on Courtney Lee, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors explains. Other options included agreeing to a long-term deal with Powell that lowers his annual cap hit or trading away Tim Hardaway Jr., something that would likely mean attaching an asset to him.
There’s no indication yet about whether Dallas will be able to land a top player in free agency. Stein adds the Mavs may not get near players like Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, or Kyrie Irving, and also writes that Nikola Vucevic – who has previously been mentioned as a Mavs target – isn’t high on their free-agent wish list.
Kemba doesn’t fit with them. Middleton maybe but gotta offer the max to have a shot at him and he’s not worth 30 mil as much as I love him
Kemba a decent fit but with his height disadvantage he would have to be strictly PG and what they really need is a combo guard who can also play the 2. Find someone cheaper to put in the backcourt with Doncic and then pay more to fill the SF spot, such as Tobias Harris granted they would have to create space. A plus that Harris can play as stretch 4 aswell adds a lot of versatility to roster
In Carlisle’s system the 2 is very important. Jet was undersized too and had his best years in Dallas.
I agree, JT was strictly the 2 though and Doncic fills the 2 in most situations what I was saying would be having a PG who can also play the 2 would make it where both guards can play both spots and make the offense flow better. It could work out with Kemba being undersized but that would an expensive risk cause he not coming cheap
Agreed
“… prioritizing shooting, athleticism, and veterans presence”
Which, is more or less Lee & Hardaway. But this is the year to get FAs.
Hardaway is a chucker not a shooter. Lee is a bench guy. Middleton, Brogdon, Mirotic, Tobias fit the bill.
To draw those will take overpays. This will probably happen somewhere because next year’s pickings are slim. Well it’s not my money.
But I don’t see their two young stars as draws because of uncertainty about what they are exactly. It would be aggravating to sign for four years then find out one of them will be playing your position!
Get away from the Bucks man, lemme have nice things lol
Can’t imagine Walker and Carlisle would get along. Carlisle likes to control the offense pretty closely. Walker is an all-star who knows how to set the table. I don’t see that working out.
Dallas is just dreaming anyway.
Vucevic would be the target of go after, however as the article states, it doesn’t seem like he’s interested in Dallas. He must not be into rodeos.
I was about to use ‘rodeo’ in my earlier post’s first sentence, then slim pickins, then lastly, tall cotton for money. Chickened out.
These two fit (as targets) because they’re not true max players. KM fits anywhere, it’s just a matter of price. KW might fit because he’s essentially elite at one thing, scoring. He’s not much of a facilitator (which Doncic can cover for). Right now, he’s a low efficiency volume shooter; but these aspects of his game may moderate if he’s played more off the ball. He can defend his position at par despite being undersized. Guys his size, with his game, don’t age well, but for the Mavs it might be worth it because they won’t be looking for him to be more than a complementary star for most of the contract.
hopefully the mavs stop targeting women – starting with marc cuban