The Dallas Mavericks are going to have some interesting decisions to make at the NBA trade deadline. They're clearly not ready at the moment to compete for an NBA title and that is not okay because they have arguably a top-five player in all of basketball in Luka Doncic.
Whenever you have a top 5 to 10 player in the game, anything short of an NBA title is always going to be a disappointment. The Dallas front office did not do a great job last offseason of going out and getting a second star next to Luka and they are starting to see the downfall of not doing that.
They haven't had much success this season and that can surely be put on some of their injuries, but in other teams' defense, everybody has been dealing with injuries and the covid protocols. Dallas is currently 19-18 and holds the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The reality of the situation is that they do not have an opportunity to compete for an NBA title this year. With their current roster, they will not find much success in the playoffs and that's certainly not something that Dallas wants.
In order for the Mavs to get where they need to be, let's take a look at three guys that they should think about trading in order to get that second star back next to Luka.
Mavs NBA Trade Deadline
Kristaps Porzingis is a very interesting name in terms of him still being on the Mavs. He has certainly exceeded expectations this year after a disappointing season a year ago that saw him play in only 43 games due to being injured once again. He is averaging 20.6 points per game and eight rebounds. It would be questionable from the Mavs front office standpoint to decide to get rid of him, but there are still always going to be concerns about his long-term health. When you have a guy like Luka, you have to think about the future and Porzingis isn't necessarily that guy that the Mavs necessarily need. If he can stay healthy, he is certainly somebody that you think about keeping on the roster despite potentially being a bit overpaid.
They do need to factor in heavily that he has not necessarily played one full season in his career besides the first two years of his career, that is something that is definitely a big-time concern. He has looked healthy this year and fortunately has been dodging bullets in terms of his health. The Mavs could decide to keep taking a risk on this Porzingis and hope that he continues playing at the level that he's playing at.
He is playing some of the best basketball of his career this year so it could make sense that they do decide to get rid of him because they could certainly get back a return that is going to be worthy and could help them pair Luka next to a true second star.
2. Maxi Kleber
Maxi Kleber is definitely a decent player but isn't necessarily the type of guy that the Mavs need at the power forward position. For how much money he makes, there are certainly better players out there. The Mavs need to desperately think about getting rid of him so they can go out and get that true star forward that they desperately need to help them compete for an NBA title.
Maxi Kleber is not a player who is going to help this Mavericks team win a championship and that's what their main focus needs to be. When you have a guy like Luka, any year that doesn't result in an NBA title is a disappointment. Maxi Kleber is a good player and certainly somebody who could be a nice 7th or 8th man on a team, but he cannot be playing almost 25 minutes a night and be making $8 million in only two years when there are many better options out there.
Willie Cauley-Stein has definitely not been exactly what the Mavs were hoping him to be. The reason for that is that he has only played 18 games this season. Even in his time on the court, he hasn't been doing much. He is making four million this season so it actually is a benefit from the Mavs standpoint because he could easily be traded in a trade package that could return a second star. He is still a serviceable center and he does make a lot of money which will help match salaries.
Due to him not playing much this season, and his downplay when he is on the court, the Mavs do need to think about getting rid of him because he's almost just a waste of being there.
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