The Dallas Mavericks are reportedly putting anyone not named Luka Doncic or Kristaps Porzingis on the table in trade talks. They want to add a third-star and prove to Doncic that they're able to win now.
This isn't a new development though, as the Mavs have been active in trade talks trying to land someone else to compliment Doncic and Porzingis.
On the daily Locked On Mavericks Podcast, hosts Isaac Harris and I discussed that same report that also mentioned that the Mavs had a trade in place during the 2020 trade deadline for Danilo Gallinari.
Nick Angstadt: Here's another point in Brad Townsend's latest article: After last season's trade deadline, owner Mark Cuban revealed the Mavericks had a trade in place for a player he declined to name. But that deal fell through because the player wanted to test free agency this offseason rather than sign an extension with Dallas. That player turns to be Danilo Gallinari' of the OKC Thunder. Isaac, Gallinari could have been a Maverick last trade deadline.'
Isaac Harris: This was about a month after Dwight Powell's injury.
Nick: Yeah, this becomes one of the biggest what-ifs of this past season, right?
Isaac: It does… This is like in a month after the Dwight Powell injury, so this is the full shift … Do they (Mavs) trade for Gallo if Dwight Powell doesn't get hurt? I don't know, because I think with Dwight Powell out shifting KP to the five, this naturally opens up Gallo to be a starter there at the four. Then you're adding another 40 percent 3-point shooter. There's so much stuff I think about because initially, my mind went straight to the trade package. I want to say Dallas would not have included Tim Hardaway in that package because if they're trading for Gallo, you're wanting to win now. You're you're wanting to continue to be good.
So, if we're taking a shot at what the package could have been, my guess is it would have been Maxi Kleber, Delon Wright, and the 31st pick in the 2020 Draft. Maxi, Delon, and the 31st pick, that would get you right around Gallo's number. If you're OKC and you think you're going to lose Gallo to free agency in the summer, you can at least get Maxi and a pick out of this and have Delon on the books for a couple of years. That might even be too much for Dallas for an expiring contract. If you're Dallas, I think the thing about it was Brad was saying that Dallas wanted an extension, and Gallo wanted to test free agency.
So what was the extension number? The extension number had to be a number that was much less probably than what he thought that he could be getting on the open market and this is all before the NBA stoppage and everything changing.