The Dallas Mavericks took a big, risky swing when they traded for Kyrie Irving to give Luka Doncic an All-Star-caliber co-star. However, it didn't end up working as well as the Mavs had hoped. Instead of crashing the upper-echelon in the Western Conference, they instead fell off a cliff, even missing the play-in tournament. As a result, the Mavs will now have a long, hard think regarding how to proceed in their quest of building a championship-caliber team around their Slovenian superstar.
And it's looking like Mark Cuban and company are going star-hunting once more.
According to Tim Cato of The Athletic, league sources have pointed out that the Mavs could end up pursuing either Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton or Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton to supplement their Luka Doncic-led core. This is in addition to the Mavs' desire to keep unrestricted free agent Kyrie Irving in town after trading away three quality assets in Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and an unprotected 2029 first-round pick for his services.
It's not quite clear yet what Middleton plans to do with his $40.4 million player option for next season. Nearing 32 years of age, the Bucks forward could decide to decline that option in search of one last big long-term payday. If so, the Mavs could pursue him in free agency, although that would mean that they will have to trade the hefty contracts of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Davis Bertans to free up some cap space.
Meanwhile, the Suns are still alive and kicking in the playoffs; how deep they progress into the playoffs will go a long way towards determining which avenue they will decide to take with Ayton, the first overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft. Ayton has shown his value as a pick-and-pop option, but he hasn't been the best rebounder and rim-protector in the postseason thus far, which are two qualities the Mavs need in an upgrade at the center position.
Nevertheless, it's clear that the Mavs have to add to their talent base. At the moment, the Mavs lack a stout interior presence and a shot-creating two-way wing, voids that Deandre Ayton and Khris Middleton may be able to fill. At the very least those two are upgrades over their current weapons on the roster. It'll be interesting to see which direction the Mavs decide to take this offseason.
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