Subscribe
Follow Us
The Dallas Mavericks' luck in the aftermath of the Luka Doncic trade seemed to be rotten — until it wasn't. They managed to win the first overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, selecting Cooper Flagg in the process, and they're now set up to be a major contending force as soon as next season provided that Kyrie Irving returns to full strength from his torn ACL.
Their defense next season is going to be incredible; their assortment of talent, especially in the frontcourt, is impressive, with Flagg joining the ranks of Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively II. Their wing core is comprised of solid rotation pieces such as Naji Marshall, Klay Thompson, and Max Christie, with a potential bounce-back from Caleb Martin looming. They even addressed their guard situation, signing D'Angelo Russell in free agency to be a stopgap amid Irving's recovery from injury.
At this point, the Mavericks have a full roster and appear to be in good shape heading into the 2025-26 season. Thus, it's not like Dallas has any more urgent moves they need to pull off, as their roster makes complete sense and is simply waiting for Irving's comeback.
But if the Mavericks want to go one step further in addressing their backcourt needs, then there might very well be a trade they could pursue.
Mavs acquire Coby White from the Bulls
Mavs acquire: Coby White
Bulls acquire: Dereck Lively II, Jaden Hardy, Brandon Williams
Now, Mavericks fans will be against trading Lively away, and for good reason. Lively has been nothing but a helpful presence for the Mavs since they acquired him in draft night back in 2023. Lob threats who can protect the rim may be a dime a dozen in the NBA, but Lively is more agile and more physically imposing than most of them, and he's only 21 years of age. He is a solid young player with plenty more room to grow.
But at the moment, Lively finds himself in a bit of a logjam in the Mavericks' frontcourt. It's not quite clear what his role will be yet to start next season. Will he start alongside Davis? Will he be backing up Gafford? How will the Mavs divvy up the playing time among Davis, Gafford, Lively, Flagg, and Washington? There will certainly be minutes with Davis playing at the five, which could end up pushing Lively out of the playing time he needs to break out in his third season.
Now, there are no indications whatsoever that the Mavs will be willing to trade Lively away. Considering the fan uproar from the Doncic trade, dealing away another fan favorite in Lively will land Nico Harrison in hot water yet again.
The Mavericks also believe that Irving will return to superstar status when he heals completely, so they did not make too big of a splash in addressing their point guard need, instead acquiring Russell for a cheap price with the taxpayer midlevel exception.
But if the uncertainty regarding Irving's future becomes too much for the Mavericks to deal with, perhaps acquiring another insurance policy that could work out for a longer term than Russell could be a goal for them — opening up the possibility that they trade for Coby White.
White is going to be risky to acquire in any potential trade considering he's in the final year of his contract. The Mavericks should not even think about acquiring him if he doesn't sign a contract extension, especially if they have to give up Lively to do so.
But White is a flamethrower from beyond the arc who can function as a reasonable facsimile to what Irving does on the hardwood; he averaged 20.4 points per game last season on 60.1 percent true shooting, and he's one of the best volume pull-up shooters from beyond the arc, giving the Mavs someone to capitalize on all the space their stacked frontcourt is about to create for their guards.
The Mavs don't have much in the way of draft assets to trade, but this is the Bulls, and acquiring a solid young piece they like is enough for them to part ways with a quality player. They did let go of Alex Caruso in a straight swap for Josh Giddey, and then they also traded Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro in a one for one deal.
Alas, the Mavericks cannot acquire White for Lively straight up, needing to cobble together at least $7.6 million or so to match salaries. With that, Dallas has to trade Jaden Hardy away as well (who is expendable in this hypothetical scenario especially with White, Russell, and even Dante Exum on the roster) along with Brandon Williams, whose contract has to be guaranteed for this trade to work.
