Getty A proposed trade would send Bojan Bogdanovic to the Dallas Mavericks and give them a European 21-point-per-game No. 2 option
Luka Doncic may need a new No. 2 option should the offseason see a Kyrie Irving free-agent departure from the Mavericks, and Dallas Basketball’s Dalton Trigg concocted a trade proposal that would give the Slovenian star just that — delivering Europen 21-point-per-game scorer Bojan Bogdanovic from the Pistons.
Trigg’s proposal, in its totality, would see Dallas part with Tim Hardaway Jr. and the 2023 NBA draft’s No. 10 pick in exchange for Bogdanovic and the 2022 NBA draft’s No. 13 overall pick, Jalen Duren. The Dallas Basketball writer sees this proposal as a potential “godsend” for the Mavericks.
“Adding Bogdanovic and Duren would be a godsend for the Mavs, as the team desperately needs more rebounding, defense and wing depth,” Trigg wrote.
Dallas ranked dead-last in rebounding during the 2022-23 season, having been the only team in the Association to grab under 40 boards per game (38.8). While Bogdanovic had pedestrian rebounding numbers for a forward (3.8), Duren proved to be a glass eater during his rookie season, averaging 8.9 rebounds in under 25 minutes per game.
‘Win-Now’ Mavs Can Aggressively Pursue Bojan Bogdanovic
PistonPowered’s Aaron Kellerstrass sees the Mavericks as being in “win-now mode” due to their flameout in the final two weeks of the 2022-23 season that saw them miss the NBA Play-in tournament. He also sees Dallas as one of a handful of teams that’d be more inclined to include a young player or a draft pick in a Bogdanovic trade.
“Teams that were unwilling to come off a top young player or a first-round pick for Bogdanovic at the deadline may be more inclined to do so now as they try to put together revamped rosters for next season,” Kellerstrass wrote.
Among the other teams listed by Kellerstrass that could be in the hunt for Bogdanovic in the offseason included recent championship franchises like the Bucks and Lakers. Other suitors who may be willing to give up, and have the means to give up, more for a player of Bogdanovic’s caliber include the Knicks, Hawks, and Sixers.
No Guarantee Jalen Duren Will Be Available to Mavericks
According to Trigg, the prospect of trading for Duren isn’t an option guaranteed to be available to the Mavericks during the offseason. The Dallas Basketball writer believes there could be a scenario where keeping Duren is more important to the Pistons than moving up in the 2023 NBA draft.
“If the Pistons love Duren enough to where they don’t care about potentially moving up in the draft, then this scenario is dead in the water,” Trigg wrote.
If the right player is available though — with Alabama’s Brandon Miller being a potential frontcourt fit that’d be a worthy recipient of that label from Trigg’s perspective –, giving up Duren could be something Detroit’s front office could consider.
“Given Detroit’s plethora of other young big men on its roster, maybe the possibility of adding a guy like Brandon Miller would be more appealing than holding onto Duren,” Trigg wrote.
If all the planets aligned, the Mavericks could do a lot worse than Bogdanovic and Duren in the lineup with Doncic. Bogdanovic scored five points more than the highest Dallas scorer behind Doncic and Irving, while Duren outrebounded the entire roster during the 2022-23 season.