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The Dallas Mavericks potentially pursuing European sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic in the 2023 offseason, a scenario initially floated by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony involving the No. 31 pick in the NBA draft, the No. 10 pick in the draft, and Tim Hardaway Jr., makes Dallas Basketball’s Grant Afseth skeptical about the potential fit with the franchise — mainly due to the fact that the Bosnian forward doesn’t address many of the team’s needs.
“While the Mavs would be upgrading their designated sharpshooter in terms of size and offensive talent, they’d be get even older around Doncic, while also still needing to address the primary limitations of the current roster, being defense and rebounding,” Afseth wrote.
Afseth thinks a pursuit of Bogdanovic makes more sense in a different trade scenario involving a sign-and-trade of either Christian Wood or Dwight Powell to the Detroit Pistons in order to bring on other talents who’d help fix the team’s weaknesses.
“With limited assets to use in a subsequent trade, it would be challenging for Dallas to achieve that objective without more being involved in an initial trade with the Pistons in order to part with the 10th pick,” Afseth wrote. “With the Pistons having a frontcourt logjam, perhaps there’d be a path to adding a center in an expanded trade given Christian Wood and Dwight Powell are impending free agents.”
Analyst: Only A ‘Fool’ Doubts Bojan Bogdanovic Mavericks Fit
Sir Charles in Charge’s Michael Saenz was high on the possibility of Bogdanovic landing with the Mavericks, calling anyone who doesn’t see the fit between the 34-year-old and Dallas’ 1-2 punch of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving a “fool.”
“To think that he wouldn’t be a good fit next to Kyrie and Luka would be foolish,” Saenz wrote. “Bogdanovic would give the Mavs an efficient scorer on the wing that they simply didn’t have last season. And he could make all the difference for the team that struggled at times to find an offensive rhythm when Luka was either off the floor or unavailable.”
Saenz sees Bogdanovic as a quality fallback option should the Mavericks first find no luck in trading for a defensive wing.
“I’d anticipate that the Mavs are going to pursue a more defensive-minded target with the No. 10 pick if they can’t get a star-level player,” Saenz prefaced before saying, “But if they do struggle to find the right candidate, Bogdanovic would not be a terrible fallback option.”
Mavericks Could Trade the No. 10 Draft Pick: Report
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, the Mavericks’ No. 10 overall selection in the 2023 NBA draft could be available in trades. Woo alluded to the pick being a wild card given the different scenarios on the table ahead of draft night.
“This Dallas pick is believed to be available in trade scenarios, creating a pivot point where a range of players and teams could wind up in play at No. 10,” Woo wrote.
Sport DFW’s Reid Hanson believes the No. 10 pick and Davis Bertans can return two “affordable role players” in a deal.
“Trading Pick 10 just happens to be the least-terrible of the (Mavericks offseason) options,” Hanson prefaced before saying, “It’s important to point out, something will come back in return as well. The Dallas Mavericks can expect a modest bench player and/or a pick in the late-first as compensation. They could turn Bertans and No. 10 into two affordable role players and cap space. It helps them the most in the short and in the long-term (provided the pick they would have made at 10 doesn’t turn into a star, of course).”
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Mavericks Pursuing Coveted Sharpshooter on Trade Block Makes Analyst Skeptical