Getty Dallas Mavericks stars Luka Doncic and Grant Williams
An anonymous member of the Dallas Mavericks told Keith Smith of Spotrac that Grant Williams will be their new Dorian Finney-Smith.
The Mavericks acquired Williams from the Boston Celtics in a sign-and-trade deal. Dallas traded Finney-Smith to the Brooklyn Nets last season in the blockbuster Kyrie Irving trade.
“Grant is going to help replace what we lost in Dorian Finney-Smith,” the anonymous member of the Mavericks said. “He can shoot and defend, and we need guys like that. We’re also excited about his ability as a passer too. That’s something our other bigs don’t really do, so it adds a new dimension to our offense.”
Williams signed a four-year, $54 million contract as part of the sign-and-trade deal between Dallas and Boston. He is expected to net approximately $4-5 million more by signing with the Mavericks than if he signed the same deal with the Celtics due to state income taxes, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Williams averaged 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Celtics last season while shooting 45.4% from the field, 39.5% from beyond the arc and 77.0% from the free-throw line in 79 games.
Grant Williams on Mavericks: ‘The Talent on This Team Is Absurd’
The Mavericks needed more win-now players around Irving and Luka Doncic and Williams fits that bill. The Celtics went 181-107 with Williams in the lineup.
“The talent on this team is absurd,” Williams told Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Kyrie and Luka, being able to put two superstars of that nature, two top 10 players or whatever you want to say, Kyrie is one of the best point guards in the league still. As well as those young guys they have to grow and compete like (Olivier-Maxence Prosper), they drafted Dereck Lively. The Seth Currys, the vets in the world, they’re really talented.”
The Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals in seven games. Williams averaged 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in the 2023 playoffs versus the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Heat.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks — despite having Doncic and Irving — didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament last season.
Mavericks Have Talked to Pistons About Bogdan Bogdanovic Trade
The Mavericks and Detroit Pistons have renewed conversations about a Bogdan Bogdanovic trade, according to Tim Cato of The Athletic.
Bogdanovic averaged 21.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season for the Pistons. He signed a two-year, $39 million extension with Detroit in October 2022.
“Late last week, multiple league sources said that the Mavericks and the Detroit Pistons renewed conversations about a Bojan Bogdanović trade,” Cato wrote. “Dallas had previously considered trading for Bogdanović at last season’s deadline, but Detroit’s asking price of a first-round pick was considered too high for the Dallas front office.
“League sources say that the talks were sturdy enough to discuss a potential trade framework — Bogdanović and Killian Hayes coming to Dallas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and JaVale McGee going out — but it’s unclear what else would have been required from each party to expand it to a four-team deal and what ultimately caused those talks, however serious, to stall. (Dallas is incredibly cautious to trade its 2027 first-round pick, one team source says, which the team could not put typical protections due to the first-rounders which it owes.)”