For much of the season, the Dallas Mavericks have been going center-by-committee, relying on a revolving door of big men alongside superstar Luka Doncic. But with injuries to Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber, along with the general disappointment of the JaVale McGee experiment, the Mavs have more recently turned to one player: Christian Wood.
Given Wood’s generally strong offensive play with Doncic, the remaining bigs on the Mavs’ roster could be squeezed out. That includes Davis Bertans, whom the Mavericks had to take back in last year’s Kristaps Porzingis trade with the Washington Wizards.
According to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney, the Mavs could look to swap Bertans yet again, taking a chance on Miami Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson.
“And Dallas is a team that had interest [in Duncan Robinson]; maybe they will again. If they were to swap out Robinson for Davis Bertans with the Heat getting a draft pick, Miami could use the pick in another deal. Robinson is a better player and might get himself back on track playing with Luka. Bertans has a shorter deal [three years, with Robinson’s deal going four years]. It would work out for everyone if the Heat can get another player for the pick,” an Eastern Conference executive told Deveney recently.
Though Robinson, 28, has seen his star fall lately, he recently became Miami’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made.
The Mavericks would be taking a real gamble by trading for Robinson, who is shooting just 37% from 3 this season. But on paper, he’s an ideal partner with Doncic: a 3-point threat that defenses have to respect (though his own defense leaves quite a bit to be desired).
Josh Green Likely Unavailable at Trade Deadline
If Dallas wanted to make a splash at the trade deadline, it would likely have to bundle together its few remaining assets to pull off the deal. That includes third-year Josh Green, who is finally emerging as a dependable 3-point threat for the Mavericks.
The only issue? According to Tim Cato of The Athletic, the Mavericks think highly of Green, so much so that he might be untradeable for Dallas.
“[M]y understanding is that the Mavericks would be very hesitant to trade Green at this point. One person in the front office told me that he considered him the team’s third-most important player after Dončić and [Spencer] Dinwiddie. It’s a stance I agree with for the reasons listed above,” Cato wrote in December.
Green is still on an affordable rookie contract. And his age aligns well with teams like the Chicago Bulls or Charlotte Hornets who could be headed for a rebuild by selling high on their top assets.
Zach LaVine in Play for the Mavericks?
Once upon a time, the Mavs might have had to a make a difficult decision about whether to be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. But Dallas has ripped off a seven-game win streak that’s propelled the team to fourth in the West.
With all of this momentum, could the Mavericks turn out to be not just buyers at the trade deadline, but splashy buyers? According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, the answer is a possible yes, with Dallas closely monitoring the Chicago Bulls’ $215 million star, Zach LaVine.
The Zach LaVine horrendous on-ball defender narrative needs to die.
“I just know that there are fans of [Zach LaVine] that hold prominent positions within the Mavericks,” MacMahon said on December 27 episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast. “Again, I’m not sitting here and telling you there’s some great consensus. I think there’s enough fans of him where I wouldn’t totally rule it out.”
LaVine would be an interesting fit with Doncic. Though he get off to a slow start, he’s shooting 45% from three over his last 10 games.
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Mavs Could Ditch Davis Bertans Contract for Record-Setting 3-Point Specialist