Getty Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and head coach Jason Kidd
One NBA writer believes the Dallas Mavericks‘ $8 million signing was the top underrated move in free agency this summer.
In an August 2 column titled “5 underrated moves from 2023 NBA offseason,” Brian Martin of NBA.com named the Mavericks’ signing of Seth Curry the most underrated move of the offseason.
“In the 3-point era, signing a player with the sixth-highest 3-point percentage in league history (43.5%) seems like a pretty good idea,” Martin wrote. “Curry returns to Dallas for the third time in his career after spending the 2016-17 season (12.8 ppg, 42.5% 3P) and 2019-20 season (12.4 ppg, 45.2% 3P) with the Mavericks. He has never shot below 40% from 3-point range over a full season in his career.
“Curry’s ability to knock down 3s makes him a perfect complement to the star duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who each have the ability to break down defenses and create open looks for teammates spread across the perimeter. In his one season playing with Doncic in 2019-20, Curry shot a team-best (and league-best, minimum 100 attempts) 48.1% on catch-and-shoot 3s. After Irving’s arrival at the trade deadline last season, the Mavericks ranked third in both 3-pointers made (16.4 per game) and 3-point percentage (38.9%). Adding Curry should only help those numbers next season.”
The Mavericks signed Curry to a two-year, $8 million contract on July 14. This is Curry’s third stint with Dallas. The younger brother of Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry played for the Brooklyn Nets last season. Seth averaged 9.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 61 games in 2022-23 while shooting 46.3% from the field, 40.5% from beyond the arc and 92.7% from the free-throw line.
Seth has career averages of 11.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists with the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers and Nets.
Proposed Trade Lands Mavericks Clint Capela, Kelly Oubre Jr. & Thaddeus Young
A new trade proposal has the Mavericks landing Clint Capela from the Atlanta Hawks, Thaddeus Young from the Toronto Raptors and Kelly Oubre Jr. from the Charlotte Hornets.
In an August 7 story called “A New Pascal Siakam 4-team Trade Where Everybody Wins,” Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposed the following four-team trade involving the Mavericks, Raptors, Hornets and Hawks:
Toronto Raptors Receive: De’Andre Hunter, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, James Bouknight, Vit Krejci, a 2029 first-round pick from Atlanta and a 2030 first-round pick swap from Atlanta
Atlanta Hawks Receive: Pascal Siakam, Gordon Hayward and a 2027 first-round pick from Dallas
Dallas Mavericks Receive: Clint Capela, Thaddeus Young and Kelly Oubre Jr. (sign-and-trade)
Charlotte Hornets Receive: Bogdan Bogdanović, Otto Porter Jr. and Christian Wood (sign-and-trade)
The Mavericks “would love” to acquire Capela from the Hawks, according to veteran NBA insider Marc Stein. Capela is on the trade block, per Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon of ESPN, and the Mavericks are interested in pairing the center with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Capela averaged 12.0 points and 11.0 rebounds last season for the Hawks while shooting 65.3% from the field. He signed a two-year, $45.5 million extension with Atlanta in September 2021.
The 29-year-old Capela, who began his playing career with the Houston Rockets, will make $20.6 million next season. The veteran has career averages of 12.4 points and 10.7 rebounds with the Rockets and Hawks.
Mavericks Predicted to ‘Shock the NBA’ Next Season
In an August 4 story called “6 Teams That Can Really Shock the NBA In 2023-24,” Bailey wrote that he believes the Mavericks “have a chance to be extremely dangerous” next season.
“The Dallas Mavericks were one of 2022-23’s biggest disappointments, and their late-season tank job was so obvious and flagrant that it cost them a $750,000 fine,” Bailey wrote. “This summer, though, they re-signed Kyrie Irving, added one of the best shooters of all time in Seth Curry, signed one of Europe’s most dynamic guards in Dante Exum and essentially replaced Reggie Bullock with Grant Williams. Add all that to Luka Dončić, and it’s easy to imagine the Mavericks being among the league leaders in the difference of wins between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
“Last season, Dallas was plus-4.6 points per 100 possessions (with a 94th-percentile offense) when Dončić and Irving were both on the floor, and they now have a deeper and more versatile supporting cast around them. That may not be enough to vault them from out of the playoffs to title contention, but Dončić is just over a year removed from a conference finals appearance. And Irving has plenty of postseason heroics of his own. The Mavs have a chance to be extremely dangerous.”
Dallas won just 38 games last season despite having Irving and Doncic. The Mavericks didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament after making the Western Conference Finals in 2022.