With an eye toward retaining their first-round pick (top-10 protected) from the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks finished their season poorly. They succeeded in their mission and went on to earn two Mavs draft selections in the 2023 NBA Draft, Dereck Lively II of Duke and Olivier-Maxence Prosper of Marquette. The team’s best move out of those was to acquire the Blue Devils center in the manner that they did.
For the Mavs, a lot could have changed in the 2023 NBA Draft. In order to avoid the play-in game and keep their No. 10 pick away from the Knicks, the team collapsed in the final moments. It was precisely as a result of the lottery’s ping pong balls being kind to Mark Cuban’s group.
Additionally, general manager Nico Harrison made some astute selections during the draft to improve the team and provide the franchise greater flexibility going into the 2023 offseason. In addition, they acquired Dereck Lively II, the precise player they required.
The entire Mavs organization and the entire country are currently acting as though Kyrie Irving will be re-signed. That’s the best idea, right? Most likely not. Irving has a lengthy history
Dallas achieved precisely that by trading back in the draft, waiving a bad contract, and acquiring a center with excellent skills and enormous upside.
First, there was the Mavs’ trade that moved them from No. 10 to No. 12 in the NBA draft. In the process of acquiring the player they desired, the team released Davis Bertans, their long-term mainstay. Bertans’ contract is for $17 million this year with a $16 million player option for the following season.
Bertans was a tenth of a point off his career low in scoring (4.6 points per game) and played a career-low 10.9 minutes per game in the 2022–2023 campaign. Although he continued to shoot threes at a 39% rate, his poor defense
