Dallas Mavericks 2025 Trade thread -- Roster and Cap -- 1st page updated on July 1st

[arkuo]

In 7 hours, D'Angelo Russel will be on the Mavs, YAY!!!

And how does Nico spin the defense wins championship and culture theme having this guy on the roster? I'd honestly just give the minutes and contract to the Nemhard brother

Defense wins championships applied to the main guy. And they did that when they got AD for Luka. They traded for an All Defense and 2nd team All NBA guy. So by definition, that ticked that box. I don't know why that part is hard to comprehend for some fans.

[Mavrelous]

In 7 hours, D'Angelo Russel will be on the Mavs, YAY!!!

And how does Nico spin the defense wins championship and culture theme having this guy on the roster? I'd honestly just give the minutes and contract to the Nemhard brother

Defense wins championships applied to the main guy. And they did that when they got AD for Luka. They traded for an All Defense and 2nd team All NBA guy. So by definition, that ticked that box. I don't know why that part is hard to comprehend for some fans.

Give it up, Mavs are worse at defense w/o Luka, when this mythical defense happens show me the numbers.

[arkuo]

On the bright side, Luka is reportedly taking his diet and workout seriously now. He's been eating well and losing weight. So if anyone wants to buy Laker stock, now's the time to be a fan. It's miserable in Dallas. Don't stay here. It's more fun in LA now.

[arkuo]

And how does Nico spin the defense wins championship and culture theme having this guy on the roster? I'd honestly just give the minutes and contract to the Nemhard brother

Defense wins championships applied to the main guy. And they did that when they got AD for Luka. They traded for an All Defense and 2nd team All NBA guy. So by definition, that ticked that box. I don't know why that part is hard to comprehend for some fans.

Give it up, Mavs are worse at defense w/o Luka, when this mythical defense happens show me the numbers.

You normally judge a trade years after the trade is done. AD is All NBA defense (this is a fact) but it didnt work on the first few months of the trade. If you believe the defense will be that bad forever, then you also believe that Luka will have first round exits forever with Hayes at center. They got traded for each other with teams not built for them. So keep that same energy on the other side because if you believe that for AD, then the same applies for Luka on the other side of the coin. Things can change. Just give it time.

[Mavrelous]

Defense wins championships applied to the main guy. And they did that when they got AD for Luka. They traded for an All Defense and 2nd team All NBA guy. So by definition, that ticked that box. I don't know why that part is hard to comprehend for some fans.

Give it up, Mavs are worse at defense w/o Luka, when this mythical defense happens show me the numbers.

You normally judge a trade years after the trade is done. AD is All NBA defense (this is a fact) but it didnt work on the first few months of the trade. If you believe the defense will be that bad forever, then you also believe that Luka will have first round exits forever with Hayes at center. They got traded for each other with teams not built for them. So keep that same energy on the other side because if you believe that for AD, then the same applies for Luka on the other side of the coin. Things can change. Just give it time.

AD is a bad transition defender, and always has been, w/o Luka, even with Kyrie, this team will turn it over like crazy, I'm not convinced the team improved on defense, we'll see...

[arkuo]

Give it up, Mavs are worse at defense w/o Luka, when this mythical defense happens show me the numbers.

You normally judge a trade years after the trade is done. AD is All NBA defense (this is a fact) but it didnt work on the first few months of the trade. If you believe the defense will be that bad forever, then you also believe that Luka will have first round exits forever with Hayes at center. They got traded for each other with teams not built for them. So keep that same energy on the other side because if you believe that for AD, then the same applies for Luka on the other side of the coin. Things can change. Just give it time.

AD is a bad transition defender, and always has been, w/o Luka, even with Kyrie, this team will turn it over like crazy, I'm not convinced the team improved on defense, we'll see...

I know what you're getting at. But it's not a finished product. Just look at the other side of the coin. Luka got slapped around in the first round. But I don't think he's gonna get first round exits forever. They'll figure things out the same way Dallas will figure things out.

To your point, AD is a bad transition defender becauae he's not a transition defender. When they won in in 2020, I think they had KCP do that for them. So my point is, you need pieces around these main guys to get things to work prior to a full training camp. Asking for AD to be a lockdown transition defender is the same as asking Luka to be like Dennis Rodman. Any time a team gets a main piece swapped out, the whole thing changes. These guys need a full camp. They barely practice mid season. Same goes for Luka that's why it looks clunky over there.

I'm also in the camp that believes the draft was rigged for Dallas. The Lakers valuation shot to like $10B after the Luka trade. NBA viewership is up. Dallas gets Flagg and AD. That's a win for Jeanie, Adam Silver and Dumont. And these characters know how to sweep it under the rug and not squeal. All 3 parties went home happy. Insane.

[Mavrelous]

You normally judge a trade years after the trade is done. AD is All NBA defense (this is a fact) but it didnt work on the first few months of the trade. If you believe the defense will be that bad forever, then you also believe that Luka will have first round exits forever with Hayes at center. They got traded for each other with teams not built for them. So keep that same energy on the other side because if you believe that for AD, then the same applies for Luka on the other side of the coin. Things can change. Just give it time.

AD is a bad transition defender, and always has been, w/o Luka, even with Kyrie, this team will turn it over like crazy, I'm not convinced the team improved on defense, we'll see...

I know what you're getting at. But it's not a finished product. Just look at the other side of the coin. Luka got slapped around in the first round. But I don't think he's gonna get first round exits forever. They'll figure things out the same way Dallas will figure things out.

To your point, AD is a bad transition defender becauae he's not a transition defender. When they won in in 2020, I think they had KCP do that for them. So my point is, you need pieces around these main guys to get things to work prior to a full training camp. Asking for AD to be a lockdown transition defender is the same as asking Luka to be like Dennis Rodman. Any time a team gets a main piece swapped out, the whole thing changes. These guys need a full camp. They barely practice mid season. Same goes for Luka that's why it looks clunky over there.

2020 is the only year he did anything significant, and he had:
Younger LeBron
Caruso
KCP
Rondo
Dwight Howard
Young Kuzma

I'm just not buying he's a game changer, he's all reputation, 0 receipts guy.
Luka got slapped around with a 5 man rotation and no center, AD got slapped around his entire career, hell, even LeBron next to him didn't stop him from getting slapped around.
Only reason to be excited about the team is Flagg IMO, AD is just an overhyped 2nd option who was a failure his entire career except one year as a sidekick LeBron James.

[arkuo]

AD is a bad transition defender, and always has been, w/o Luka, even with Kyrie, this team will turn it over like crazy, I'm not convinced the team improved on defense, we'll see...

I know what you're getting at. But it's not a finished product. Just look at the other side of the coin. Luka got slapped around in the first round. But I don't think he's gonna get first round exits forever. They'll figure things out the same way Dallas will figure things out.

To your point, AD is a bad transition defender becauae he's not a transition defender. When they won in in 2020, I think they had KCP do that for them. So my point is, you need pieces around these main guys to get things to work prior to a full training camp. Asking for AD to be a lockdown transition defender is the same as asking Luka to be like Dennis Rodman. Any time a team gets a main piece swapped out, the whole thing changes. These guys need a full camp. They barely practice mid season. Same goes for Luka that's why it looks clunky over there.

2020 is the only year he did anything significant, and he had:
Younger LeBron
Caruso
KCP
Rondo
Dwight Howard
Young Kuzma

I'm just not buying he's a game changer, he's all reputation, 0 receipts guy.
Luka got slapped around with a 5 man rotation and no center, AD got slapped around his entire career, hell, even LeBron next to him didn't stop him from getting slapped around.
Only reason to be excited about the team is Flagg IMO, AD is just an overhyped 2nd option who was a failure his entire career except one year as a sidekick LeBron James.

I added a last paragraph to my previous post then I saw this. You have to understand where I'm coming from. I'm on the camp that the draft was rigged for Dallas. So I believe the trade included Flagg. All 3 parties made out big from that deal. Jeanie pocketed a few more billions. Silver had viewership up. And Dumont got AD and Flagg.

So coming from that camp, I can see why there was collusion. Obviously Luka fans or fans that have attachments to Luka will need some time to figure it out. There is no amount of reasoning that would make the other side feel good about the trade. But somehow it just has to be accepted eventually. Or the other option is follow Luka to LA like how Bron's fans went from Cleveland to cheering for Miami.

[arkuo]

We've all seen how Bron's fans moved on from Cleveland to Miami and now to LA. There will come a time when Luka fans pretending to still be Mavs fans reach a crossroad to follow him or to stay. The blueprint is there. It's been done by Bron fans. But I just don't see a scenario where you can stay a Mavs fan and still hope Mavs lose when they face the Lakers. The denial stage will eventually run out. Cleveland had that whole migration out of there when Bron moved to Miami. Dallas will experience the same.

[Mavrelous]

I know what you're getting at. But it's not a finished product. Just look at the other side of the coin. Luka got slapped around in the first round. But I don't think he's gonna get first round exits forever. They'll figure things out the same way Dallas will figure things out.

To your point, AD is a bad transition defender becauae he's not a transition defender. When they won in in 2020, I think they had KCP do that for them. So my point is, you need pieces around these main guys to get things to work prior to a full training camp. Asking for AD to be a lockdown transition defender is the same as asking Luka to be like Dennis Rodman. Any time a team gets a main piece swapped out, the whole thing changes. These guys need a full camp. They barely practice mid season. Same goes for Luka that's why it looks clunky over there.

2020 is the only year he did anything significant, and he had:
Younger LeBron
Caruso
KCP
Rondo
Dwight Howard
Young Kuzma

I'm just not buying he's a game changer, he's all reputation, 0 receipts guy.
Luka got slapped around with a 5 man rotation and no center, AD got slapped around his entire career, hell, even LeBron next to him didn't stop him from getting slapped around.
Only reason to be excited about the team is Flagg IMO, AD is just an overhyped 2nd option who was a failure his entire career except one year as a sidekick LeBron James.

I added a last paragraph to my previous post then I saw this. You have to understand where I'm coming from. I'm on the camp that the draft was rigged for Dallas. So I believe the trade included Flagg. All 3 parties made out big from that deal. Jeanie pocketed a few more billions. Silver had viewership up. And Dumont got AD and Flagg.

So coming from that camp, I can see why there was collusion. Obviously Luka fans or fans that have attachments to Luka will need some time to figure it out. There is no amount of reasoning that would make the other side feel good about the trade. But somehow it just has to be accepted eventually. Or the other option is follow Luka to LA like how Bron's fans went from Cleveland to cheering for Miami.

Yeah you don't like Luka, but this isn't how this conversation started, it started when DOAO said the Nico needs to justify his "defense wins championships" and then target D'Lo, he does need to.
I personally didn't believe for a minute it was about defense, but if this is how he's selling this team, D'Lo is not what he's selling.

[arkuo]

2020 is the only year he did anything significant, and he had:
Younger LeBron
Caruso
KCP
Rondo
Dwight Howard
Young Kuzma

I'm just not buying he's a game changer, he's all reputation, 0 receipts guy.
Luka got slapped around with a 5 man rotation and no center, AD got slapped around his entire career, hell, even LeBron next to him didn't stop him from getting slapped around.
Only reason to be excited about the team is Flagg IMO, AD is just an overhyped 2nd option who was a failure his entire career except one year as a sidekick LeBron James.

I added a last paragraph to my previous post then I saw this. You have to understand where I'm coming from. I'm on the camp that the draft was rigged for Dallas. So I believe the trade included Flagg. All 3 parties made out big from that deal. Jeanie pocketed a few more billions. Silver had viewership up. And Dumont got AD and Flagg.

So coming from that camp, I can see why there was collusion. Obviously Luka fans or fans that have attachments to Luka will need some time to figure it out. There is no amount of reasoning that would make the other side feel good about the trade. But somehow it just has to be accepted eventually. Or the other option is follow Luka to LA like how Bron's fans went from Cleveland to cheering for Miami.

Yeah you don't like Luka, but this isn't how this conversation started, it started when DOAO said the Nico needs to justify his "defense wins championships" and then target D'Lo, he does need to.
I personally didn't believe for a minute it was about defense, but if this is how he's selling this team, D'Lo is not what he's selling.

Yeah I was lukewarm with Luka. I've seen players come and go. Kidd. Nash (I bought a Nash jersey 2 and a half weeks before he was not re-signed) You name it. But I guess it is what it is. There are levels to fandom. Some will like it, some won't. All of us doesn't have to have the same opinion about the trade. It's just a lot of people who were recently drawn to Dallas became Mavs fans because of Luka. I'd say 2018 onwards. So there will eventually be a crossroad for those fans. The next generation of fans will be Flagg fans. Eventually. The transition will happen. Post 2011 the traffic here became less and less. I'd say it spiked back with DSJ getting drafted then eventually Luka was a whole other bomb that brought new throngs of fans. Those same fans will feel state-less because Luka was ripped right out. So I get that part. And now things are here because of that.

DLO is another story. I wouldn't overthink it if it's just $5M. The other options are not too great at this salary grade. Even CP3 is not too keen on moving to Texas for $5M bucks.

[Michaellam1987]

It would eb a massive FA fail if our targets are D Lo and Exum. Those guys are worthless, D-Lo has a crap me first attitude and Exum is probably the one player in the league softer than AD

What will be your suggestion on how to spend the mini MLE?

[Michaellam1987]

If PJ takes the 89/4 you sign it immediately before he changes his mind.

That's a massive hometown discount. And yes, you take it and run!

22M is around 80 highest paid based on the FY25/26 salary, I wouldn’t say it is super discount but reasonable amount, PJ is exactly like the 3rd guy on your team, behind you superstar and star player.

[arkuo]

Tre Mann suddenly became available.

Who's better between Mann and Dlo?

[arkuo]

If PJ takes the 89/4 you sign it immediately before he changes his mind.

That's a massive hometown discount. And yes, you take it and run!

22M is around 80 highest paid based on the FY25/26 salary, I wouldn’t say it is super discount but reasonable amount, PJ is exactly like the 3rd guy on your team, behind you superstar and star player.

My expectation for a guy like PJ is a contract similar to Michael Porter Jr. Which is in the $30M range. And that will be considered an overpay.

[daoneandonly]

It would eb a massive FA fail if our targets are D Lo and Exum. Those guys are worthless, D-Lo has a crap me first attitude and Exum is probably the one player in the league softer than AD

What will be your suggestion on how to spend the mini MLE?

Honestly, no deal or doubling down on a deep position is better than a crap desperation move like these 2 guys. D-Lo straight up sucks and Exum is too unreliable and flawed

[Michaellam1987]

That's a massive hometown discount. And yes, you take it and run!

22M is around 80 highest paid based on the FY25/26 salary, I wouldn’t say it is super discount but reasonable amount, PJ is exactly like the 3rd guy on your team, behind you superstar and star player.

My expectation for a guy like PJ is a contract similar to Michael Porter Jr. Which is in the $30M range. And that will be considered an overpay.

May be I am too cautious on the salary, but I would say 22M is reasonable amount, the most I can accept may be close to 25M, but if I am Nico, I will definitely use Irving as example and try to persuade PJ to accept hometown discount at 20M

[Michaellam1987]

Tre Mann suddenly became available.

Who's better between Mann and Dlo?

Mann is better scorer and shooter, but Dlo is better ball handler and passer. Defensively, they are both bad, but Dlo has better physical tool to be better defensively.

[arkuo]

Tre Mann suddenly became available.

Who's better between Mann and Dlo?

Mann is better scorer and shooter, but Dlo is better ball handler and passer. Defensively, they are both bad, but Dlo has better physical tool to be better defensively.

I see. If DLO is in, then the last spot is a choice between Exum or Mann? Barring any surprise free agent candidates getting waived all of a sudden.

I don't think Dallas were in on Collin Sexton at all. Ainge would have to agree to taking on whatever fillers Dallas was giving, and Dallas would have to pay Sexton a new contract since he's a free agent.

[arkuo]

22M is around 80 highest paid based on the FY25/26 salary, I wouldn’t say it is super discount but reasonable amount, PJ is exactly like the 3rd guy on your team, behind you superstar and star player.

My expectation for a guy like PJ is a contract similar to Michael Porter Jr. Which is in the $30M range. And that will be considered an overpay.

May be I am too cautious on the salary, but I would say 22M is reasonable amount, the most I can accept may be close to 25M, but if I am Nico, I will definitely use Irving as example and try to persuade PJ to accept hometown discount at 20M

If you get PJ at 20M and Gaff at 18M, that's a massive win. Run everyone back.