Dallas Mavericks 2025 Trade thread -- Roster and Cap and the 1st page

[Super Cooper]

Seems like he's missing extended time, he won't play against the Lakers, doubt he plays in 2025...
Oh you're talking about AD, it would be real petty if he is activated against LAL

Yeah was talking about AD. Everyone knows what the LAL game will be and AD will probably need limited minutes anyway, no reason to play him at all.

But speaking also about Lively.... he has become like a total mystery. So many nagging injuries just keep pilling up. Then comes back, slowly gets back into rhythm and then back to the injury list.

I challenge you to tell me if he reminds you of a certain star few years back with a similar pattern.

He reminds of a young Tyson Chandler. He was very injury prone as a young player. Then when he got to Dallas Carlisle was only playing him about 25 min a game. Whenever he averaged more minutes than that he got injured.

Tyson played in 71 games his rookie season and and 75 his second year. I wish it was a good comp bc I love TC, but we're in Oden and Ellison territory for comps. Some bigs start off playing a lot, then get hurt, then make a recovery, like your example of TC. DLive makes AD look like Cal Ripken.

BTW, if Lively doesn't play more than 7 more games this season, he'll be worst than Oden's first 2 years, the all-time medical bust.

[Super Cooper]

What is frustrating about DLive is that there isn't just one recurring injury. He's like the guy with red light up nose in the game "Operation". Knee, right foot, ankle, hip, shoulder, neck, nasal fractures, back, and illnesses.

DLive's injury history:

Quick Answer: Dereck Lively II has already built a notable injury history in his short NBA career, including multiple ankle sprains, knee issues, nasal fractures, hip and shoulder problems, and most significantly recurring right foot injuries (stress fracture and bone spur surgery). These repeated setbacks have raised concerns about his long-term durability.

Detailed Breakdown of Lively’s Injury History
Major Foot Injuries
- Stress fracture in right foot (2024–25 season):
Missed 36 games due to this injury, which was considered his most serious setback.
- Bone spur surgery (Summer 2025):
Underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from the same right foot. Expected to be ready for training camp, but this marked his second significant foot injury in just over a year.
These foot issues are the biggest red flag, as repeated injuries to the same area often signal long-term durability concerns.

Other Injuries (2023–2025)
According to FOX Sports’ injury log:
- Knee: Multiple incidents (Nov 2024, Mar 2024, Oct 2025).
- Ankle: Several sprains (Jan 2024, Dec 2023, Apr 2025, Jan 2025).
- Hip: December 2024.
- Shoulder: November 2024.
- Neck: May 2024.
- Nasal fractures: February 2024 (three separate nose-related injuries in quick succession).
- Back: November 2023.
- Illnesses: November 2023 and November 2024.
- Personal absence: March 2024.

Context and Impact
- In his first two NBA seasons, Lively appeared in 91 regular-season games, but missed significant stretches due to injuries.
- Despite his defensive upside (blocks, rebounds, rim protection), his availability has become a concern for Dallas.
- The Mavericks have hedged their bets by adding Daniel Gafford and relying on Anthony Davis at times, signaling that the front office is wary of Lively’s durability.

⚠️ Key Takeaway
Dereck Lively’s injury history is already extensive for a 21-year-old center. The recurring right foot problems are the most concerning, as they could limit his ability to anchor Dallas long-term. While he remains a promising defensive big, the Mavericks may need to plan around the possibility that he won’t consistently stay healthy.

[Maverick41]

Another variation of the CHI AD deals:

DAL receives: A. Black + Jett Howard + Huerter + Z. Collins + 26 CHI FRP + Favorable of LAL or WAS 28 SRP (from ORL)
ORL receives: C. White
CHI receives: AD + Hardy

DAL gets a young and homegrown guy in Black. He can easily play with Kyrie and can grow with Flagg. Jett Howard is more filler since ORL declined his option and will lose him anyway. We can at least try him out since he was a former lottery pick who's shown flashes at times. Huerter and Collins are expiring fillers. Also get a 26 FRP + a really good SRP in 28. Obviously we try to push for an additional FRP or more SRPs if possible.

ORL goes all in on now. Coby fits extremely well with their current nucleus.

CHI gets their own homegrown guy in AD and tries to make a little noise in the East.

[daoneandonly]

Yea but I didnt realize NYK cant trade their 26 pick because that Wiz pick they have wont convey and then they owe the 27 pick to BKN. But DET is the team i was thinkign to take OG, though Id really push for Ausar and let them keep Ivey and a FRP. Doubt they do it though. Also maybe SA with Castle since they have Harper and Fox.

But feel like NY would be one of the best AD targets since they have Brunson and KAT. Plus, the NBA would salivate at a potential NY LAL finals where its AD/Brunson vs Luka/Lebron

I highly doubt DET would trade Ausar. Holland might be a possibility. Realistically though, it's Ivey particularly because of the emergence of Jenkins.

For SA, Castle is a dream for me. If they offer him, I take it without hesitation but imo they probably would shop Fox before him. Or at least, that's what I would do if I was their GM.

I do think like you that NY would be one of the best fits for AD. He helps clean up Brunson and KAT'S defensive woes if he can get in shape and healthy. It would also help with the Klutch relationship by trading AD to a contender and big market. I know agents may not be talked about that much here but it makes a difference, especially in today's NBA. Most Knicks fans I know though seem a lot more keen on trading KAT then OG though.

Yea it was wishful thinking on my part. For a second I was also thinking of an OG for Garland swap, but the new NBA rules make it impossible because OG makes like 120K more, and it has to be either exactly the same or the incoming Cle player making less

[Archx]

Reddit is undefeated.

[Super Cooper]

Another variation of the CHI AD deals:

DAL receives: A. Black + Jett Howard + Huerter + Z. Collins + 26 CHI FRP + Favorable of LAL or WAS 28 SRP (from ORL)
ORL receives: C. White
CHI receives: AD + Hardy

DAL gets a young and homegrown guy in Black. He can easily play with Kyrie and can grow with Flagg. Jett Howard is more filler since ORL declined his option and will lose him anyway. We can at least try him out since he was a former lottery pick who's shown flashes at times. Huerter and Collins are expiring fillers. Also get a 26 FRP + a really good SRP in 28. Obviously we try to push for an additional FRP or more SRPs if possible.

ORL goes all in on now. Coby fits extremely well with their current nucleus.

CHI gets their own homegrown guy in AD and tries to make a little noise in the East.

I would love that deal. Black is going to be something, watched the game last night. I just don't know if ORL would rather White than Black (kinda funny).

[MassimoPayne]

Blacks value is higher than Whites in Orlando

[Archx]

Stein

Anthony Davis and his representation at Klutch Sports will seek a contract extension from a new team if he indeed gets dealt.

There is an expectation in some corners, you see, that Davis and his representation at Klutch Sports will seek a contract extension from a new team if he indeed gets dealt. Davis, remember, is in Year 1 of a three-year, $175 million extension he signed with the Lakers that is scheduled to pay $63 million in 2027-28. The Year 1 salary in an extension would thus exceed $70 million.

Which team will shoot themselves in the foot? This is impossible to trade unless Nico is on the other side.

[Mr B]

Stein

Anthony Davis and his representation at Klutch Sports will seek a contract extension from a new team if he indeed gets dealt.

There is an expectation in some corners, you see, that Davis and his representation at Klutch Sports will seek a contract extension from a new team if he indeed gets dealt. Davis, remember, is in Year 1 of a three-year, $175 million extension he signed with the Lakers that is scheduled to pay $63 million in 2027-28. The Year 1 salary in an extension would thus exceed $70 million.

Which team will shoot themselves in the foot? This is impossible to trade unless Nico is on the other side.

So it seems the best option is to keep him and play him 20-25 min per game at Center when we he’s healthy.

[41Dirk41]

Stein

Anthony Davis and his representation at Klutch Sports will seek a contract extension from a new team if he indeed gets dealt.

There is an expectation in some corners, you see, that Davis and his representation at Klutch Sports will seek a contract extension from a new team if he indeed gets dealt. Davis, remember, is in Year 1 of a three-year, $175 million extension he signed with the Lakers that is scheduled to pay $63 million in 2027-28. The Year 1 salary in an extension would thus exceed $70 million.

Which team will shoot themselves in the foot? This is impossible to trade unless Nico is on the other side.

So it seems the best option is to keep him and play him 20-25 min per game at Center when we he’s healthy.

Yes... At least a Stretch of 15 games, then sell him high.

[Super Cooper]

Meh. I only see negative and risk in playing him. Do we really think a stretch of 20% of the season is going to change front offices' opinion of AD? Which is the greater he balls out without getting injured for 16 games or he gets injured again, perhaps season or career ending? That would be catastrophic.

Not to mention... his balling out could play us out of tanking

[Archx]

Still can't believe some people thought Nico did good with this one. It's actually amazing how bad he is even after 10 years.

Watch on YouTube

[Mavrelous]

Still can't believe some people thought Nico did good with this one. It's actually amazing how bad he is even after 10 years.

Watch on YouTube

For 5M/yr, he is good, he just shouldn't have been the target, they should have used Gafford, who was highly valued and redundant, to go after a PG.
The fact Nico didn't, and went for this hail Mary path, tells you how little confidence he had in the team he built.

[Bob8]

Still can't believe some people thought Nico did good with this one. It's actually amazing how bad he is even after 10 years.

Watch on YouTube

For 5M/yr, he is good, he just shouldn't have been the target, they should have used Gafford, who was highly valued and redundant, to go after a PG.
The fact Nico didn't, and went for this hail Mary path, tells you how little confidence he had in the team he built.

Or tells you how clueless was he about what kind of roster you need to contend.

[Archx]

For 5M/yr, he is good, he just shouldn't have been the target

Ehh... 5M for 10 mins is surely fine but everyone knew, including Nico, that he would need to play a ton of minutes, therefore it was a horrible deal. And after that phone call, DLo turned to his friend and first thing he said "We're rich", because he knew about the 12M paycheck. Well it's actually a 11.6M guaranteed money and 2nd year player option.

[Mavrelous]

Still can't believe some people thought Nico did good with this one. It's actually amazing how bad he is even after 10 years.

Watch on YouTube

For 5M/yr, he is good, he just shouldn't have been the target, they should have used Gafford, who was highly valued and redundant, to go after a PG.
The fact Nico didn't, and went for this hail Mary path, tells you how little confidence he had in the team he built.

Or tells you how clueless was he about what kind of roster you need to contend.

I don't think he's that stupid, we're all speculating at this point, no one knows what went into his mind, but my guess is that he saw how the Mavs played when Luka was out and Lively was in (5-1 stretch that was almost 6-0), he thought he could manage with Kyrie and Exum at guard, while upgrading Lively to AD, and replicate Luka's success, not a bad guess for short term, terrible for long term, but he was moved by personal vendetta, 1st came the AD injury, then the Kyrie ACL tear, that had him totally cooked.
He was gifted Flagg, but he saw there was no way out of the mess he created, so he refused to make a big move, especially when he knew he'd need to justify this to Dumont to approve another big trade.

LeBron was there for the taking, he could have went for it, I didn't buy that he didn't want to give away Mavs "depth", I think he knew it was over.

[Bob8]

For 5M/yr, he is good, he just shouldn't have been the target, they should have used Gafford, who was highly valued and redundant, to go after a PG.
The fact Nico didn't, and went for this hail Mary path, tells you how little confidence he had in the team he built.

Or tells you how clueless was he about what kind of roster you need to contend.

I don't think he's that stupid, we're all speculating at this point, no one knows what went into his mind, but my guess is that he saw how the Mavs played when Luka was out and Lively was in (5-1 stretch that was almost 6-0), he thought he could manage with Kyrie and Exum at guard, while upgrading Lively to AD, and replicate Luka's success, not a bad guess for short term, terrible for long term, but he was moved by personal vendetta, 1st came the AD injury, then the Kyrie ACL tear, that had him totally cooked.
He was gifted Flagg, but he saw there was no way out of the mess he created, so he refused to make a big move, especially when he knew he'd need to justify this to Dumont to approve another big trade.

LeBron was there for the taking, he could have went for it, I didn't buy that he didn't want to give away Mavs "depth", I think he knew it was over.

He looks pretty stupid to me. He would have never made the trade, if he understood what Luka means for the fans and the city. That alone shows how wrong he assessed the situation. Totality clueless after being GM for 3 years.

And then negotiations with Pelinka, who doesn't look exactly the smartest person himself, but he for sure was far the smartest at that table in the coffee shop.

Not a bad guess short term? Building a team few years around Luka, basically Kyrie and defensively oriented roll players, vast majority not being able of creating anything, and you put away engine of the team and bring another big? That could work short term? Don't forget you already had Finals, so working short term means winning a title. We can see this year how dysfunctional this team is even with Flagg, Kyrie' alone can't make contender from the lottery team.

No way LeBron would come with Kyrie out. LeBron might be many things, but he never took any non necessary risks. He's not coming to listen fire Nico chants every night. And why would he? If he wanted to leave Lakers he could have make a push to go to Cleveland, Miami or even Golden State.

[Mavrelous]

He looks pretty stupid to me. He would have never made the trade, if he understood what Luka means for the fans and the city. That alone shows how wrong he assessed the situation. Totality clueless after being GM for 3 years.

And then negotiations with Pelinka, who doesn't look exactly the smartest person himself, but he for sure was far the smartest at that table in the coffee shop.

Not a bad guess short term? Building a team few years around Luka, basically Kyrie and defensively oriented roll players, vast majority not being able of creating anything, and you put away engine of the team and bring another big? That could work short term? Don't forget you already had Finals, so working short term means winning a title. We can see this year how dysfunctional this team is even with Flagg, Kyrie' alone can't make contender from the lottery team.

No way LeBron would come with Kyrie out. LeBron might be many things, but he never took any non necessary risks. He's not coming to listen fire Nico chants every night. And why would he? If he wanted to leave Lakers he could have make a push to go to Cleveland, Miami or even Golden State.

Pride leads to stupid decision, trading Luka was a power play, not for basketball improvement.
I think LeBron was open to coming to Dallas, his statement when FA started was a call for teams to field offers, I think the offer never came, he wouldn't expect to listen to Fire Nico, he's LeBron James, his name carries a lot of weight and if Nico was to bring him, he would have been heralded.

[Bob8]

He looks pretty stupid to me. He would have never made the trade, if he understood what Luka means for the fans and the city. That alone shows how wrong he assessed the situation. Totality clueless after being GM for 3 years.

And then negotiations with Pelinka, who doesn't look exactly the smartest person himself, but he for sure was far the smartest at that table in the coffee shop.

Not a bad guess short term? Building a team few years around Luka, basically Kyrie and defensively oriented roll players, vast majority not being able of creating anything, and you put away engine of the team and bring another big? That could work short term? Don't forget you already had Finals, so working short term means winning a title. We can see this year how dysfunctional this team is even with Flagg, Kyrie' alone can't make contender from the lottery team.

No way LeBron would come with Kyrie out. LeBron might be many things, but he never took any non necessary risks. He's not coming to listen fire Nico chants every night. And why would he? If he wanted to leave Lakers he could have make a push to go to Cleveland, Miami or even Golden State.

Pride leads to stupid decision, trading Luka was a power play, not for basketball improvement.
I think LeBron was open to coming to Dallas, his statement when FA started was a call for teams to field offers, I think the offer never came, he wouldn't expect to listen to Fire Nico, he's LeBron James, his name carries a lot of weight and if Nico was to bring him, he would have been heralded.

Yes I can imagine fans being ecstatic getting 41 years old LeBron and then him missing first 14 games because of sciatica. No way LeBron was delusional enough to come here after Kyrie's injury.

[Mavrelous]

He looks pretty stupid to me. He would have never made the trade, if he understood what Luka means for the fans and the city. That alone shows how wrong he assessed the situation. Totality clueless after being GM for 3 years.

And then negotiations with Pelinka, who doesn't look exactly the smartest person himself, but he for sure was far the smartest at that table in the coffee shop.

Not a bad guess short term? Building a team few years around Luka, basically Kyrie and defensively oriented roll players, vast majority not being able of creating anything, and you put away engine of the team and bring another big? That could work short term? Don't forget you already had Finals, so working short term means winning a title. We can see this year how dysfunctional this team is even with Flagg, Kyrie' alone can't make contender from the lottery team.

No way LeBron would come with Kyrie out. LeBron might be many things, but he never took any non necessary risks. He's not coming to listen fire Nico chants every night. And why would he? If he wanted to leave Lakers he could have make a push to go to Cleveland, Miami or even Golden State.

Pride leads to stupid decision, trading Luka was a power play, not for basketball improvement.
I think LeBron was open to coming to Dallas, his statement when FA started was a call for teams to field offers, I think the offer never came, he wouldn't expect to listen to Fire Nico, he's LeBron James, his name carries a lot of weight and if Nico was to bring him, he would have been heralded.

Yes I can imagine fans being ecstatic getting 41 years LeBron and then him missing first 14 games because of sciatica.

Oh it would have been a disaster, AD, LeBron, Lively and Kyrie out on the sidelines while the team starts 3-12, but no one knew that at the time.