NFL
By: Greg Rector
The Dallas Mavericks had a draft night that should make life easier for their number one priority, keeping Luka Doncic a happy man.
Trades by the Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks traded away Davis Bertans contract away. Surprisingly many they managed to deal away the contract that could help them keep Kyrie Irving in a Mavericks uniform. Moving Bertans contract onto the Oklahoma City Thunder. This deal allowed the Dallas Mavericks to acquire Dereck Lively II the 7’2″ center from Duke who should provide them with an inside game something that was sorely lacking in the Dallas Mavericks offense for far too long.
The second deal also landed the Dallas Mavericks center Richan Holmes who will be a backup center for the Dallas Mavericks. They then went out and drafted Marquette Olivier-Maxence Prosper the 6’7″ tweener will provide the Dallas Mavericks something else that was certainly lacking and that is a defensive fighter. Mexence-Prosper might not be the guy offensively to start out his career, but will certainly be in the Dallas Mavericks defensive side of the game. Maxence-Prosper did hit on 33.9% of his shots from three-point range with Marquette.
The Upside
The Dallas Mavericks will not need to be a one-and-done type of roster when the 2023-2024 season begins. That is a key goal in making Luka Doncic a happy man who won’t need to do everything on his own. As I said earlier as well the Bertans move out frees up cash that may be needed to keep Kyrie Irving a Dallas Mavericks guard to play alongside Luka Doncic. The drafting of two solid players who can both make an immediate impact will also assist Jason Kidd in sticking around as the Dallas Mavericks’ head coach.
Giving Doncic a player who will focus on his inside game first and foremost in Lively II is the key to making Luka Doncic a man who will not want out of the Dallas Maverick uniform. Make no mistake I am no fan of any player from Duke however in this case Lively II is indeed the player the Dallas Mavericks need to draft and then by moving out the Bertans contract and then making the second deal with the Sacramento Kings the Dallas Mavericks have indeed gone out and added two pieces to the puzzle that is trying to attempt to become NBA champions.
The Downside
The downside to all this is still the status of Kyrie Irving. Do these moves make Irving a happy camper? We won’t know for certain as I write this article. If Kyrie Irving does decide to remain a member of the Dallas Mavericks I believe they can indeed return to the playoff team we’ve known the Dallas Mavericks to be.
