The Dallas Mavericks are ready to spend once again in the offseason. The past few years, the franchise has been very aggressive over the past few seasons with the goal to get back to the NBA Finals, but that has yet to work out. Now the team is once again looking for key free agents to help get them over the first-round hump of the Western Conference playoffs and a trade might just be what does it.
Tyson Chandler will be a free agent this offseason after arriving in Dallas via a trade. While the Mavericks have said they will look to bring Chandler back. However, according to the Dallas Morning News, Chandler is not Plan A at the moment. That falls to DeAndre Jordan, LaMarcus Aldridge or Marc Gasol. The issue for the Mavericks is that none of those players might be available come free agency.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the Clippers are prepared to offer the center a max contract. The Memphis Grizzlies are ready to do the same with Gasol. Aldridge is a little more of an unknown. The Oregonian is reporting the Mavericks are believed to be the front-runner to sign the power forward, but there is still a chance Portland retains their franchise star which would leave Dallas empty handed. So what about a trade?
The Mavericks could be involved in talks to acquire Brendan Haywood who is being shopped by the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Cavaliers are shopping the $10.5 million non-guaranteed contract along with the No.24 draft pick. This could be something that potentially benefits the Mavericks. If Dallas made a trade and acquired the big man, they could either keep Haywood as a rotational player or release him by Aug. 2 and capitalize on the draft pick. That would allow Dallas to potentially still land someone like Aldridge while re-signing Chandler as well.
Dallas wants an elite big man, but also needs help at the point guard position as Rajon Rondo is expected to leave. The team could get involved in trades there for players like Ty Lawson or Brandon Jennings who are both expected to be available. Chandler Parsons is also pushing for Dallas to bring in Patrick Beverley. Acquiring space from the Haywood trade would give the Mavericks money to get size and point guard in the offseason.
