Hey Mavs fans!
We’re rebooting the Trailing 3 Podcast (via Anchor this time) and the first episode is now up! Check it out on the link below!
We’re working on getting this on other listening platforms like Spotify, etc. Thanks for your patience!
Here’s the link to the latest episode of The Trailing 3 podcast! It’s been a while!
We’re talking with Jeff Siegel of earlybirdrights.com about trade scenarios and the Kristaps Porzingis trade!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/253913/944229-the-trailing-3-trade-talk-with-jeff-siegel
If you’ve been following the Twitter rounds tonight and saw this tweet, you probably raised your eyebrows:
The tweet was followed later by a story co-written by both ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Woj himself. Included were some pretty intense details that may have caught a lot of #MFFL off-guard.
To note –
… pushing to end a partnership that has run its course for both the franchise and former first-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.”
Coach Rick Carlisle and Smith have struggled to find a common ground, league sources said. The arrival of rookie of the year favorite Luka Doncic has pushed Smith off the ball and changed the trajectory of his role with the team. Carlisle has often been frustrated with Smith’s decision-making, league sources said.
Smith has been in the rumor mill for weeks. Dallas, per Marc Stein, was gauging the market for him as far back as a month ago with multiple executives speculating that the Mavericks would eventually part ways with the high-flying guard due to the ascendance of Luka Doncic and Smith’s poor on-the-court fit.
While some argue that it’s too early to make final judgments on the two young budding stars’ fit together (they’ve literally played together for half a season), it’s clear Doncic is the centerpiece of Dallas’ future.
It’s worth noting that Smith Jr. and Doncic have a strong friendship off the court and their significant others are reportedly very close.
The Athletic’s Tim Cato added his input as well:
Per people close to the Mavs this season, and from Mike Fisher’s account (and Dalton Trigg and others with 247 Sports), Dallas’ locker room has been seemingly free of any of the purported friction that today’s reports hint at. Smith has missed the last three games with what Dallas has termed a “sore back.” That being said, it wasn’t two weeks ago that Smith’s sprained wrist was at the center of attention.
If we accept the premise that a trade is imminent, what teams would be in the market for a player of Dennis’ caliber at the PG position? The names tossed around tonight would be Phoenix, Orlando and possibly Detroit.
In a prior edition of “Donuts” earlier this month, Fisher mentioned Andre Drummond as a possible name to watch should the Pistons and Mavs get serious in trade talks about Smith, and Orlando has been looking for a suitable point guard seemingly forever.
As of 10:07 p.m., central time, the Dallas Morning News’ Brad Townsend officially reported that Phoenix was no longer interested in Smith Jr., leaving the likely list of teams at two. The source of that bit of news was John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Who could Dallas look at for a possible return for DSJ from Orlando? Perhaps Mo Bamba? Per MacMahon, Dallas was once again looking for suitors for Wes Matthews, so there is that to take into consideration. Aaron Gordon is another name to consider.
Of course, as the trade deadline draws nearer, it’s likely that the rumors will increase in both intensity and in number as Feb. 7 draws closer.
If this all feels eerily familiar, it’s because we’ve been here before.
Some 10 hours removed from the start of NBA free agency, the Dallas Mavericks and Deandre Jordan are ready to unite after an opt-in and trade scenario between Dallas and the Clippers couldn’t be agreed upon Friday, the deadline for players like Jordan to either decline or accept their player options.
Dallas had hopes of shipping swingman Wes Matthews to the Clippers if Jordan opted in for the final year of his $24.1 million contract and working a trade with the now-29 year old big man to bring him to the Mavericks, the team he backed out of a verbal agreement with some three years ago.
The best-case scenario heading into Friday for Dallas was being free and clear of the final year of Wes Matthews’ four-year, $70 million deal and taking in Jordan. The move would’ve left Dallas with nearly $20 million in cap space to pursue one more sizeable free agent acquisition this summer while tending to the Mavericks’ other free agents like Doug McDermott and Seth Curry, to name a few.
But the Clippers, per Marc Stein, wanted more than Dallas was willing to give up in trade, specifically draft compensation. Given the Mavericks already shelled out their 2019 first-round pick on draft night to the Atlanta Hawks to acquire Luka Doncic, it’s understandable Dallas said no. The Mavericks, not needing to trade the farm for Jordan in this scenario, simply opted to pursue the big man one more time in free agency just like they did in 2015.
The trade talks were allegedly halted on Friday and, per The Athletic’s Tim Cato, Dallas informed Matthews himself that he wouldn’t be traded.
(In preparation for clearing the requisite cap space, Dallas declined the team option on the final year of Dirk Nowitzki’s 2-year, $10 million deal. The team plans to circle back to the franchise cornerstone in July to work out a deal.)
This summer, however (and to the relief of Dallas fans), presents a much-different landscape than three years ago. Jordan is nearly 30 (not old, but not 26 either) and the market for NBA centers has almost completely dried up.
Dallas is the only team with eyes for Jordan (aside from the Warriors who, even with their MLE of $5 million, might be enough to elicit a sideways glance from the Houston native) and their appears to be significant mutual interest between the player and the team. The word is Jordan wants to be in Dallas and, per Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com, the two sides have long since hashed-out their differences since three years ago.
It can be argued that he wanted to be a Maverick three years ago, however, but the Clippers don’t have Chris Paul or Blake Griffin (they do still have Doc Rivers at the helm, though) banging on Jordan’s door this time. While the unease and even skepticism on the part of Mavericks’ fans may be understandable, the reality is that there’s very little reason for Jordan to bolt back to Lob City as the Clippers recently traded Austin Rivers for Marcin Gortat and are reportedly very high on Montezl Harrell. Jordan no longer fits the Clippers’ plans.
Jordan said as recently as this season pondered aloud whether the Clippers wanted him. Dallas has made him their No. 1 priority. That should settle that.
The main question going forward will be how much the Mavericks decide to pay Jordan. The point can be made that even though he did just leave $24M on the table that he would take less for a longer-term deal, but Dallas needs to be careful here. They don’t need to bid against themselves, but they also shouldn’t hold Jordan over a barrel, either. A deal starting in the 3-year, $60 million range will probably be doable for both sides.
While things figure to end differently this time around, July 6 (when players can put pen to paper on new free agency deals) cannot get here fast enough for Dallas.
Tonight, on the Episode 6 of the Trailing 3 Podcast, Jeff Siegel helps us break down the rapidly-developing situation between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers for center Deandre Jordan. Yes, THAT Deandre Jordan. This apparently is happening.
If you were confused about how this might go down, don’t worry. There are lots of moving parts to this situation and Jeff is a cap guru! Check out the latest episode here!
(Sorry for not embedding … working through some issues with Anchor/SoundCloud).
In today’s episode the TT3 Podcast, we’re diving deep into the Memphis/Dallas rumors centered on the No. 4 Pick and Chandler Parsons’ massive deal.
Also, is the deal really worth it for Dallas if Doncic is gone by No. 4? And, if Doncic IS there at No.4, does Memphis still consider trading out? It’s a weird situation for the Mavs, but we’ll take a gander at trying to understand what Dallas’ options are in the next day-and-a-half.
Enjoy!
We’re three days away from the 2018 NBA Draft and, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the NBA rumor mill is running at 100%.
Kawhi Leonard’s feelings on the Spurs are now public which has temporarily provided NBA Twitter with something besides the mystery of Michael Porter Jr. to dwell on … and also given new life to the LeBron-to-LA narrative.
However, quietly in the background … the Dallas Mavericks have worked out Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr., Jaren Jackson Jr. and attended two of Porter Jr.’s workouts. In case you’ve been living under a slightly bigger rock, the Mavericks are slotted to pick at No. 5.
Also, this video surfaced late Sunday/early Monday of Bamba again draining deep 3s … but this time in Dallas shorts?
The case for Ayton going No. 1 to Phoenix seems to be mostly closed at this point, but from No. 2 down is anyone’s guess. The Kings have been linked to Porter Jr. and Marvin Bagley as well as Luka Doncic, who seems to have somehow slid even further down some of the more reputable NBA mock drafts (and potentially within reach to Dallas at No. 5?)
At this point, as the saying goes, it’s all a crap-shoot. You can argue that Dallas’ needs are most met by Jackson Jr. or Bamba as they fill the need the Mavs have for a defensive anchor with the potential of a 3-point threat or you can argue that Dallas needs more of an offensive infusion, a hole that players like Marvin Bagley III and Porter Jr. are more apt to fill.
There’s been a lot of talk that Jackson Jr. would be the pick for the Hawks at No. 3, but per Sporting News’ Sean Deveney, the Hawks have “ruled out” Jackson at the No. 3 spot which could leave Dallas with a tough decision two spots later.
Rumors of Memphis looking to package Chandler Parson’s albatross deal along with the No. 4 pick has some fans dreaming of Dallas owning BOTH of the Nos. 4 and 5 picks … but the Grizzlies would likely not entertain a deal that didn’t include Harrison Barnes in return, a condition Dallas is unlikely to acquiesce to (per Mike Fisher).
Could Dallas make the deal work without adding Barnes? Does Memphis hang up the phone right away? People in the know I’ve talked to say Dallas shouldn’t have to part with one of its foundation pieces to grab the No. 4 pick, and opinions on the issue range widely. Is Barnes a great player? Sure. Is he great enough for the Mavs to keep instead of closing a deal for another top-5 lottery pick? That’s debatable.
At this point in the offseason, what could be viewed as interest from a team towards a prospect could just as easily be a smokescreen put out to offset other team’s interest and to discourage clubs in front of the franchise in the drafting order from passing up on said prospect. My feeling is that there’s a lot of this surrounding Porter Jr.
Take this for example. Dallas is reportedly “comfortable” with the health risks surrounding Porter Jr. There are many layers to peel back here.
Are the Mavericks publicly expressing their trust and assurance in veteran trainer Casey Smith and his staff to be able to effectively maintain Porter Jr. should Dallas draft him? Sure. But is that the point?
Just because a team is comfortable with the risks of taking a player doesn’t mean that player is their guy. I feel there’s a lot of gamesmanship at work here, not just on the part of the Mavericks, but a lot of teams surrounding the orbit of Porter Jr. Suffice it to say, it will be fascinating to see what happens on Thursday night.
In this week’s episode of the TT3 Podcast, I bring on Jimmy Crowther of All Things Mavs and the Dallas Sports Fanatic!
We talked about the Mavs’ draft possibilities and also the bigs Dallas has been working out lately including Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. (Wednesday).
Give it a listen!
For episode 3 of The Trailing 3 podcast, I talked with 105.3 The Fan’s Nick Neppach about the draft and more! Apologies for the bad audio quality … apparently I can’t tell the back of a mic from the front.
(Try to) enjoy!
By Zack Cunningham
Hey Mavs fans!
Check out Episode 2 of the TT3 Podcast! We touched on yesterday’s Mavs/Celtics/Grizzlies trade rumors and more!
I’m trying to keep these consistent to once a week … so thanks for your patience if there’s been any slight deviation!
THE TRAILING 3 