Getty Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez defends Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat.
The coming months will be critical for the Dallas Mavericks, as they look to retool their roster in order to field a more competitive team next season. Dallas’ front office took the first steps towards building a contender around Luka Doncic ahead of the trade deadline, when they swung a deal to land Kyrie Irving.
Now that they’ve got a strong scoring backcourt, the biggest need for the Mavericks is a big man. Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz agrees with that sentiment, labeling the center spot as the team’s biggest hole heading into the summer.
“Even if Irving comes back, Christian Wood and Dwight Powell can both sign elsewhere,” he pointed out. “JaVale McGee clearly wasn’t the answer at center, so more help in the frontcourt is needed.”
Swartz offered some suggestions for potential free agent signings in a recent article. Amongst those mentioned was Milwaukee Bucks big man Brook Lopez.
“Lopez would be the dream target, an elite defensive center who made 37.9 percent of his threes this season and has 78 playoff starts under his belt,” Swartz pitched. “When he says no, Reid and Williams would serve as potential starters instead.”
Lopez, now 35, has been a major part of Milwaukee’s success over the past few seasons, helping the team win an NBA championship in 2021. This season, he was named to the NBA’s First-Team All-Defense. Plus, he’s still able to impact the game offensively, averaging 15.9 points per game while shooting 53.1% from the field and 37.4% from distance.
Mavericks Looking to Trade No. 10 Overall Pick
Dallas landing a solid center seems to be a consensus must, according to many media members. One way they may go about doing so could be by landing one in a trade involving their No. 10 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, the Mavs are “widely known” to have interest in moving their first-round selection this year.
“Dallas is widely known to be evaluating trade possibilities with the 10th pick to bring reinforcements to Luka Doncic, as well as All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, who will become an unrestricted free agent.”
Fischer has been reporting on the chances of Dallas moving the pick for about a month now, first breaking the news a few weeks back.
“There are other teams rival executives are already pinning as potential trade candidates,” Fischer wrote. “Dallas avoided disaster by landing its top-10 protected pick at the No. 10 spot, and the Mavericks are certainly expected to explore the market for that selection in hopes of adding to their All-Star backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the latter of which will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.”
Mavericks’ Top Priority is Defense and Rebounding
Whether it winds up being Lopez or another big man, Dallas’ priority this summer is no secret. They want to bring in defense and rebounding, both of which the 14-year vet provides.
General manager Nico Harrison made the goal know during his exit interview back in April.
“I think for us going into the offseason, the two biggest things that we need to work on is defense and rebounding,” Harrison said via the Dallas Mavericks official YouTube channel. “That’s going to be addressed.”
According to Spotrac, Lopez is expected to garner about $13 million in free agency this summer, making him an affordable option for Dallas.
