Dallas Mavericks acquire Chinanu Onuaku from the Rockets

The Dallas Mavericks continue to keep things interesting as they acquired Chinanu Onuaku from the Houston Rockets this afternoon. Onuaku played in only 6 games through the first two years of his career with Houston. The reason for this trade is still unclear on the Mavs end, but it shouldn’t hurt any.

This isn’t a sexy move by any means for the Dallas Mavericks, but they did add more potential to this team going forward. The Mavs chose to make yet another move today, adding Chinanu Onuaku via trade with the Houston Rockets. Houston is trying to clear space for Carmelo Anthony to join the team after he cleared waivers today. The Mavs, on the other hand, already had 15 guaranteed contracts before Onuaku.

I am not sure exactly what Dallas is doing with Onuaku. Although I do believe that he is a player with some potential, the Mavs will now have a player that won’t make the roster but will have guaranteed money from the team. Although that is not the worst thing, it is an interesting strategy.

One thing Dallas could do is trade one of these players like Salah Mejri, Maxi Kleber or maybe even Salah Mejri. If they decided to do this for a draft pick or an overseas player, that would work just fine for Dallas. Otherwise, they would eat a little over $1 million, but that isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

Anyways, back to Onuaku. Onuaku spent the last two years with Houston after being drafted early in the 2nd round in 2016. He played in only 6 games over two years with Houston, never really getting a shot to crack the rotation thanks to guys like Clint Capela and Nene in front of him.

Before making it to the NBA, Onuaku played two seasons with the Louisville Cardinals. He started in 55 of the 66 games he played in over those two years and put up decent numbers. At 6’10”, Onuaku is a little short for a traditional center, but he has shown that he can play above the rim, averaging 2 blocks per game in his 2nd season with Louisville.

This move will probably make more sense as time goes on, but the Dallas Mavericks acquired another big man for the roster moving forward. We look forward to seeing what Onuaku can do for the team next year and hope he is able to get on the court some more. Let’s go Mavs!