Dallas Mavericks acquiring Goran Dragic as part of Jimmy Butler trade

The Dallas Mavericks are acquiring Goran Dragic from the Miami Heat as part of the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade. Read the latest here.

** UPDATE** Marc Stein reports that the Mavericks will acquire Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones from the Heat and not Goran Dragic.

Dallas Mavericks fans had to wait a few hours for the next bit of free agency news, but it came on Sunday evening. NBA followers heard about the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade to the Miami Heat. The next domino was the Philadelphia 76ers signing Al Horford. That meant both teams needed a third team to complete their trade.

The Mavs appear set to be that team according to Ira Winderman. Brad Townsend later confirmed the deal. The full specifics of the trade have not been released, but Dallas will be receiving Goran Dragic. The deal cannot be made official until July 6.

Dragic and Luka Doncic are teammates on the Slovenian National Team. They helped their country win EuroBasket 2017. Dragic was also an All-Star in 2018.

The deal came as a bit of a surprise, though. Dragic is entering the final season of his contract at $19.2 million in 2019-2020. He also played just 37 games last season. Dragic averaged 13.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 27.5 minutes a night. Expect him to be healthier and play a larger role in Dallas in the coming year.

Dragic just turned 33 years old. The guard will be asked to play more off the ball and fill a mentor role for Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.

Goran Dragic has 35 games of playoff experience in his NBA career. He should improve the Mavericks on the offensive end, but there will be some major defensive questions. Stay tuned for plenty more on this deal as information becomes available.

The Mavs still have at least $9 million in cap space to improve their roster as well. Expect more moves in the coming days.

The Smoking Cuban will bring Dallas Mavericks supporters plenty of news and analysis on this trade plus everything else on free agency 2019, so keep checking back for all of that.