Dallas Mavericks: Why the Mavs should buy low on Marvin Bagley III

What would a Dallas Mavericks trade for Marvin Bagley III look like?

Sacramento might not see value in Powell, but then again this is a team that just got spurned in trade talks by the Detroit Pistons. They’ve made Bagley a healthy scratch in their last three contests, presumably to keep him healthy while looking for possible trade suitors. Compounded by the fact that Bagley has made it clear he wants out, the Kings are not dealing from a place of leverage right now. This is where Dallas can take advantage.

There does remain the issue of whether or not Powell plays a part in other trade negotiations for a player like Andre Drummond. If so, Dallas could still try and fleece the Kings out of Bagley with even less valuable pieces such as Wes Iwundu or a rookie like Nate Hinton.

However, if Powell is left out of any other trade talks, he’s a solid way to make the salaries match with Sacramento. The Mavs can get rid of a net negative in Powell while receiving back another reclamation project in Bagley, much like the Mavs have gotten in former Sacramento big man Willie Cauley-Stein.

Now it’s not a given that Bagley is a keeper and perhaps he ends up being exactly what he was in Sacramento. If he continues to underproduce, the Mavericks could conceivably let him go after next season and call it quits after a year and a half rental with minimal risk. However, with the expectations for him here being much lower than they ever have in his career, it’s hard to see a situation where Bagley doesn’t overdeliver.

The Dallas Mavericks have made it known they are going to be active leading up to the trade deadline. They’d be failing to live up to that promise if they didn’t do their due diligence on this once-promising prospect.