D'Angelo Russell signing strikes dark line through dream Mavericks trade target

With the Dallas Mavericks' roster already being loaded, their free agency was fairly quiet, as they only signed D'Angelo Russell and Dante Exum. Signing Russell was a move that seemed like it was always going to happen, and the Mavs inked him to a team-friendly two-year deal on night one of free agency.

Dallas clearly has the utmost confidence in Russell to run the show while Kyrie Irving is out, while also complementing Irving once he does return, and it's safe to say that the Mavs likely won't make a trade for a player who seemingly every fan wanted this summer, Coby White.

White had an incredible year for the Bulls last season, as he averaged 20.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and a career-high 0.9 steals per game while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from downtown, and with the Mavs' need for more guard help, he would have been a strong fit in the backcourt.

D'Angelo Russell closes the door on Mavericks fans' Coby White hopes

Mavericks fans dreamed of Dallas trading for White to be their stopgap guard while Irving recovers from his ACL tear and then playing alongside him once he gets healthy, and with Russell now in town, it seems like they are going to depend on him playing that role.

It doesn't seem like the Mavericks will be trading for a guard this summer, as they are extremely high on Russell, and they have already made it clear that they don't want to trade P.J. Washington or Daniel Gafford. The Mavericks will likely roll with the roster they have heading into the regular season, and while White would give Dallas exactly what they need in the backcourt, a trade with the Bulls for him seems redundant when diving into everything that they believe Russell will do.

Dallas wanted to sign a starting-caliber guard who was capable of leading the offense for the first half of the season before switching into a back-seat role, and while White could have done that, it seems that signing Russell throws any chance that the Mavs will chase him out the window.

You need multiple high-level guards to succeed in today's NBA, as shown by this summer's playoffs, and a trade for White would have laid the framework for Dallas to have an extremely dynamic backcourt once everyone got healthy.

White's name has been in headlines recently, as the Bulls want to keep him around for a long time, but if they don't believe that they can keep him next summer in free agency, it may be in their best interest to trade him. The Mavericks should have been all over this at the beginning of the offseason, before signing Russell, but it likely would have cost them way too much to acquire White in a trade.

Mavericks fans had their eyes on several other guards in trade rumors as well, as Jrue Holiday, Collin Sexton, and Lonzo Ball were all linked to Dallas, but each of them got traded elsewhere. Even though White was never directly linked to the Mavericks, fans wanted him badly due to his ability as a combo guard, scoring, playmaking, and explosiveness, and he would have been a fun young piece to add as Dallas begins the Cooper Flagg era next season.

White's scoring in isolation, passing, shooting, and ability to create his own shot would have been highly valued in Dallas, as they still need more playmaking, and fans may have to wait until a different time for Nico Harrisson to consider making the Coby White to Dallas dream a reality. The Mavericks are in great hands with Russell, as he has quietly turned into one of the more underrated signings across the NBA this summer, and him joining the squad seemingly squandered the chances of Dallas seriously searching for a stopgap guard in the trade market.