Mavericks can't afford to waste these crucial offseason assets

Eleven days into free agency, the Dallas Mavericks still possess their two biggest assets that could improve their roster heading into next season: their $20.8 million Traded-Player Exception from the Anthony Davis trade, as well as their Non-Taxpayer's Mid-Level Exception.

Dallas could directly absorb a player with the TPE, but they can’t use it for any salary higher than $20.8 million, or combine it in aggregate to get multiple players. Dallas can use the MLE to sign any player outright so long as it’s under ~$15 million annually.

Dallas still has plenty of time before the start of training camp, but it's essential that they use one of these exceptions before the start of the season, as the current roster is far from a finished product.

It's no secret that Dallas is overloaded on wings, as they have 11 players who can play on the wing if one counts their two-way players as well. They severely need guard depth, given that Kyrie Irving is coming off a torn ACL and is 34 years old, but they struck out on some of the premium guards in free agency already, such as Anfernee Simons.

Mavericks must use their MLE or TPE before next season

Dallas just signed Tarik Biberovic to a standard deal, and they also acquired Santi Aldama in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. While both of these players project to help Dallas' lack of shooting, they don't aid the roster imbalance the Mavericks have.

Getting the best talent in house should be the Mavericks' priority above all else, but they don't own their 2027 first-round pick, so there's no point in severely overloading at one position and not being competitive next season.

The Mavericks made the Anthony Davis deal back in February to open up flexibility, but if they don't use the TPE from that deal or the MLE that deal opened up for them, it would be a huge mismanagement of assets.

Mavericks must add more guard help

Again, it's still early enough in the summer to not raise the alarm bells yet, but the Mavericks' shot creation and playmaking aren't going to magically be fixed by Irving returning, so the Mavericks need to do something else with their current assets to improve their guard play.

At this point in the free agency cycle, it seems more likely that Dallas would use the TPE compared to the MLE, as there aren't many free agents still available that should command MLE money, especially in the current guard pool. It has been mentioned that Dallas could wait to use the TPE until next season's trade deadline as well, but if they don't use the MLE, they need to use the TPE this summer.

There are other ways for the Mavericks to still improve, such as by trading one of their veterans who is on a bigger deal, like Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, P.J. Washington, or Daniel Gafford. However, nothing would be as seamless as simply signing a player with the MLE or absorbing one onto the payroll through the TPE, and the Mavericks would be doing a disservice to the flexibility they created from the Davis deal if they didn't use one of these assets this summer.

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