Mavericks' Kawhi Leonard trade rumors are exactly what Cooper Flagg doesn't need

The Dallas Mavericks have shown trade interest in LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard (subscription required), according to The Athletic. While Leonard is undoubtedly one of the best forwards in the Western Conference, let alone the league when he's healthy, such a move doesn't make sense for a Mavericks team building around Cooper Flagg.

The Mavericks should not trade for Kawhi Leonard

Masai Ujiri said that every move Dallas makes moving forward will be future-based, and a trade for Leonard would be the exact opposite of that.

Dallas' rumored package for the two-time NBA Champion includes P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, and draft capital. While trading Thompson and or Washington this summer has been expected due to some rumors that have been flying around, parting with draft capital would be an extremely risky proposition for the Mavericks.

They already don't have many future first-round picks to begin with, and trading first-round picks for a player who turns 35 tomorrow does not line up with Ujiri's original vision that he stated for the Mavericks. Dallas doesn't own their first-round pick next season, meaning that they have no reason to be bad, but this doesn't mean that they need to rush this rebuild around Flagg.

He's just 19 years old, and if his rookie year showed us anything, it's that he's going to be one of the faces of the NBA sooner rather than later. The Maine Event averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the field, and he has a long runway ahead of him as Dallas tries to put a contender around him.

Leonard would help Dallas but not for long

A move for Leonard would certainly make the Mavericks better next year, but not for the future. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year is in the final year of a three-year, $149.5 million deal with LA, and he could leave in the blink of an eye following next season. This is exactly what he did with the Toronto Raptors when they traded for him while he was on an expiring contract, as he left them for nothing in free agency despite leading them to their only NBA Championship in 2019.

Ujiri would need to know that Leonard is willing to sign an extension with the Mavericks at the very least before trading for him, but even then, this would be an extremely nearsighted move that wouldn't fully optimize the assets Dallas needs to build around Flagg for the future.

The rumored players make sense, but not the draft capital

Moving on from Washington and Thompson for a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team is obviously a no-brainer, and the riskiness of this move will ultimately come down to the draft picks included in the deal. If it's just some pick swaps, maybe there's a case to make this trade.

If multiple first-round picks are involved, Ujiri and company should be running for the hills. Ujiri is the one interested in reuniting with Leonard, according to The Athletic, and this is the exact type of move that could make or break the early years of Flagg's career. The Mavericks need all of the draft capital they can get to build around their teenage superstar, and trading away picks for a player with a lengthy injury history does not align with that thinking.

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