Mavericks must avoid Heat's tempting youngster in a Klay Thompson trade

There have been rumors about the Miami Heat's interest in trading for Dallas Mavericks marksman Klay Thompson, with many fans wanting Dallas to target Nikola Jovic in such a deal, but the Mavericks must avoid trading for the 23-year-old forward if they elect to deal Thompson to the Heat.

Jovic has flashed some potential in his first four NBA seasons, as he's a floor-spacing wing/big that's a solid athlete and can thrive off-ball as a cutter and play finisher. All of these things make him an intriguing prospect, and trading for a 6-foot-10 player who is as skilled as Jovic is a tempting proposition.

However, injuries have defined Jovic's short NBA career, and he's coming off the worst season of his career following a four-year, $62.4 million contract extension signed last October.

Jovic's clunky fit and injury history should be concerning for Dallas

Jovic played in just 47 games last season, which was actually the highest amount of games played in any of his first four seasons in the league, as he's only played in 47 percent of potential regular-season contests since entering the NBA.

While part of that figure can be attributed to trying to find his role in Miami at the start of his career, there's no doubt he's an injury-prone player up to this point, and Dallas already has enough of this type of player on their roster. To go along with Jovic's injury history, the Mavericks already have a ton of players at the three and four, and they don't need to add another one in the form of Jovic.

New acquisition Santi Aldama essentially mirrors Jovic's playstyle to a T, yet Aldama is far more efficient shooting-wise and is a far better offensive connector compared to Jovic. As much as it seems like Masai Ujiri and company don't care about positional overlap with this Dallas roster, a team can only have so many players with the same or similar skillsets.

Mavericks are better off finding a different deal for Thompson

With Jovic and Thompson's salaries being so similar, it makes sense why the young Serbian would be Mavericks fans' ideal target in a potential Thompson deal with Miami, but Dallas would be better off targeting a defensive guard like Davion Mitchell from the Heat in such a deal, or shopping Thompson for a better deal elsewhere.

Adding young talent should undoubtedly be Dallas' front office's top priority this summer, but they are far too overloaded at the same position Jovic plays already, and Jovic is coming off a season where he averaged 7.3 points per game with abysmal shooting splits of 36.6/26.9/68.3.

The good news is that Dallas has all the leverage in a situation like this, and they don't need to jump the gun on the first package Miami offers for Thompson, nor do they even need to trade Thompson to the Heat if they are able to field better offers elsewhere.

Jovic is an intriguing young prospect in a vacuum, but trying to finagle minutes for him in a crowded Dallas frontcourt wouldn't be ideal for his development, and the Mavericks already have enough injury problems on their roster to have to worry about another injury-prone player.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow