Mavericks' roster crunch will soon force some brutal goodbyes

With the Dallas Mavericks' offseason in full swing with the NBA Draft Lottery and Combine quickly approaching, little do fans know that their roster is much tighter than anyone realizes. The Mavericks have tons of work to do to put the right roster around Cooper Flagg ahead of his second season after winning Rookie of the Year, but not much room to do it.

Dallas is running out of roster spots

Dallas has four free agents (Dwight Powell, Brandon Williams, Khris Middleton, and Marvin Bagley III), usually meaning that they'll be able to re-sign some of them or sign new players in free agency, but that isn't entirely the case.

The Mavericks have two first-round picks in this summer's draft, and if they keep both of those picks, they'll only have two more standard roster spots to fill. Even if they wanted to bring back all of their free agents, they couldn't.

Middleton, Williams, Powell, and Bagley III all have their own reasons for why they should be brought back. Bagley III would give them much-needed depth and 3-point shooting in their frontcourt. Middleton would bring three-level scoring and a championship pedigree off the bench. Powell is one of the most beloved Mavericks ever, and Williams' speed and ball handling have him drawing Kyrie Irving comparisons.

Losing any of these players is going to hurt, and this is the blessing and curse of having extra draft capital this year.

First-round picks are required to be signed to standard contracts, meaning that even though they have one two-way roster spot available, they'd both count toward Dallas' 15-man roster.

This leaves the Mavericks with just two roster spots and tons of holes to fill. They have to improve their 3-point shooting, guard depth, and perimeter defense if they hope to contend next season, and whoever their next GM is will have tons of choices to make.

The NBA Draft could make or break their offseason

Will they prioritize guard and wing depth in the draft so they can re-sign Bagley III or Moussa Cisse? Or will they target a guard with their lottery pick and draft a big with their second first-round pick? The possibilities are endless, but what Dallas does after the draft is what really matters.

They have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to utilize, which should help them land a high-level free agent, and they have to hit on this signing. This is their best chance at bringing in a player who can help them right away, and there should be plenty of options hitting the open market.

Dallas could obviously make a trade to free up some roster space as well, but when it comes to free agency and the draft, they have to make the right moves.

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