Grade the Trade: Executive pitches how Dallas Mavericks could trade for Buddy Hield

Why the Dallas Mavericks would trade for Buddy Hield

Trading Josh Green for Hield stinks of desperation. The Mavs have lost seven of their last nine games, and they need more talent around superstar Luka Doncic to get back to the playoffs, but trading away Josh Green for a player that improves the team on only one end of the floor is a mistake.

Hield is set to make $1.5 million more than Bertans next season, but the Mavericks have $3.2 million more in room when factoring in Green’s contract heading to Indiana. It does not give them any more room to make moves in reality. They would be taking the minutes of Green and Bertans and giving them to Hield, but that does not make the team significantly better.

Buddy Hield is an elite shooter that would get a ton of open looks playing off Luka Doncic, but he would have to improve his defense to get significant minutes in head coach Jason Kidd’s rotation. The Mavs made a similar move when they acquired Christian Wood, and the results have put Dallas near the bottom in defensive rating this season. Do they want to make a similar move for Hield?

The Dallas Mavericks acquiring Buddy Hield just does not make sense at this point. They need another ball-handler, a center upgrade, and to improve their defense if they want to make another deep postseason run. Hield does not check any of those boxes, which results in a D-minus grade for this hypothetical trade.

Trade grade: D-minus

What will the Mavs do before the Feb. 9 trade deadline? Stay tuned for the latest rumors and analysis at The Smoking Cuban.