Grade the trade: Mavericks trade back in the draft and acquire walking highlight reel

The 2023 NBA Draft is just five days away and the Dallas Mavericks have to make the right move.

The 2022-2023 season was one of the more disappointing seasons in recent memory, and the Mavs have to get right back on track. One way they can do that is with their first-round pick in the draft.

Dallas tanked their final two games of the season last year to have better odds of keeping their draft pick, and they succeeded. They landed the 10th pick at the NBA Draft Lottery, but now they have to figure out what they want to do with it.

Grade the trade: Mavericks trade back in the draft and acquire walking highlight reel

At first, it seemed like Dallas would trade out of the draft entirely. People were speculating that they should put a package together for a player like OG Anunoby or Jarrett Allen, but now it seems like they aren't going to land a star-caliber player by trading their draft pick.

Signs are pointing to Dallas trading back in the first round while gaining an asset. Some rumored trades have been Bojan Bogdanovic and possibly the No. 31 overall pick for Tim Hardaway Jr. and the No. 10 pick. This trade is not ideal for the Mavericks, but it is a move that they could consider.

A more recent rumored trade from Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer has Dallas trading back to pick 15 while gaining a player that has career averages of 15.8 points, eight rebounds, and one block per game.

Here we grade the trade for both sides and discuss why or why not the Mavericks should make this move.