5 last-ditch trades for Mavericks to flip 10th pick in 2023 NBA Draft

5. Mavericks trade for Karl-Anthony Towns

So um… this is insane. This is the sort of trade that seems super unrealistic until it isn’t. Could the Dallas Mavericks pull this off? Probably not. Does it make some sort of sense? Kind of, yeah.

Last summer, the Rudy Gobert trade completely changed the trade market. This summer, the Bradley Beal trade could do the same, just in the opposite way.

Karl-Anthony Towns is on a massive contract, and it already seems like the Towns-Rudy Gobert pairing won’t work. So much so that rumblings came out earlier this offseason that the Minnesota Timberwolves could look to trade Towns.

Dallas would fix their center problem in this trade, albeit at the expense of a defensive-minded big man. However, the offensive explosion of Luka Doncic, Irving, and Towns would be ridiculous.

If the Mavericks could manage to surround that trio with solid defensive players, they would have a real chance to make some serious noise in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves would hit a mini-reset, adding the 10th pick and Jaden Hardy alongside Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.

They would be able to stay competitive with Edwards, Gobert, Mike Conley, and company, but the future assets they’d be getting in this deal would help replenish the draft cabinet they emptied last offseason.

There’s a chance they could get more for Towns, but based on the return Washington got for Beal, teams may not be lining up to trade a million asset for the big man and his huge contract. (Towns is owed the third-most guaranteed money in the NBA.)

The Mavericks would be taking a big risk, but it could be one worth taking.

Potential starting lineups

Mavericks: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, Karl-Anthony Towns

Timberwolves: Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert