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

The Dallas Mavericks have the 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Their failure to capitalize on Luka Doncic’s success and the Kyrie Irving trade led to them missing the Play-In Tournament entirely, but it did land them a lottery pick.

Adding a top-10 talent from this year’s class is an intriguing idea. Guys like Dereck Lively II, Taylor Hendricks, and Grady Dick all have a ton of upside and could help the Mavericks next season and moving forward.

That being said, the Mavericks need win-now talent. If they want to capitalize on the talent of Doncic and Irving, surrounding the duo with as much veteran help as possible will be crucial this summer.

However, at the time of writing this, it is the day of the NBA Draft, and the Mavericks have yet to make a trade.

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

On the one hand, that could simply mean they are weighing all their options and will make a move at the last second, picking the trade they feel as though could help them the most.

On another, they could be waiting until the last second to see which team budges and gives up more in a trade than they were previously willing to, as some squads could be desperate to trade into this draft.

And on a third, maybe the market has dried up, and the Mavericks will be the team scrambling at the last second, giving up more for a worse return than they had hoped for.

Regardless, the day for trade has come, so here are five last-ditch effort trades the Mavericks could pull off with the 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

1. Mavericks trade for DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan will be heading into the final year of his contract next year, so the Dallas Mavericks would have a small window, but the Chicago Bulls wing would undoubtedly give them some extra star power.

Adding DeRozan to the duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving would give the Mavericks an extra scoring punch, as well as some much-needed talent at the wing/forward position.

It wouldn’t help them a ton on the defensive end, and they would still need to add a starting-caliber center, but DeRozan is an All-Star-caliber player nonetheless.

Getting back Andre Drummond in this mock can’t go unnoticed, either. He’s not a starter, but he’s a high-level backup, and as the Mavericks look to reshape their center rotation, he would be a help.

For the Bulls, this deal would help them kickstart a much-needed rebuild, as they are currently stuck in the middle of nowhere and could use an infusion of youth.

The 10th pick would give them a great opportunity to add a great young talent to start their rebuild with, and considering DeRozan is entering the last year of his deal, they might have to think about trading him regardless.

It’s not the perfect trade for the Mavericks, but it’s probably better than making the pick.

Potential starting lineups

Mavericks: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, DeMar DeRozan, Maxi Kleber

Bulls: Coby White, Zach LaVine Pick #10, Patrick Williams, Nikola Vucevic

2. Mavericks trade for Kelly Olynyk

This would be another imperfect trade, but it would accomplish two goals for the Dallas Mavericks - trading for veteran help while also staying in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft.

Kelly Olynyk would be a solid starting center option for the Mavericks. He’s not a terrible defender (better than most give him credit for) and would be able to space the floor on the offensive end while also acting as a solid playmaker from the big man spot.

Dallas doesn’t necessarily need Jordan Clarkson, but he would be a nice sparkplug to bring off the bench. It beefs up their roster a bit, at the very least. (Clarkson would also have to opt into his player option for this trade to go through.)

Plus, they would stay in the first round of the draft. Moving back to pick 28 significantly changes the type of prospect they could pick, but win-now guys like Jaime Jaquez Jr., Julian Strawther, and Andre Jackson could still be on the board.

The Utah Jazz have been looking for a way to move up in this year’s draft, and this could be the perfect way to do that without having to give up their other first-rounders.

Dallas needs veteran help and the Jazz would easily be able to take on the brutal contracts of Davis Bertans and JaVale McGee (which the Mavericks would also get to ditch.)

Potential starting lineups

Mavericks: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, Kelly Olynyk

Jazz: Collin Sexton, Talen-Horton Tucker, Ochai Agbaji, Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler

3. Mavericks trade for Daniel Gafford

Could the Dallas Mavericks capitalize on what is now looking like a complete teardown for the Washington Wizards? Absolutely. And this would be an ideal trade to do just that.

Daniel Gafford would immediately help solve the Mavericks’ center problem. He would be a great lob threat to put alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving and is on a great contract moving forward.

Washington may hesitate to give up Corey Kispert, as he’s still only 24 years old, but he seems like the type of guy who will max out as a quality rotation piece. For the Wizards, that could be worth trading away, and for the Mavericks, he would be the perfect wing on both ends.

Lastly, Delon Wright is an amazing bench guard to put behind Doncic and Irving, as his defensive presence would give the Mavericks a different look at that position.

Meanwhile, the Wizards would land a second top-10 pick in this year’s draft, as they already own the eighth pick. For a team looking to bottom out, adding young talent is everything.

Giving up Kispert could be the only hold-up, but if they were able to get into the top 10 because of it, Washington might pull the trigger.

Potential starting lineups

Mavericks: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, Daniel Gafford

Wizards: Tyus Jones, Tim Hardaway Jr., Johnny Davis, Deni Avdija, Pick #10

4. Mavericks trade for Keldon Johnson

Last summer, the San Antonio Spurs sold high on Dejounte Murray. Keldon Johnson doesn’t have the same value, but could the Dallas Mavericks try to pry him away from the Spurs?

In addition to their need at center, Dallas should be looking to add help at the forward position this summer. Johnson would fill that void, giving the Mavericks a great third-scoring option, too.

He just wrapped up the best scoring season of his career, averaging 22.0 points a night on solid shooting. The three-point efficiency could be a concern (just 32/9%), but he’d be getting much cleaner looks alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Dallas would also stay in the draft at pick 44, giving them a chance to add a nice young player on a cost-controlled contract.

San Antonio is the big question mark here, but a trade like this could allow them to add another great young player alongside consensus number-one pick Victor Wembanyama.

If they’re high enough on him, the Spurs could even look to target Bilal Coulibaly, who was Wembanyama’s teammate in France at Metropolitans 92 and has been skyrocketing up draft boards as of late.

Johnson’s name hasn’t been thrown around in rumors heading into the draft night, but if the Spurs like a prospect enough at 10, then this trade could be worth it for them.

Potential starting lineups

Mavericks: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Keldon Johnson, Maxi Kleber

Spurs: Tre Jones, Devin Vassell, Pick #10, Jeremy Sochan, Victor Wembanyama

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