Rumors: Mavericks made 'underwhelming' trade offer for star center

The 2023 NBA Draft was a night filled with excitement for Dallas Mavericks fans as the team made two separate trades and signed one player after the draft.

The first trade came early in the draft as Dallas sent the Oklahoma City Thunder Cason Wallace (the No. 10 overall pick) and Davis Bertans in exchange for Dereck Lively II (the No. 12 overall pick) and a traded player exception.

This trade gave Dallas a much-needed rim protector, and they later used the traded player exception in a different trade.

Rumors: Mavericks made 'underwhelming' trade offer for star center

Dallas sent the traded player exception to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Olivier-Maxence Prosper (the No. 24 overall pick) and center Richaun Holmes. This gave Dallas a young wing in Prosper, along with frontcourt depth for virtually nothing.

This move by Nico Harrison was a great one, but Dallas even tried for one more trade later that night.

Dallas was reportedly in trade talks with the Phoenix Suns that were centered around star center Deandre Ayton. The rumored package reportedly included Tim Hardaway Jr., Holmes, and JaVale McGee, but the Suns backed out as they didn't want McGee in the trade.

These are all rumors at this point, and many people thought that the only reason the trade didn't happen was because Dallas wouldn't pull McGee out of the deal, but now there are more rumors from the Suns' side regarding this potential trade.

Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports reported that the Mavs "made an underwhelming offer for Ayton over the summer." This shows that the Suns weren't enticed by Dallas' offer whatsoever.

John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports also reported that Phoenix has "not been willing to move DA (Deandre Ayton) all summer because they think he fits well, and there were no offers that would change that."

All of these reports show that Dallas wasn't as close as people think to making a deal for Ayton, but it also shows that they tried. Last season for the Suns, Ayton averaged 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game.

Ayton would have formed a great big three in Dallas with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but Dallas didn't make a good enough offer to the Suns to make them want to move him.

Dallas has been rumored to be searching for a new starting center via trade all summer, and it looks like they'll be rolling with a center rotation of Dwight Powell, Holmes, and Lively II heading into training camp.

We'll have you covered with all the latest news and rumors surrounding the Dallas Mavericks this season, so stay tuned.