Dallas Mavericks start, bench, cut: Dereck Lively II, Richaun Holmes, Dwight Powell

Cut: Richaun Holmes

The Dallas Mavericks landed a traded player exception on draft night in the trade they made with the Oklahoma City Thunder and ended up using it later that night in a trade with the Sacramento Kings.

They traded Sacramento the traded player exception for the No. 24 overall pick (Olivier-Maxence Prosper) and Richaun Holmes. This trade was centered around Dallas getting Prosper, but grabbing Holmes in this trade was a nice addition as well.

Holmes had some good years in Sacramento, but during the backstretch of his time for the Kings, he had little to no role (he was behind Domantas Sabonis). It's unclear if Holmes will be able to return to his 2020-21 season form in which he averaged 14.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, but it seems like a bench role is most likely for him at this point.

Him beating out Dwight Powell could happen, but Holmes starting seems like a long shot unless he has a crazy training camp. Having Dereck Lively II as the last big man off the bench could also be counterproductive, so Holmes finds himself at the bottom of this list.

Holmes could be a player who fights for a starting spot and completely surpasses everyone's expectations, but considering that he was in trade rumors on draft night, it doesn't seem that Dallas has a massive role carved out for him.