Mavericks Trade Rumors: Teams calling Dallas want two young pieces

Heading into the summer, the Dallas Mavericks were faced with the challenge of building a new roster around Luka Doncic, and the task was emphasized due to their failures this past season.

Dallas missed out on the Play-In Tournament entirely despite having Doncic, who made the All-NBA First Team, and trading for Kyrie Irving at the deadline, which was a huge risk.

Luckily for the Mavericks, they were able to re-sign Irving this summer to a three-year, $142 million contract, securing him as Doncic’s partner, at least for the immediate future.

On top of that, the Mavericks drafted Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, traded for Richaun Holmes and Grant Williams, and signed Seth Curry and Dante Exum.

It’s been a very active offseason for the Mavericks, but there’s a chance they could still look to make more moves in order to solidify themselves as legit championship contenders.

And if they look to add pieces via the trade market, they may already have two high-tier trade chips in place on the roster.

Mavericks Trade Rumors: Teams calling Dallas are eyeing Josh Green and Jaden Hardy

According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon on his podcast, “Howdy Partners with Tmi MacMahon,” youngsters Jaden Hardy and Josh Green are “very attractive trade pieces.” (H/t Michael Mulford of Dallas Basketball)

"When teams call the Mavericks, or the Mavericks call teams, the names that come up very early in those conversations are Josh Green and Jaden Hardy. Those are the players that other teams look at as far as being very attractive trade pieces.

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- Tim MacMahon, ESPN, Howdy Partners

Obviously, both Green and Hardy are integral pieces of the Mavericks and are slated to have larger roles in the rotation heading into next season, especially with how well they each played last year.

This past season, Green appeared in 60 games for the Mavericks and played a career-high 25.7 minutes per game. He averaged 9.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per contest while shooting 53.7% from the floor and an impressive 40.2% from behind the arc on 2.8 three-point attempts.

But his offensive production may even be overshadowed by his talent on the defensive side of the ball, as he is likely the Mavericks’ best perimeter defender, and he’s still only 22 years old.

As for Hardy, he’s been getting a ton of run in Summer League this offseason after playing in 48 games for the big-league club this past year, averaging 14.8 minutes per contest.

In Summer League thus far (three appearances to this point), Hardy has averaged 23.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 35.2% from the floor and 24.1% from distance.

Obviously, the 21-year-old hasn’t been super efficient, but on the main squad, Hardy’s shot profile should look a bit different, likely leading to easier looks due to the improved floor -spacing.

It’s easy to see why opposing teams are looking to snag Green and Hardy from the Mavericks, as both are still super young and full of potential.

But what should the Mavericks do? Do they keep Green and Hardy at all costs, or if a star becomes available, do they sacrifice one, or both, of them in a trade?