5 Trades the Dallas Mavericks could make with the 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft

The Dallas Mavericks landed the tenth pick in the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, which pushed the first-round selection they owe to the New York Knicks off until 2024. This gives Dallas extra ammo to improve their team this offseason.

This looks to be a pretty deep draft, especially through the first 12 selections. After the first three picks are off the board, there are a handful of players expected to make up the next tier that are very capable of having an immediate impact on their future teams. Those guys (not in order) are Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, Taylor Hendricks, Jarace Walker, Cam Whitmore, Grady Dick, Cason Wallace, and Anthony Black.

That means the Mavs are in a spot where they are most likely going to be talking to teams across the league who are looking to move up and select a player that can provide a positive contribution to their respective franchises potentially right away and in the future.

Here are five potential trades that could give each side a worthwhile return.

5. Los Angeles Lakers

Why would the Lakers make this deal?

If needed, LeBron and the Lakers can potentially have around $29 million in salary cap space this summer, depending on what free agents they retain (D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Lonnie Walker IV, and others).

However, it would be extremely unlikely to see L.A. let all four of Russell, Reaves, Hachimura, and Walker IV walk this summer. This means that if they want to improve their team, they are going to need to do so either via trade or the NBA draft.

Adding an impactful lottery pick to their team could help them now and in the future. Guys like Jarace Walker or Taylor Hendricks could have an immediate impact on the Lakers' rotation and bolster their defense significantly.

Offensively, 3-point shooting has been an Achilles heel for L.A. since LeBron arrived. A player like Grady Dick, out of Kansas, would drastically reduce this glaring weakness.

Why would the Mavs make this deal?

Bamba is a player that has shown flashes of potential but has failed to live up to his draft-day hype. He almost averaged a double-double for Orlando in 2022 with 1.7 blocks per game.

As a bonus, he is a career 36 percent 3-point shooter and just turned 25 years old.

At 6'9, Vanderbilt is already a borderline elite perimeter defender, can guard almost every position on the floor, has a high motor, and could provide the Mavericks with a defensive presence they haven't had on this roster in over a decade.

He's a poor 3-point shooter, but at only 24 years old, has plenty of time to become respectable in that regard.

This trade would allow Dallas to dump the failed JaVale McGee experiment onto someone else, and get two guys in return that would immediately be a part of their rotation.

Both Bamba and Vanderbilt are free agents after the 2023-2024 season meaning the Mavs could part ways going into next summer if it doesn't work out.