5 Trades Mavericks must make to get rid of Tim Hardaway Jr.

4. Mavericks swap wings for defensive upgrade

The Nets discussed trading a wing at the beginning of the offseason to free up more minutes for Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, but that has not happened. Brooklyn has a bit of a logjam. They could start Royce O’Neale or Dorian Finney-Smith next to Bridges, Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Nicolas Claxton. The other can come off the bench, but that leaves limited playing time for Ben Simmons, Lonnie Walker, and Darius Bazley.

Do the Nets look to clear that logjam by trading O’Neale or Finney-Smith for draft capital? The Mavericks will not give up their 2027 first-round pick because they cannot protect it. They would likely be willing to offer three second-rounders to get rid of Tim Hardaway Jr. and get a key defensive upgrade.

O’Neale would start for the Mavericks next to Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Grant Williams, and Dwight Powell. It would give Dallas a strong second unit of Jaden Hardy, Seth Curry, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, and Dereck Lively III.

Green could take the starting gig from O’Neale during training camp, but both would play significant minutes on the wing and the addition of O’Neale improves the Mavs defense. They reached the conference finals in 2022 on the back of their D, and they must find it again if Dallas wants to make a deep run in the coming season.

This is far from a perfect trade for either side, but it is an option on the table. The Dallas Mavericks would prefer to trade Tim Hardaway Jr. for a big man.