NBA Trade Rumors: Dallas Mavericks looking to make a deal

 NBA Trade Rumors: According to a recent report, the Dallas Mavericks are reportedly looking to make a deal leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline

The Dallas Mavericks are currently 16-17, and just two games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Even though not many predicted the Mavs to even be in the playoff race in the West, at least not this quickly, this is not a franchise that waits around and wastes seasons.

So as they continue to hang around the bottom of the playoff picture, led by rookie sensation Luka Doncic, it’s not surprising to see that the Mavs want to be aggressive in the week’s leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline if there’s a chance they can make a push towards the postseason in the second half of the season.

That’s exactly what they’ll do, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

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"The Mavericks want to improve their roster and are “open for business,” according to Charania, who reiterates that teams around the NBA are monitoring Dennis Smith Jr."

It’s not exactly know what the Mavs could be looking for – perhaps a big-name game-changer that  could help the development of Doncic, if Dennis Smith Jr. is on the table – but there’s no question that this team doesn’t want to be in the tanking game during the second half of the year.

While it may come as a shock to see that Dallas would listen to offers for DSJ, let’s remember that this team doesn’t have a ton of young pieces. They’re actually quite veteran-laden. Most of this team’s core is closer to 30 than 20, with the exception of Doncic and DSJ.

If the Mavs want to take a shortcut in their return to the payoffs, moving DSJ for a more established low level star or high level role player is exactly the way to do it. Whether it’s the right move to make at this point in their rebuild is an entire different story.

It’s going to be interested to see if the Mavs really are buyers at the NBA Trade Deadline, and whether they can land a piece that can catapult this team into the playoffs.