Dallas Mavericks: Should Goran Dragic be the backup plan?

The Dallas Mavericks shouldn’t panic after missing out on Kyle Lowry. 

Just a few days ago, the hope was that the Dallas Mavericks would be able to add Kyle Lowry and re-sign Tim Hardaway Jr. in an attempt to continue to surround Luka Doncic with the necessary supporting cast to possibly make a move up the Western Conference hierarchy.

However, with NBA Free Agency set to open later today, it’s pretty much a done deal that Lowry will not sign with the Mavs. According to reports, there’s a strong sense that he is going to end up in Miami.

Assuming those reports are accurate and that Lowry will indeed sign with the Heat, that leaves many teams, including the Mavs, in an interesting spot.

More from Sir Charles In Charge

• Dillon Brooks proved his value to Houston Rockets in the 2023 FIBA World Cup
• NBA Trade Rumors: 1 Player from each team most likely to be traded in-season
• Golden State Warriors: Buy or sell Chris Paul being a day 1 starter
• Does Christian Wood make the Los Angeles Lakers a legit contender?
• NBA Power Rankings: Tiering all 30 projected starting point guards for 2023-24

The Mavs were one of many teams in the market for a point guard this offseason. Under the assumption that Lowry, Chris Paul (who will likely re-sign in Phoenix), and Mike Conley (is expected to return to Utah) will be off the board shortly after the start of free agency (which is slated to begin August 2 at 6:00 p.m. ET), the Mavs will have to make a pivot quickly.

Who should the Dallas Mavericks pivot to?

If Dallas still wants to make it a priority to secure a point guard this offseason, it gets a bit dicey. If the top 3 point guards are off the board at the start of free agency, the next slate certainly comes with a great deal of risk.

The next slate of point guard free agents is as follows: Spencer Dinwiddie, Dennis Schroder, and Lonzo Ball.

With that second tier of point guard free agents, there is a strong level of risk. Dinwiddie is viewed as somewhat of an unproven talent and is coming off a torn ACL. Schroder reportedly wants a $100 million deal and perhaps views himself in a light that nearly no other team in the league does. And Ball, well he has his own complications due to the fact that he’s a restricted free agent and that the New Orleans Pelicans can match any offer he gets.

After that, there’s another significant drop-off to free-agent point guards that don’t exactly measure up as full-time starters – such as Derrick Rose, Reggie Jackson, and TJ McConnell.

However, there is one other point guard that could hit the market that would make a lot of sense for Dallas: Goran Dragic. The team nearly acquired him a couple of offseasons ago and would be a great fit next to Luka Doncic. The two have experience playing together for the Slovenian National Team and, especially at this stage of his career, getting to play next to Luka, one of his good friends, could end up rejuvenating Dragic in perhaps the final chapter of his career.

If the Heat ends up landing Lowry, it will likely come at the expense of Dragic (who will likely be used in a sign-and-trade and then perhaps bought out or rerouting via trade). Perhaps that’s the route the Mavs should take this offseason, assuming they miss out on Lowry.

Dragic isn’t a long-term answer at the point guard position, but he can be somewhat of a stopgap until they find one. Plus, he’d be a move that would likely make Doncic happy. And after the offseason the Mavs had, scoring some brownie points with Luka wouldn’t exactly be the worst of moves.

The Mavs need to avoid making the panic move and perhaps should pivot to a stopgap such as Dragic after losing out on Lowry.