Trade offer No. 2: Clint Capela for draft capital
In a second possible deal that the Dallas Mavericks could offer the Atlanta Hawks, Maxi Kleber and JaVale McGee would be sent to the Hawks to cross the salary boxes. The Mavs would offer up a slightly protected 2027 first-round pick in order to make this deal happen and sweeten the offer for Atlanta. In exchange, the Hawks would send Clint Capela to Dallas. Full disclosure, if the Hawks are able to get a first-round pick for Capela, it would be a huge win for the team.
At least in my opinion, if they were already offered that, I don’t see how this deal isn’t done yet. Expectedly, this is what I believe the deal hinges on. If the Mavs are winning to include a first-round pick, they will get Capela. After that, they could probably get a deal done by just matching salary without much else. However, from all indications, that doesn’t appear to be something the Mavs have been all too willing to do.
Capela does make the most sense for the Mavs, so it’s easy to understand why the Hawks continue to wait them out. This is just one potential scenario that could play out in the next couple of weeks.