2024 Dallas Mavericks Offseason Preview: Upcoming Free Agents, Biggest Needs, & More

The NBA Finals may have just ended, but free agency and the draft are just around the corner. What moves could the Mavericks make?

May 30, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr. (55) reacts after a play during the second quarter in game five of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks' season came to a close on Monday with a loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. There is no time to sit back and think about what went wrong or what could've gone differently, as teams can already start negotiating with their upcoming free agents, the draft is a week away, and teams can officially start meeting with free agents on June 30th, less than two weeks away.

So what is the Mavericks' plan this offseason? What are their biggest needs? Who are some possible targets for the draft? What is their cap space situation? Who are their priority free agents? What could this roster look like next season?

We'll answer all of those questions and more in this offseason preview.

READ MORE: Former Cavs Coach Praises Mavericks' Luka Doncic, Possibly Shades His Former Player

Cap Space Situation

The Mavericks have a committed salary of just over $176 million, well over the maximum of $141 million, but just clear of the first apron of tax penalties at $178 million. They don't have a lot of wiggle room to improve the roster but could make some space with some various trades. With Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving each making north of $40 million, and five other players with average annual salaries between $11 million and $16.5 million, they'll likely need to trade away one or two of these bigger contracts.

Upcoming Free Agents

Derrick Jones Jr. is Dallas' only main free agent this summer after playing this season on a minimum contract. He emerged as a starter for the playoffs and was a big reason why their defense was so good in the final 20 games and throughout most of the postseason.

The Mavericks would love to re-sign Jones and he wants to be in Dallas, but what number makes sense? Overpaying to keep him does the team no favors in the long term, as you likely wouldn't want him to be your starting small forward to the foreseeable future. But as a third wing that can defend and provide highlight-worthy finishes, he's a perfect fit. The issue is, every team in the NBA is looking for quality wings and someone will try to overpay to get him to leave Dallas.

There will need to be a few trades to open up space to re-sign Jones, which we'll talk about shortly, as the Mavericks are only about $2 million away from the first tax apron. They do have the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception available this offseason, which is worth about $5.1 million, but Jones will get more than that. Ideally, the Mavs open up space to re-sign Jones, then use the MLE to sign someone else. While I wouldn't love the idea of re-signing him to a value north of $10 million per year unless his 3-point shot takes a major step forward this offseason, I think a 3-year/$33 million deal is around where this ends up to keep Flight 55 in Dallas.

Dallas' other free agents include Markieff Morris, Greg Brown III, and Brandon Williams. Morris could return on a veteran minimum contract later in the cycle, he was valuable to the team as a veteran leader in the locker room. The rest depends on what the Mavs can do in free agency and the draft.

They also have to decide on the non-guaranteed deals for Dante Exum and Jaden Hardy. Those should both be picked up and they're on inexpensive deals relative to what they provided the team this past season.

Biggest Needs

The biggest need for Dallas is easily consistent shooting. During the regular season, the Mavericks were about league average in 3-point percentage at 36.9%, but if you limit that to after the trade deadline, it drops slightly to 36.2%. In the postseason, they shot 36% but really struggled in The Finals against Boston, shooting just 31.6% from deep. The Celtics are a phenomenal defensive team, but the Mavs were missing open looks.

Josh Green took a step forward with his 3-point shooting, going 72/187 for the season behind the arc, but teams were still happy to leave him open rather than let Luka or Kyrie take a shot. The same goes for Dante Exum, who shot a whopping 49.1% from three.

Derrick Jones Jr. shot a career-high 34.3% from three this season but he still has a long way to go with his shot, P.J. Washington shot just 31.4% from deep in his 29 regular season games with the Mavs, and if you remove the OKC series, he shot 24/86 (27.9%) from three, and Maxi Kleber shot 34.8% from three for the second straight season, and hasn't been above that mark since the 2020-21 season. Kleber just isn't confident or consistent enough from three.

Part of the answer was supposed to be Tim Hardaway Jr., but after shooting 36.8% from three from the start of the season to the trade deadline, he shot just 31.5% from deep for the remainder of the regular season and 35.1% in the playoffs (if you take out a garbage time 5/7 explosion in Game 4 against Boston, that significantly drops to 26.7%). We'll expand on him more later, but the Mavericks needed more than this.

There's no role player on this team who other teams would consider to be lethal from three, which allowed Boston to hone in on Doncic and Irving in The Finals. That has to change. Getting elite shooters would help the spacing of the team tremendously.

The Mavericks could also use another wing defender, another ball handler/initiator (as this team was at its best at times when playing Irving, Doncic, and Exum together who can all attack off the dribble), and a versatile big man who can stretch the floor and defend multiple positions.

Draft Targets

With the Mavericks holding the last pick in the Draft, the 58th overall selection, getting a quality rotation piece is extremely unlikely. If they stay at 58, they're more likely to sign that player to a two-way contract. They could package No. 58 with their Toronto 2025 second-round pick to trade up for a certain player if someone falls.

It's been reported that they have some interest in Bronny James, but he seems likely to go further ahead of the Mavs' pick. If they stay at 58, some players that have been mocked to them include Trentyn Flowers from Australia's Adelaide 36ers, USC's Boogie Ellis, Kentucky's Antonio Reeves, and Washington State's Jaylen Wells.

The Mavericks have also brought in NC State's DJ Horne, Auburn's Jaylin Williams, Missouri's Sean East, and Pittsburgh's Blake Hinson for pre-draft workouts. There have been more workouts but the Mavericks do not report who they bring in, so these are all player/agent announced.

READ MORE: ESPN Mock Draft: Dallas Mavericks Select Prospect From Australia in Second Round

Trade Candidates

Tim Hardaway Jr. almost assuredly won't be a Maverick next season. He'll be on the last year of his deal, set to make a hair under $16.2 million, and was out of the rotation for most of the playoffs. They should've traded him at the trade deadline when he had more value as a player, now it's just an expiring contract. His value may just be attaching him to pick 58 and see if Detroit would do a small trade up to pick 53, or they could package some other assets together for a bigger splash.

Maxi Kleber hasn't been playing to the level of the contract he signed. In the 2023 offseason, Kleber signed a 3-year contract worth $33 million and still has two years, $22 million remaining. It would be difficult for the franchise to trade away a Wurzburg, Germany native, the same hometown as legend Dirk Nowitzki, but these new tax aprons make every dollar important.

They could package Kleber's contract, Tim Hardaway Jr.'s, the $4.9 million trade exception they have remaining from trading away Davis Bertans in the last draft, and the $4 million trade exception acquired in the P.J. Washington trade to get to $36.1 million in tradeable money.

It's more likely they trade Hardaway Jr. separately to free up space to re-sign Derrick Jones Jr., and then use Kleber and the two trade exceptions on somebody else, if necessary. Dwight Powell could also be used as a salary filler with his $4 million contract.

Josh Green would've been named earlier with his 3-year/$41 million contract set to kick in as a young player with potential and a good salary matcher, but he played really well in The Finals and gives the team a great energy lift off the bench defensively. Ideally, you're only throwing him in a trade if it's for a Mikal Bridges-type player, which isn't going to happen. Of the younger players, Jaden Hardy is the most likely to be traded, in my opinion, but I'd be surprised to see him moved as the Mavs remain high on his potential.

The Mavericks only have control over their first-round picks in 2025, 2026, and 2031. Their 2027 first-round pick is top-2 protected and was sent to Charlotte in the P.J. Washington trade (will almost certainly convey), OKC has the right to swap picks with Dallas in 2028 for helping facilitate the Daniel Gafford trade, Brooklyn has control over Dallas' 2029 first-round pick for the Kyrie Irving trade, and the Spurs have the right to swap picks with the Mavs in 2030 for helping facilitate the Grant Williams sign-and-trade.

As far as who they could trade for, they signed Matisse Thybulle to an offer sheet last season that the Portland Trail Blazers matched. Portland needs to rebuild and could look to unload Thybulle, who is a tremendous defender, but a shaky shooter. The gravity of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving would help open it up for him, but he's not likely to make a huge difference. If they were to acquire an asset from Portland, Malcolm Brogdon may make more sense. He could play alongside either Doncic or Irving in a bench role, is a career 39.1% 3-point shooter, and they could match his salary with Hardaway, Hardy, and part of a trade exception. Portland has a logjam of guards and there's no reason for an older player like Brogdon to be stuck on a rebuilding team. Brogdon would be more of a luxury than a need, but you never know.

There's been some smoke between the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans forward Trey Murphy III, who is a good defender with size, a great athlete, and a career 39.2% 3-point shooter. With him still having one more year on his rookie contract, it's hard to see how the Mavericks could pull this one off unless New Orleans is worried about their roster's future cap space (they're a notoriously cheap franchise) and unload him for Hardy, Powell, and a future 1st round pick. It's hard to see them outright trading a good, young player to a division rival, though.

Some other players that could be fitting for the Mavericks and have been rumored to be on trade block include Chicago's Alex Caruso, Brooklyn's Cameron Johnson, Detroit's Quentin Grimes, Atlanta's Bogdan Bogdanovic, Sacramento's Kevin Huerter, and Toronto's Bruce Brown.

Potential Free Agency Targets

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported after The Finals that there are some players out there looking at this Dallas situation and think they could fit in well there. This would align with players looking to win a ring in the latter stages of their career, potentially like Chris Paul if his deal is declined by Golden State, as he did well coming off the bench for the Warriors.

Another Warrior who could make sense is Klay Thompson. He's one of the greatest shooters of all time but "struggled" this season by his standards, shooting 38.7% from deep. Going to Dallas would be a major shift in offensive scheme, as Golden State relies on motion, while the Mavs like to use the gravity of Doncic and Irving to open up the floor for everyone else. If he were to come to Dallas, a deal in the 2-years/$20 million range makes sense, especially if the second year is a team option.

Here are some other minimum/Mid-Level Exception free agents who would make sense, broken down by position, and their most recent team in parentheses.

Backup Guard: Monte Morris (Minnesota), Patrick Beverley (Milwaukee), Kris Dunn (Utah), Tyus Jones (Washington), Kyle Lowry (Philadelphia), De'Anthony Melton (Philadelphia)

Wing Shooters: Malik Beasley (Milwaukee), Alec Burks (New York), Simone Fontecchio (Detroit, RFA), Royce O'Neale (Phoenix), Taurean Prince (LA Lakers), Gary Trent Jr. (Toronto, might be too expensive), Lonnie Walker IV (Brooklyn)

Versatile Forwards: Haywood Highsmith (Miami), Dario Saric (Golden State), Trendon Watford (Brooklyn, RFA)

LeBron James could decline his player option and play somewhere else, but it's hard to imagine him taking a minimum contract anywhere, even if it's to play with his son if the Mavericks were to draft him.

This should be an eventful offseason for the Mavericks, as General Manager Nico Harrison is not one to sit around idle and make small moves. He realized he has one of the best players in the world in Luka Doncic and there's no reason to be patient or save assets. Their time to win is now, especially with Kyrie Irving on the wrong side of 30 years old. They've done the hard part in acquiring the two lead stars, they just have to fill in the pieces around him.

READ MORE: Mavericks Interested in Bronny James Before NBA Draft; Nico Harrison 'Like an Uncle'

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