Mavs Trade Rumor: J.J. Redick From Pels

The Mavs will, we bet, take bigger swing leading up to the March 25 NBA trade deadline. But piece-by-piece can be helpful, too.

DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks' eternal search for a "third star'' remains an eventual goal. But getting better piece-by-piece matters, too, which might explain the rumor that would have Dallas interested in dealing for J.J. Redick.

Redick, 36, remains one of the NBA's top perimeter sharp-shooters, a previous strength the team was willing to sacrifice on a bit when it traded Seth Curry to Philadelphia for Josh Richardson in the offseason. The idea was improve the perimeter defense, and that has worked to some degree.

But ... Dallas is now in the bottom-third of the NBA in 3-point percentage. Depending on the cost, the idea (mentioned most recently by The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor) is a viable one.

What would Redick bring to Dallas?

Like Curry before him, Redick is statistically an all-time great from the arc. He's also a capable scorer in general. The 6-4 guard averaged over 15 points per game for the Pelicans last year and in the season before that, scored a career-best 18 points per game for the Sixers.

As a spot-up shooter playing in the game quintet with Luka Doncic, Redick would figure to thrive in Dallas. Is he "ideal''? No, because "ideal'' would frankly be ...

1) Someone who is truly capable of joining Doncic and the erratic Kristaps Porzingis at the top of the Dallas totem pole; Redick would, instead, figure as a supporting-cast member. (It's been three years since he was a full-time NBA starter.)

2) Someone who, even in a supporting role, could also be an assist guy who feeds Doncic. Eventually, that player will be an organizational target, as the Mavs openly admit All-NBA first-teamer Luka carries too heavy a burden as the set-up guy who also largely creates his own shots.

3) Someone who also plays defense. That's just not Redick's forte.

The Mavs will, we bet, take bigger swing leading up to the March 25 NBA trade deadline. But piece-by-piece can be helpful, too.