Can Mavs Afford Celtics' Sign-&-Trade Asking Price for Grant Williams?

The Dallas Mavericks reportedly like Boston Celtics restricted free-agent forward Grant Williams, but if the price of a sign-and-trade is a first-round pick, Dallas should walk away.

Dalton Trigg | Jul 4, 2023

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Dallas Mavericks

As we await the start of restricted free agency on Thursday, the Dallas Mavericks have been reported to have interest in several players. Among those on that list is Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams.

Williams' situation is tricky, because he wants more than what the Mavs can offer without having to do a sign-and-trade, which is the $12.4 million MLE. But even if Dallas got Williams to agree to that amount, the Celtics could still match the offer and simply use Williams as a trade piece next season. Given that the Celtics have hinted that they will match offers for Williams, what would be the Mavs' price in order to keep that from happening?

According to The Athletic, the Celtics are wanting a first-round pick in exchange for doing a sign-and-trade. And if that's the case, the Mavs should call their bluff and hold off, despite their interest in Williams.

"Boston has been seeking a first-round pick in return for Williams, according to league sources, though it’s rare for a sign-and-trade for a role player to yield that significant of a return," Jared Weiss wrote.

As much as the Mavs would like to fill as many roster holes as possible this summer, doing something hasty like burning your only available first-round pick (2027) for a player of Williams' caliber would be a major mistake. Dallas has some good things going for it after getting Kyrie Irving to re-sign to a long-term deal and drafting promising young rookies Dereck Lively II and OMax Prosper, and there's simply no need to dampen those good vibes by trading a pick for another role player.

If the Mavs want to offer Williams the MLE, that's perfectly acceptable. He might have better offers, but if that's the case, you let him walk and look elsewhere for upgrades in free agency or trades. And if he does accept an offer sheet worth the MLE amount, Dallas should call Boston's bluff on matching.

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Published Jul 4, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.