NBA Trade Season: Mavs Should Keep Tabs on Slumping Bulls

The Dallas Mavericks need upgrades, but their trade asset cupboard isn’t the strongest. That means they’ll need to look for unique trade opportunities if they want to do something this season. The Chicago Bulls might fit that description.

Although the Dallas Mavericks are feeling good after blowing out the New York Knicks on Saturday to get back to .500, the team could still use some roster upgrades on the trade market.

The problem for Dallas, though, is that its asset cupboard isn't as strong as opposing teams might like it to be. Because of this, we've gotten the sense that the Mavs might be willing to take a patient approach and wait for the offseason after the final first-round pick from the 2019 Kristaps Porzingis trade finally (hopefully) conveys to the Knicks. That will open up much more pick flexibility for the Mavs, and in theory, give them a better chance of getting their foot in the door when it comes to big trade opportunities.

However, plans can change if the right opportunity presents itself, and the Mavs need to be keeping an eye on what's happening with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls, who were viewed as being a championship contender coming into last season, have underperformed and could be due for a shakeup. After fizzling out last season, Chicago has started this season off with a 9-13 record, and their star Zach LaVine has even voiced his displeasure with coach Billy Donovan's decision-making.

On Friday's edition of NBA Countdown, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski gave his thoughts on what teams around the league are thinking when it comes to the Bulls' situation.

“Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, I think those are all players — people in the league — teams are waiting to see: will any of them be available by the trade deadline,” said Woj. “Right now, this is a Chicago team that wants to make the playoffs, wants to get a healthy Lonzo Ball back. They are no ready to concede yet.”

We've written about a LaVine-to-Dallas pipe-dream trade scenario at DallasBasketball.com a handful of times over the last few years. Although that would likely be the No. 1 outcome for the Mavs if they were able to pull it off, they likely don't have the assets to meet what the Bulls would want for LaVine – at least not until the offseason.

However, if Chicago decides to shake up its roster while retaining LaVine, the Mavs could still try to work something out involving DeRozan if they believe he would thrive as the No. 2 man next Luka Doncic. Here's one hypothetical scenario to mull over:

Mavs receive: DeMar DeRozan, Goran Dragic

Bulls receive: Christian Wood, Dwight Powell, Frank Ntilikina, two future second-round picks

In an ideal world, Wood would get more minutes in a starting role for the Mavs, he'd sign an extension with Dallas in December, and everyone is happy. However, it doesn't seem as if that's how things are trending. If Wood doesn't sign an extension – or if the Mavs simply don't want to offer him one for some reason – then, naturally, he will become a popular trade candidate.

Although DeRozan is still a stud averaging 25.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 51 percent from the field, he's also 33 years old with $28.6 million guaranteed in the 2023-24 season. If Chicago keeps struggling and decides it wants to clear some money for the offseason, this might be an option, as Wood, Powell and Ntilikina are all expiring contracts.

In this scenario, the Bulls would likely want to squeeze a first-round pick or two out of the Mavs to get a deal done, but it's also likely, at least in our opinion, that the Dallas office would turn that down and continue to wait for the offseason instead of burning more draft capital now for a guy who is getting closer to the end of his prime.

We'll see how the NBA trade market develops over the coming weeks, as players who were signed in the offseason will be eligible to be traded starting on Dec. 15.

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