NBA Trade Talk: Mavs’ Hardaway for Celtics' Brogdon?

This proposed one-for-one deal has Dallas Mavericks' guard Tim Hardaway Jr. on his way to the Boston Celtics in exchange for former Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon.

Although the Dallas Mavericks have two superstar starting guards in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, they still lack a true secondary point guard to come off their bench. Last season, the Mavs made some small attempts to address that issue by signing Facundo Campazzo and Kemba Walker, but neither of those situations worked out.

If the Mavs want to fix their backup point guard position for the foreseeable future, why not kick the tires on former Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon?

In this trade proposed by NBA Analysis Network, the Mavericks gain the backcourt depth that they need, while the Boston Celtics get help with their lack of wing depth. 

The Trade: Mavs send Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Celtics for Malcolm Brogdon. No picks involved, just a one-for-one trade.

Brad Penner, USA TODAY

Brogdon would be valuable to a Mavericks’ second unit that lacks a true point guard. Jaden Hardy is labeled as the backup point guard, but he is more of a shooting guard at this point in his young career. And while the loss of Hardaway would leave a hole at the starting small forward position, Josh Green has proven himself enough to slide into that role. Green's size at 6-6 and defensive abilities would benefit a Mavs’ starting unit that already has its fair share of scoring.

As for the Celtics, Hardaway would be a valued scorer in their second unit. He’d be able to slide in at the backup two spot for a team that only has one true shooting guard on its roster in Jaylen Brown. Also, with the emergence of Derrick White, moving Brogdon allows the Celtics to give him more minutes. 

With a $22 million base salary compared to Hardaway's $17 million in 2023-24, the Celtics would net $5 million in this deal, which is always valuable to a team that just inked Brown to the biggest contract in NBA history.