Dallas Basketball

ESPN: Grant Williams 'Yapping,' Lack of Conditioning Led to Mavs Trade

On the latest episode of The Hoop Collective, ESPN's Tim MacMahon offered some insight on why the Dallas Mavericks decided to trade Grant Williams less than a full season after signing him to a four-year contract.

Dalton Trigg

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The Dallas Mavericks made two big trades before this season's deadline, swapping Richaun Holmes and a pick for Daniel Gafford with the Washington Wizards, and then sending Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a pick to the Charlotte Hornets for P.J. Washington. The latter move had more of a plot twist to it, given that Dallas had just made a big financial commitment to Williams less than nine months ago.

On the latest episode of Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective, ESPN's Tim MacMahon provided some insight on why the Mavs decided to move on from Williams via trade less than a full season after signing him to a four-year, $53 million deal last summer.

"I would say one of the ways that Grant Williams rubbed people the wrong way, the yap, yap, yapping, obviously, that's kind of part of it with him," MacMahon said.

Grant Williams, Dallas Mavericks
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

"Which it's charmingly obnoxious if he's productive, and it's grating when he's not, but he didn't report in good shape, and Grant Williams not in good shape is not a good defender. Grant Williams has proven throughout the course of his career, when he gets in shape he can be an impactful defender, but that's not the guy that the Mavericks got."

Although there was no direct mention of Luka Doncic or the Mavs, many fans speculated that Williams might have been taking shots at his former team after the Hornets won their first game with him on the squad.

“It’s great to get a win for the city and play for the jersey that’s across your chest, not on your back. Everybody touched the ball, we trusted one another," Williams said.

Luka Doncic, Mavs Speak on New Trade Additions P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford

Now, obviously there's a chance that Williams didn't intend for that statement to be taken as shade being thrown at Doncic or the Mavs, but given his swift exit from Dallas, you can't blame people for wondering if it was intentional or not.

As things currently stand, it looks like the trade was a good one for both the Mavs and the Hornets, as both teams are 2-0 since the deadline deal with all Williams, Curry and Washington making positive impacts. Hopefully both sides can move on with peace of mind going forward.

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Dalton Trigg
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.

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