Goran Dragic Resolution is Coming Soon; Mavs Called Raptors About Siakam?

The Dallas Mavericks have been linked to Goran Dragic going all the way back to last summer. Will the Toronto Raptors trade him or buy him out? Will he end up in Dallas regardless?

Goran Dragic has been a name thrown into Dallas Mavericks rumors dating back to last offseason when the veteran guard was traded from the Miami Heat to the Toronto Raptors in Kyle Lowry's sign-and-trade. Ever since that happened, many people around the league have expected Dragic to end up in Dallas playing alongside his fellow Slovenian Luka Doncic in one way or another. Those expectations grew as Dragic left the Raptors indefinitely for personal reasons.

Even if Dragic is moved before the NBA's trade deadline on Thursday, it is likely that the team trading for him will ultimately end up buying him out anyway. Dallas has been content with waiting for that moment to arrive, assuming that they're the favorites to land Dragic. But should they be worried about him potentially going back to Miami?

DallasBasketball.com's Dalton Trigg and All Raptors' Aaron Rose got together to discuss the Dragic situation and the report stating that the Mavs called the Raptors about Pascal Siakam with just three days remaining until the deadline.

The Mavs have been linked to Goran Dragic for quite some time now. The Raptors are reportedly trying to trade him to avoid buying him out for nothing. What do you think about this situation from each teams' perspective?

Aaron Rose: All signs point toward the Raptors finding a new home for Dragic. Toronto has reportedly received a lot of interest in him, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, and there’s an expectation that it won’t end in a buyout from the Raptors. We just saw the Cavaliers turn Ricky Rubio’s contract and draft picks into Caris LeVert and I would expect Toronto to find a similar market for Dragic. 

The question Dallas is going to need to answer is will the team Toronto trades Dragic to buy him out allowing him to sign with Dallas or will t’’s still a talented backup point guard. That will depend on who trades for him, of course. The most likely scenario is A buyout down the road wouldn’ be shocking, but are the Mavs willing to wait and see or would Dallas rather move some salary now, free up space to re-sign Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith, and acquire Dragic before the deadline?

Dalton Trigg: Given that we’ve only heard about all the supposed interest in a Dragic trade from one Toronto-based source (albeit, a good one), naturally I’m skeptical of it since we haven’t heard any real details. It almost feels like a Masai Ujiri leverage play more than anything. I’m not saying a Dragic trade can’t or won’t happen, but that’s just how I feel about that particular report. It was pretty vague with no actual teams named. If the Raptors are attaching a first-round pick to Dragic, though, which is what has also been reported… that could definitely make things interesting.

The Mavs have been willing to wait for a Dragic buyout up to this point, and that still may be the case. But if Toronto is offering a first-rounder, I think it’s definitely worth re-evaluating for a team that already has limited draft assets due to the Porzingis trade in 2019.

What are the raptors looking to get in return? Would Tim Hardaway Jr. for Dragic work? THJ has had a down year for the Mavs this season before injuring his foot, but that may be due to systematic fit more than anything else. He shot nearly 40 percent from deep in the previous two seasons with Rick Carlisle at the helm. I think he might fit better in Nick Nurse’s system than he does in Jason Kidd’s system. And although his contract seems like a lot (four years, $72 million), it’s a descending-salary contract, which could be a real asset for a team in a year or so.

Rose: That contract is really the anchor around Hardaway and considering the Raptors are right up against the luxury tax, swapping Dragic for Hardaway and taking on money is certainly not what Toronto is looking to do right now. A deal like that would require Toronto adding more salary and that's where things get complicated. I can't see Toronto having any desire for a deal like that. It may be tough to find a deal between two teams both trying to win this year. Powell has probably played his way out of being a salary dump player, I’d assume. If the Mavs don’t see a sense of urgency to get Dragic, maybe there’s no deal here and Dallas can just see what happens after the deadline. 

Trigg: That’s a good point about Dwight Powell. Earlier in the year, I would’ve been all for the Mavs packaging Powell in a deal for Dragic, but like you said, he’s actually been pretty solid for them. The chemistry between Powell and Luka Doncic is very nice. If Powell’s arms were about 3-to-4 inches longer, his defensive production might actually match his effort.

All things considered, I do think it’s going to be hard for the Mavs to justify trading for Dragic if a THJ deal is off the table. And even then, they still might not be willing to just simply salary-dump THJ yet. If the Raptors trade Dragic to another team that eventually buys him out, here’s to hoping Dragic’s desire to play with his Slovenian ‘little brother’ is greater than his desire to return to the Miami Heat.

Note: Per NBA rules, Dragic cannot sign with the Miami Heat if the Raptors buy him out. However, if Toronto trades Dragic to another team, he would be able to join the Heat after being bought out by the team that traded for him.

A report from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto claims that the Mavs are now focused adding a stretch-four given that Porzingis has been revitalized on the defensive end of the court this season. Scotto mentions that Dallas called Toronto about Pascal Siakam… Is there any chance at all that something could happen there?

Rose: The short answer is no. Actually, NO. The Raptors aren't going to break up their core of Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, and Gary Trent Jr. mid season. Maybe there's a deal like that in the offseason, but it won't happen before the trade deadline. They've made it clear they want to see what this core can do this season and any big moves will have to wait until the summer. 

Trigg: I mean, look, I would love Siakam in a Mavs uniform. I’m somewhat known for my “pipe-dream” trade and/or free agency scenarios I formulate, but even I think the Mavs call to the Raptors about Siakam was just that - a very brief call. They simply don’t have the trade assets to get something like that done unless Masai Ujiri is impressed by Porzingis’ improved defense, which I highly doubt is the case. Even in the summer, I think it would be hard to swing a deal like that, but hey… I like that Nico Harrison is making calls just to check anyway. You never know in the NBA. There are a handful of deals that end up being about timing more so than which team has the better assets.