Dallas Basketball

NBA Draft Rumor: Mavs Trade Down with Rockets?

The Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets made a draft day trade a year ago. Could they combine on another one this year?

Jeremy Brener

In this story:

The Dallas Mavericks are familiar with the Houston Rockets when it comes to draft day trades, and history has a chance of repeating itself tonight.

After trading Christian Wood to the Mavs a year ago, the Rockets are in conversations to move up in the draft order from No. 20 and Dallas could be a team to work with as it looks to acquire veteran talent.

The Athletic's Kelly Iko suggested a trade that would send KJ Martin, Jae'Sean Tate and the No. 20 pick to the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 10 pick and Tim Hardaway Jr.

Should the Mavs trade back and acquire veteran pieces, it would signal that the team is looking to return to contention after a year in the lottery. Luka Doncic could benefit from playing with an athletic forward in Martin, and as a restricted free agent a year from now, Dallas isn't inheriting much risk by trading for him.

With Tate, the Mavs would get a player who could defend multiple positions and take some defensive pressure off of Doncic and Kyrie Irving, should he return.

In addition, the Mavs' burden from Hardaway's contract would be relinquished. 

Hardaway, 31, has two years left on his contract worth about $34 million. By moving off of his salary, it allows Dallas to use some of that money either to re-sign Irving or acquire talent to complement Doncic a little better.

Giving up the No. 10 pick will be difficult, especially after all of the hoops the Mavs had to go through in order to ensure that they would have the selection, but this trade gives Dallas financial flexibility and depth to re-tool its team.

SUBSCRIBE to Mavs Step Back on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Catch up on the latest Mavs Step Back Podcast episodes:

Published
Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

Home/News