NBA Rumor Tracker: Mavs Bring Back Cauley-Stein on Two-Year Deal

NBA Rumor Tracker: Mavs Bring Back Cauley-Stein on Two-Year Deal

DALLAS - Our Dallas Mavs NBA Rumor Tracker will keep you up-to-the-minute on Draft, trade and transaction talk ... with Monday opening up the player-movement window and the Dallas Mavericks and the rest of the league also prepping for Wednesday's NBA Draft ... Click in early and often and the "75-Member Staff' will keep you informed ...

SUNDAY 2 pm - Mavs bring back Willie Cauley-Stein on two-year deal

The Mavs and Willie Cauley-Stein have come to an agreement on a two-year deal worth a little more than $8 million total to keep the versatile big man in Dallas. Cauley-Stein insinuated to DBcom via our Mavs Step Back Podcast last month that he would be back with the Mavs if all went according to plan.

After coming over from the Warriors in a trade last season, Cauley-Stein’s chance to build chemistry with the rest of the team was cut short due to the season being suspended and him not being able to attend the ‘bubble’ due to the birth of his daughter. However, Cauley-Stein showed flashes in limited playing time before the season was shut down in March.

With Kristaps Porzingis being out until January, Cauley-Stein will have a golden opportunity to prove himself at the start of this season. Cauley-Stein has worked tirelessly this offseason in hopes of having such an opportunity. 

SATURDAY 8 pm - Mavs reportedly close to deal with Wes Iwundu

According to The Atheltic's Shams Charania, the Mavs are working on a deal with free agent Wes Iwundu. The 6-foot-6 small forward is entering his fourth NBA season after spending his first three years in Orlando. In 182 games with the Magic, Iwundu averaged 4.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. Last season, in 58 games, he averaged 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

This signing would continue the trend the Mavs are currently on, which is adding wing depth — something they lacked last season.

SATURDAY 12am - Mavs trade Delon Wright to Pistons for Trevor Ariza and Justin Jackson to OKC for James Johnson

The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to trade Delon Wright to the Detroit Pistons and Justin Jackson to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team trade. In exchange, the Mavs will receive James Johnson from OKC, while Detroit will re-route Trevor Ariza to the Thunder.  

Not only does this move add another seasoned, gritty veteran wing to Dallas’ roster, but it also keeps the Mavs flexible going forward, as they were able to shed Wright’s long-term deal and ended up with Johnson’s expiring $16 million contract. As crazy as things seem to be right now, there could be more to this one later on, but for now, Johnson will be a Maverick.

FRIDAY 8pm - Mavs re-sign Trey Burke

The Dallas Mavericks have re-signed point guard Trey Burke to a three-year deal close to a total of $10 million. 

After originally coming over to the Mavs in the Kristaps Porzingis trade, Burke left last offseason and spent most of last season with the 76ers. After being waived, though, Burke re-joined the Mavs in the NBA’s Orlando Bubble, and was a key player to the Mavs being competitive with the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. Although the Mavs still have work to do, this deal will be of great value to Dallas going forward.

FRIDAY 7am - A Shot at Bogdanovic?  As we explain here, we believe there is another Mavs move coming ... and we've created a "realistic wish list'' with names like Christian Wood atop of it.

But ... if the Mavs have a wish for Bogdan Bogdanovic? Now that the Bucks and Kings have apparently screwed up their deal, Bogdan is available.

And yeah, as our long-time columnist David Lord notes, there is a way.

Lord reminds that the cost given my Milwaukee in that almost-deal was not extravagant ... and that Dallas could create a package of, say, Delon Wright (who will surely be included in any upcoming Mavs trade) and Jalen Brunson (who Dallas would like to keep) ... and there might be a match. (Wright and Brunson allow the Mavs to take back a salary of about $16 million. 

What's Bogdan's cost? Maybe $18 million in a new deal, and maybe Dallas - which right now could use a big more than another wing - would prefer to spend elsewhere. Is Bogdan "redundant'' with Tim Hardaway Jr. staying? That's a legit thought, too.

As Lord notes - reiterating a point we often make - Dallas' moves need to be "Luka-friendly.'' Bogdan has a friendship with Doncic, so that's a fit. Put it all together? Yeah, it's worth keeping an eye on.

Is Danilo Gallinari in the same boat as a possible Mav? There are only a few teams that have cash to throw around (Atlanta, Charlotte and New York). If Gallinari doesn't want to play in those three places, he needs to be a sign-and-trade to a place he wants to go.

For Dallas, there are a lot - maybe too many - moving parts on Gallinari. But again ... worth a mention.

And one more (and again, this is our pipedream, not "sourced'): Does DFW native Myles Turner really want out of Indy? Can the Pacers see the value in, say, Maxi Kleber plus Delon plus in a trade?

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle loves Turner. The Mavs have always liked Danilo. And Luka is pals with Bogdan. ... all dot-connecting, with hopes that something comes to fruition.

WEDNESDAY 12:55 AM - Mavs Sign a Pair of Undrafted Free Agents

* Dallas added two undrafted free agents in the late hours of the night, grabbing University of Houston Wing Nate Hinton, and Baylor PF/C Freddie Gillespie. 

*Hinton Stands  6-foot-5 and weighs in at 210 pounds, and has the tools to be a defensive stud. At Houston, he averaged 10.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and hit 38.7-percent from three in the 2019-20 season. Hinton was signed to a two-way deal.

*Another defensive-minded prospect, Gillespie stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 245 pounds with a 7-foot-6 wingspan. Described as an outstanding team defender, albeit a late bloomer by our Richard Stayman, Gillespie averaged 9.6 points, nine rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game for the Bears in his last season.

WEDNESDAY 10:15 - BREAKING: Mavs Trading Seth Curry For Josh Richardson and Pick This is a wild one. The way we break it down:

*Dallas is getting Philly's No. 36 pick in the trade and will select Tyler Bey. Colorado's Bey was the Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2019-20 ... and with the three picks (see below), Dallas grabs all Pac-12 players.

Tyler Bey will be welcome in Dallas #MFFL pic.twitter.com/WpvmsBcmoJ

— Rich Stayman (@MavsDraft) November 19, 2020

*Philly, with new GM Morey in charge, is remaking the Sixers quickly.

*Curry was thought highly of here - but the Mavs, to their credit, are busting away from the "We Love Our Boys In Blue'' mindset.

*Speaking of love: It so happens that Philly's new coach is Doc Rivers - and Seth is married to his daughter, Callie.

WEDNESDAY 10p - Mavs Use 31 on Tyrell Terry Terry is a 6-foot-2 guard from Stanford who worked to gain weight up to 174 pounds. Last season as a freshman he averaged 14.7 points and shot 40.8% on three-pointers - and long-distance shooting appears to be a speciality.

Is he really "The Steal of The Draft''? That's what the good folks at The Ringer said coming into today.

WEDNESDAY 844p - Mavs Use 18 On Josh Green The Mavs are selecting Josh Green, the 6-6, 210-pound shooting guard from Arizona with the No. 18 pick in the draft.

Full Josh Green scouting report: been screaming this for almost a year now- my top Mavs targethttps://t.co/EaK8qaOmgL

— Rich Stayman (@MavsDraft) November 19, 2020

The Mavs Draft scouting report is above.

Green, 20, is a native of Australia - where both his parents played professionally - who moved to Arizona as a teen, where he played high school and college ball. He averaged 12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Wildcats as a freshman.

READ MORE: Green Thought He'd Be 'Great Fit' With Mavs

The Mavs thought highly of Green in the process leading up to the draft ... but of course can still end up flipping the selection. Listening to coach Rick Carlisle rave about him, though, that doesn't seem like the plan.

From Carlisle: “Terrific two-way player. Terrific athlete. ... What we needed first for our roster were wing defenders who can shoot, score and hopefully make plays. We feel he's a ready-to-go 3-and-D guy.''

Dallas drafts again at No. 31.

WEDNESDAY 4:22 PM - Mavs Discussing Deal With Thunder For Danilo Gallinari? From NBA Analyst Matt Babock.

The Mavs and the Thunder are discussing a trade that would send Danilo Gallinari to Dallas in a sign-and-trade and the 18th pick to OKC, per sources.

The Mavs were rumored to be involved with Gallinari at last year's trade deadline but were unable to come to an agreement before the time expired. Could tonight be the night that the Mavs get the Italian-born sharpshooter?

Along with this comes a report that another Dallas target, Danny Green, is heading to Philly in an Al Horford swap.

But in any event, the idea of swapping 18 for a top-of-rotation standout like Gallinari, a 19-point scorer, is in play - at least in concept ... as opposed to being "close to done,'' as of 4:40 p.m. CT.

WEDNESDAY - Aleksej Pokusevski, Anybody? From Jeremy Woo of SI on Dallas at 18:

Don’t be surprised if a different team ends up making this pick – as I’ve previously reported, Dallas has made it very available and is seeking a veteran rotation upgrade. But in the past couple days, the Pokusevski chatter has revolved around the Mavericks and Nets, in addition to the Thunder, who have had serious interest for months, but would need to trade up to land him. They would likely need to get into this range of the draft to do it. 

The Mavs are more than comfortable drafting international talent, and if they don’t move this pick, they could grab him here.

Pokusevski is likely a couple years away from making serious contributions, and there are concerns about his frail body type, but the upside, with his height and impressive ball skills, makes him a worthy gamble. I’ve consistently heard he intends to be on a roster next season, rather than return overseas to develop, which should have some impact on his suitors.

READ MORE: Our Mavs NBA Draft Big Board

Our issue with the Serbian 7-footer? He's 18. We don't especially want Dallas to wait two years before reaping benefits for a team that could win now.

WEDNESDAY - WCS Opt-Out Willie Cauley-Stein has opted out, it seems. The reasoning - and the latest on Tim Hardaway Jr. - is here.

TUESDAY 10a - 'Plans A, B and C' Dallas GM Donnie Nelson on Monday offered DBcom a slight bit of guidance regarding the multi-level mindset of the acquisition-hungry Mavs.

'We have targets, (Plans) A, B and C,'' Donnie said. "We'll see how the next couple days pan out.''

We think we can work on the assumption that a long-term "Plan A'' included Giannis Antetokounmpo ... whenever.

We also think we can work on the assumption that that Plan has gone in another direction now that the Bucks are building a Giannis-pleasing roster.

So ... onto "Plan A2''? "Plan B''? And way too early to downshift to "Plan C,'' right?

"Plan B,'' we can tell you, is actually a series of "Plan B2's.'' The Buddy Hield idea is surely on that long list of possibilities, but we wonder: Did the Bucks just monkey-wrench that out, too?

 Along with Milwaukee winning Jrue Holliday, the Bucks are also acquiring Bogdan Bogdanovic. What does that have to do with Dallas? In Sacramento, Bogan's presence was part of the clog that got in Buddy's way. With him gone, Hield - who has Dallas connections and would surely relish a trade to the Mavs - can find it more attractive to stay in Sacto ... and Sacto can make him promises as a "featured guy'' that didn't exist just a day ago.

READ MORE: Paging Buddy Hield: Will Mavs Make The Trade Call?

If no Buddy ... there are dozens of other options. (See below.) So ... No, the Mavs don't suddenly have to scrap all their lofty goals because of two Bucks biggies.

But it's a good thing Donnie and company have multiple Plans.

MONDAY 1147p - Jrue Joins Giannis Milwaukee continues to deserve credit: The Bucks took another step toward trying to keep two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo by trading for Jrue Holliday. The Bucks will send guards Eric Bledoe and George Hill as well as three first-round draft picks to the Pelicans. ... and now we wait for Giannis' next move, between now and Dec. 21 - will he sign the supermax?

If he does not, the hope that he could someday be in a Mavs uniform remains alive. But this Bucks' deal for Jrue is all about their confidence with Giannis. He wants a championship roster; the Bucks are giving him one. And it's likely that this trade was made not only with Giannis in mind, but also with Giannis as a "consultant'' of sorts.

Meanwhile, the Bucks' build continued with another move, as they are getting Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic in a sign-and-trade deal with Sacramento, per Woj.

MONDAY 1147a - Mavs Out On Jrue? The Mavs have interest. The fit is outstanding. ... from a Dallas perspective.

READ MORE: The Sense Of A Jrue Holiday Trade For Mavs

And ... Maybe the reason to climb into an involvement with OKC's talks with Phoenix is to obtain the higher pick it might take to win the bidding on Holliday.

But on Monday, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News writes, "I'm told Mavs are not in on the Jrue Holiday trade sweepstakes. One of the biggest reasons: Pels are determined to trade him to an Eastern Conference team. They don't want to compete against him.''

Maybe this is a way for New Orleans to "play hard to get.'' But here's betting that this is what the Pels are telling the Mavs ... at least for now.

MONDAY 9a - Lou Williams Rumor The Dallas Mavericks hold picks Nos. 18 and 31 in this draft and a helpful player from the Los Angeles Clippers floats atop the Rumor Mill, as according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, LA is among "several teams exploring a trade with the Mavericks centered around the No. 18 pick.'' Per the report, Clippers guard Lou Williams would be the bait.

But ...

On Monday morning, just before the opening of the shopping window, Mavs GM Donnie Nelson spoke to DBcom and said ...

"We absolutely 100% want to get there, but we don't want to do it at the expense of doing something stupid. We've got some really good, young, developing players. We're not just going to throw those guys or our draft picks aside and say goodbye to our future for a warhorse who only has one year left in the tank."

Maybe we should view guys in their mid-30's as "warhorses'' who aren't being prioritized by Dallas.

MONDAY 6a - OKC Dominoes Two centerpiece dominoes in a series of potential NBA trades belong to the OKC Thunder and their efforts to move on from Chris Paul. There are is a spider web of transactions that can be tied to that one, and to the Dennis Schroder trade as well.

READ MORE: The Mechanics - And Players - In A Mavs Trade With Thunder

But a secondary player in talks, sources tell DallasBasketball.com, are the Dallas Mavericks, looking to surf off an OKC trade by serving as a facilitator ... with possible opportunities to net a player/asset from a basket that includes Danny Green, Kelly Oubre, Danilo Gallinari and Ricky Rubio, and the No. 10 pick in the NBA Draft as well.

MONDAY 6a - Draft 'The Next Ginobili? NBA Draft expert Chad Ford calls him a "polarizing project.'' But he also says some NBA teams view him as "the next Manu Ginobili.''

Sounds intriguing enough to us, especially as Ford has the Dallas Mavericks using their No. 18 overall pick in this week's NBA Draft to select guard Leandro Bolmaro of Argentina.

READ MORE: Will Mavs Draft 'The Next Ginobili' at 18?

And yeah, if the Mavs think Bolmaro is "The Next Ginobili,'' they ought to go ahead and draft him.

Meanwhile, ESPN's mock has Dallas taking Aleksej Pokusevski of Serbia. Pokusevski is a skinny 7-foot, 208 pounds, but is just 18 years old.

Are these ideas "Luka Doncic-friendly''? In theory, though neither of those kids fits the "win now'' mantra that GM Donnie Nelson has used often in his conversations with DallasBasketball.com.

Mavs Pre-Draft Visits We can add Aaron Nesmith, Kira Lewis Jr., RJ Hampton and Tyrese Maxey to the bunch. Here's our scoops on other visits ...

READ MORE: NBA Draft: Mavs Hosting Halliburton & Bey, Per Sources

READ MORE: Mavs Hosting TCU SG Desmond Bane, per Sources

READ MORE: Source: Mavs Host Immanuel Quickley for NBA Draft Visit

NBA Trade Donuts Is "The Greek Freak'' on the verge of joining the Mavs? No. But will Dallas have Giannis in the back of its mind when it engineers other deals?

READ MORE: The Push Of Giannis To Mavs - And Giannis On Luka

Absolutely - and not because the other deals must include guys who "fit'' with Giannis, but rather, because other guys must be worthy of serving as "ammunition'' if and when it comes time to deal for Giannis, or any player like him.