Luka Doncic might rise to the top if the Mavericks trade for Draymond Green of the Warriors.
With Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks boast one of the league’s most gifted star duos. Each player has the ability to step up and lead the attack any given night. But in order to overcome their current slump and emerge as a serious title contender, the Mavs require another glue guy—a player who can lead the defense and perform grunt labor.
Dereck Lively II, a rookie big man with less than 30 games played, has demonstrated some of these qualities by doing all the little things well enough to have an immediate impact for the Mavs this season, even though he is only 19 years old. Despite Lively’s impressive performance, the Mavs might benefit from having another player with his caliber and experience at the starting power forward position to complete the package.
To get right to the point, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, a four-time champion, might have the solution. At33, Green is past his prime, but he’s still more than capable of leading the offense and holding down a defense. The former Defensive Player of the Year is averaging 9.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists through 15 games this season, and he is shooting a career-best 42.9 percent from outside the arc.
For the second time this season, Green is serving a suspension. He choked Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves for five games in November of last year. Green’s punching of Phoenix Suns player Jusuf Nurkic resulted in his current suspension, which has kept him out of the game for ten games and counting. He is on an indefinite leave of absence and is receiving counseling until he satisfies the NBA and the Warriors’ conditions to play basketball again.
In any case, Green may need a change of scenery, and joining Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in Dallas as their “glue guy” would be the ideal option for him. It would appear from the NBA trade betting odds, which have the Mavs as the favorites to acquire Green in a trade.
It might now be time for something new, given his Golden State days are behind him and the Warriors aren’t the dominant team they were during the height of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson’s careers.
At this year’s trade deadline, Marc Stein of the Mavs said the team plans to upgrade its starting power-forward position. The Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam has “registered interest” in Dallas, but Stein made a suggestion that Siakam isn’t the team’s preferred choice. If Green is the player at the top of that want list, it wouldn’t surprise us in the slightest given the possible cost balanced against the potential risk and reward.
Even though Doncic is having an MVP-caliber season, the Mavs’ roster lacks the stability that would allow him to accumulate enough victories and acquire the admiration of the country’s media. In addition to helping Doncic and Irving become legitimate title contenders this season, Green might contribute to Dallas’ starting five becoming more consistent.