Mavericks’ 10-year veteran among top trade candidates without improvement

Dallas made a sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson, traded for Quentin Grimes, and signed Naji Marshall, and they have addressed areas that they needed to improve badly, specifically their defense and shooting.

Dallas’ signings of Naji Marshall and Klay Thompson have been praised as being some of the best value deals of the summer, but the team is still always looking to improve regardless of how stacked their roster is right now.

The Mavs are known for making trades during the middle of the season, and that has been true for the last couple of years, with their biggest trade being for Kyrie Irving in March of 2023. This move helped set Dallas up for the future while simultaneously fleecing the Brooklyn Nets.

Dwight Powell needs to improve to avoid being traded

Irving looks like he is here to stay in Dallas, but that can’t be said about a different veteran on the roster.

Fran Levia of Fadeaway World put together a list of players who could get moved next season if they don’t improve, and Mavs center Dwight Powell was among players who he speculated could be on the trading block next season.

While this is entirely speculation at this point, Powell is definitely someone who may get traded if he can’t provide value at center next season. Last season, Powell averaged 3.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 67.9 percent from the field, and his production took a big step back from what we’ve seen in years past.

Although Powell is behind Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford on the depth chart and doesn’t play much anyway, he has to provide good value in his limited minutes. He has to be ready to step in when both Lively II and Gafford are on the bench or if one of them is out with an injury.

Most of Powell’s value comes from the bench and off the floor as he is an excellent leader, but the question of whether the Mavs need two veteran leaders in Powell and Markieff Morris is starting to emerge. Dallas is expected to re-sign Morris at some point this offseason, and having two players who won’t be a part of the rotation and are there mostly for vibes puts the team in a bind when it comes to their rotation.

This isn’t to say that either player is unplayable, but it may be in the team’s best interest to only carry one of them on their roster in order to be able to sign players who can play more impactful minutes when needed.

Powell has shown flashes that he can be a great backup big throughout his career, and has even started, and the 2024-25 season will be tremendously important for him to show that he still has good on-court value to prevent him from entering trade rumors.

Powell re-signed with the Mavericks while taking a huge pay cut just last summer, but with the emergence of Lively II and Dallas’ trade for Gafford, he needs to step it up quickly.