With Kristaps Porzingis set to return to action after recovering from a meniscus injury suffered in the NBA Bubble last summer, the Dallas Mavericks should finally be getting back to full strength. In his absence, Luka Doncic has been fantastic and has started off his MVP caliber season on the right foot, but the Mavericks are just 5-4 this season.
A lot of their struggles have been in the frontcourt, as not having Kristaps Porzingis definitely affects them on both ends of the court, but they also have not the same shooting team as they were last season. After shooting 36.7% from deep last season, ranking 10th in the NBA, Dallas is only shooting 32.2% from deep this season, ranking them 27th in the league.
Guys like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Josh Richardson will be counted on all season long to pick up the slack shooting from the perimeter, but unless this team adds more talent in their frontcourt, they will not be as successful as they could be.
The Mavericks are in a tough spot financially, as they are $18.2M over the salary cap and $5.2M under the tax threshold, but they do have some bigger contracts that could potentially be moved to help better their roster. Dallas is going to have to find another big man to pair with Kristaps Porzingis in the frontcourt, especially since nobody has stepped up in his absence.
Julius Randle has looked like a legit NBA All-Star player this season for the New York Knicks and with his value being as high as it could get, they may be interested in listening to offers for him near the trade deadline this season. He could thrive alongside a playmaker like Luka Doncic.
Randle could definitely be a trade target for the Mavericks and as a result, let’s take a look at what a Knicks-Mavericks trade would look like revolving around Julius Randle.
