Trade No. 3 – Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets Receive: C Dwight Powell, F Dorian Finney-Smith, DAL 2022 2nd Round Pick
Dallas Mavericks Receive: G/F Eric Gordon
Shooting was a big success of this Mavericks team last year and while they have some new faces this NBA season, they still need to add some scoring/shooting depth on the wing if they are to be as successful as they hope.
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. Dwight Powell and Dorian Finney-Smith’s contracts add up to about $15M in total this season, making the acquisition of Gordon cost the Mavs an extra $1.7M in salaries.
Overall though, Eric Gordon could contribute immediately to a Mavericks team that struggles to shoot the three-ball, only shooting 34.8% from beyond-the-arc this season. Over the course of his career, Gordon has shot 36.9% from three-point range and while he could be a great catch-and-shoot option next to Luka Doncic, he could also step up into a bigger role as the third reliable scoring option with the Mavericks.
When the Rockets made the Western Conference Finals in 2018, they were led by James Harden and Chris Paul, but the third dynamic shooter and scorer on that roster was Eric Gordon. Much like the situation in Dallas, where the Mavericks are led by Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, Gordon could thrive once again in this type of role.
With Kristaps Porzingis healthy and Willie Cauley-Stein getting more and more playing time, Dwight Powell could see his production with the Mavericks begin to decline, as well as his role. Trading him would not be too much of a loss on Dallas’ end of things and trading away Dorian Finney-Smith for a better offensive weapon in Eric Gordon makes a ton of sense.
Seeing that Houston would like to “tank” for higher draft picks and that they want to keep acquiring draft assets, this trade makes a ton of sense for them, as they free up cap space moving forward as well.
