Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks need to find a consistent sidekick for Luka Doncic to play with. They had hoped Kristaps Porzingis would be that guy, but he has yet to live up to the billing after being acquired from the New York Knicks.
The injuries and ineffective play in the postseason have the Mavericks looking for alternatives and Christian Wood would present an intriguing one.
If Houston has any remote interest in Porzingis, the Mavericks should push to acquire Wood with Eric Gordon, as the salaries match up perfectly. Dallas has no first-round picks to outright offer Houston until 2025 because of the Knicks trade, but they could offer pick swaps.
Landing Wood and Gordon would solid move, as they would flip Porzingis into two useable assets. Dallas is looking for more scoring punch in their backcourt, which Gordon would provide.
Wood would give the Mavericks a young athletic center that can play off of Luka Doncic in the pick-and-roll and provide the consistent scoring they were hoping to get from Porzingis.
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While he is not as much of a household name as Porzingis, Wood would provide the Mavericks with very similar production but at a fraction of the cost. This would give Dallas the same salary cap flexibility they currently have while giving them a better future outlook without Porzingis’ max contract constricting their payroll.
