The NBA's trade deadline is nearing on February 18th and it's unlikely that the Mavericks make a big move. Mark Cuban has said several times that the Mavericks like where they are, plus they don't have a whole lot of assets to move. And anyway, after last year's disastrous Rajon Rondo deal, Dallas might be just a little trigger shy. But still, regardless, the Mavericks will be on the phones.
This post will be constantly updated through the trade deadline.
Here's an overview of what the Mavericks might be looking for and what they could trade.
BUYOUTS
J.J. Hickson: will be bought out
Steve Novak: will be bought out
Lance Stephenson: will not be bought out
DeJuan Blair: will be bought out
Joe Johnson: will probably not be bought out
David Lee: will "almost certainly" be bought out
Kevin Martin: no word yet
Anderson Varejao: has been waived
NBA TRADES
All NBA trades can be found here
Analysis: This just makes it less and less likely that the Rockets will go on some late season tear and threaten to pass Dallas. They're sellers. (lol)
Feb. 16: Pistons trade Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova for Orlando's Tobias Harris.
Analysis: It's possible that this could open up a small fire sale with the Magic, as they look to unload a piece or two. Channing Frye is definitely a name to keep an eye on in case he becomes available. Beyond him, though, I don't anticipate this move affecting the Mavericks one way or another.
Analysis: That's a cheap price for Lee, so it might be worth inquiring about former Mavericks Brandan Wright or Vince Carter. Although honestly, I'm not even sure how much those two could help, given Wright's injuries and Carter being just about completely washed.
TRADE RUMORS
Feb. 18: The Mavericks might be a "dark horse" for the Kings' Ben McLemore.
Analysis: Hmm. I bet it still doesn't happen, but McLemore-for-Felton wouldn't be the worst idea ever.
Feb. 18: Donnie Nelson says that the Dallas Mavericks won't make any moves.
Analysis: Young makes $11 million and has three years left on his deal. Without trading Dirk, Parsons, Matthews, Deron or Pachulia (which they obviously won't), it would be very difficult to match Young's salary. You'd have to trade two of the three backup guards in Harris, Felton and Barea, which seems very unlikely, even if you got another guard like Shane Larkin back. Here's a potential deal I suggested on Twitter, but in all likelihood, I doubt this happens.
This is the only realistic way the Mavericks could pull off a Thad Young trade. Almost zero chance this happens. pic.twitter.com/pHWkyxyaBW
— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) February 18, 2016
Analysis: I doubt the Mavericks are interested with this roster, but interestingly enough, they did reportedly have a deal in the works involving Young prior to Amar'e Stoudemire becoming available last year.
Feb. 18: Boston "isn't willing to pay the premium" to get Dwight Howard or Al Horford so far.
Feb. 17: Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert are both expected to remain Cavaliers this All-Star break.
Feb. 17: The Houston Rockets are still shopping Dwight Howard actively.
Analysis: The Mavericks simply don't have anything to trade for Dwight. If they have interest in signing him this summer, which they may or may not, their best bet is probably that no trade happens, because all these deadline rumors make it unlikely that he'll return to Houston.
Feb. 17: The Celtics are the top candidate for Al Horford, if Atlanta does trade the big man.
Feb. 17: Kevin Martin hopes to be traded by the Timberwolves.
Analysis: The Mavericks are hoping he's not traded and, instead, bought out following the deadline. I think he'd be their top buyout candidate if that goes through.
Feb. 17: The Dream Shake doesn't see Ty Lawson being traded anywhere at the trade deadline.
Feb. 17: No Mike Conley buzz for now.
Feb. 16: Darren Collison isn't interested in leaving Sacramento, says Darren Collison.
Feb. 16: The Pacers are shopping Chase Budinger.
Feb. 16: There's a good chance that the Pelicans' Ryan Anderson is traded prior to the deadline.
Update: This trade is complete.
Analysis: Hard pass on the first two, but David Lee is a name to keep an eye on. In certain situations, he'd be an upgrade over Dwight Powell.
Feb. 15: Ben McLemore wants the Sacramento Kings to trade him.
Analysis: Our own Josh Bowe suggests a straight up trade of McLemore and Raymond Felton (plus a second round pick, probably), and honestly, I like the idea of that. McLemore is very similar to John Jenkins, except a bit bigger and a more proven shooter. While I still think the Mavericks don't make any trades, and Carlisle likes having Felton as a veteran security blanket, this is the time of small move Dallas could make if they like McLemore enough.
Feb. 14: Miami is open to trading Hassan Whiteside, who will be a free agent this summer
Feb. 14: The Celtics still aren't finding any suitors for David Lee, despite wanting to trade him.
Analysis: There's an argument to be made that there's no NBA Lee can really help with the way the game has changed, considering he a) doesn't play defense and b) doesn't space the floor. But I think the Mavericks could do worse at backup power forward than Lee, honestly, if they had him here and were playing him 15 minutes a game or so. The problem is, with Lee on the hook for $15 million this season, there's simply no way to get him here. The Mavericks don't have expendable parts that add up to that, not even close. Ah well. Moving on.
Feb. 12: The craziest trade rumor so far is that the Cavaliers, Celtics and Knicks are discussing a megaswap involving Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony. Yeah, I explain why that's not gonna happen.
Feb. 12: Chicago could try to make a "win now" move.
Analysis: Trading someone like Taj Gibson isn't a win now move, and beyond that, I can't imagine that there's any deal between the two teams that would interest Dallas.
Feb. 11: The Hawks are listening to phone calls from everyone regarding their roster.
Analysis: Earlier reports said Houston wanted to hold onto Howard. However, I'd side with this newer report from the trusted Adrian Wojnarowski.
Feb. 10: Magic are looking to make a "big move."
Analysis: If Tobias Harris became available, he's a name the Mavericks should inquire about, as unrealistic as that might be.
Trade Deadline
Feb. 10: The Hawks might be ready to "blow it up"
Feb. 9: The Kings rejected a deal involving Timofey Mozgov.
Feb. 9: Larry Sanders may be returning to the NBA soon
Analysis: Not explicitly trade related, but something to keep an eye on nonetheless.
Feb. 4: Pistons probably won't trade Ersan Ilyasova, Anthony Tolliver
Feb. 3: Dwight Howard to Boston doesn't make much sense
Feb. 2: The Clippers want to trade for Rudy Gay
Feb. 2: Don't rule out the Hawks trading Al Horford
Feb. 1: Mark Cuban doesn't "even know when the trade deadline is"
Analysis: Sure, the Mavericks are unlikely to make a trade. But we've learned by now not to take everything Cuban says at face value.
Jan. 29: Dwight Howard isn't getting traded
Jan. 29: Would Jeff Teague make sense in Dallas?
Analysis: We wrote about a potential Deron Williams for Jeff Teague swap, although that in all likelihood won't happen.
Jan. 29: Lakers' Roy Hibbert, Nick Young and Brandon Bass all available