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According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Dallas Mavericks are acquiring forward James Johnson as a part of a multi-team trade involving at least Dallas, Detroit, and Oklahoma City.
OKC is trading James Johnson to the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
Deal has a lot of moving parts and still has work to finish, per sources. https://t.co/88DcVcR1TV
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
Mavs are sending Delon Wright and Justin Jackson to OKC for James Johnson, as @TheSteinLine reported. Deal clears a roster spot for Dallas.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) November 21, 2020
One more time amid the madness so we're all clear:
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 21, 2020
Dallas gets James Johnson (from OKC)
Detroit gets Delon Wright (from Dallas)
OKC gets Trevor Ariza (from Detroit), Justin Jackson (Dallas) and draft compensation to be explained later
Johnson played last season in Miami and Minnesota but found himself moved to the Oklahoma City Thunder this week. Now, however, before suiting up in OKC, he’s headed to Dallas in a move that will send Justin Jackson to Oklahoma City, but Delon Wright to the Detroit Pistons.
Johnson is a versatile player who has slotted in at every position from the three to the five. He’ll likely provide more valuable bench depth at the wing as the Mavericks have been laser focused at bolstering their weak spots from last season. He did only play 32 total games last season and is 32-years-old.
Wright came to Dallas last off-season as part of a sign-and-trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. During the 2019-20 season, he averaged 6.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists to go along with 1.2 steals. Though he opened the season as a starter, he went to the bench for all but four other games and never quite found his footing. There were never any reported incidents, but he and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle never seemed on the same page as far as role.
When the season restarted in Orlando, he had a chance to earn a larger role with the injuries the team faced but could not capitalize. During the playoffs against the Clippers, he played in just four of the six contests and only played double digit minutes twice.
Jackson, similarly, couldn’t find a way to stick in the rotation in Dallas. His up and down shooting saw him shooting under under 40% from the field and scoring just 5.5 points per game in an offense that, in theory, should’ve created more opportunity for a player with Jackson’s skill set.
In just two days, the Mavericks turned their wing depth problem into Josh Richardson, rookies Josh Green and Tyler Bey, and James Johnson. To note, Johnson is an expiring contract and has already been traded once this off-season. Don’t be surprised if there is more movement this weekend.
Here’s our podcast which we’d started recording before the news broke, then react live to what all occurred. We get some of the particulars wrong because this happened as we were recording, but it’s a fun listen anyway. If you can’t see the embed below, click here.