The Dallas Mavericks have been one of the most underwhelming teams of the season. They came into the season as having been to the Western Conference and hoping that the squad can keep that rhythm going. The departure of Jalen Brunson has really affected the team, as non-Luka Doncic scorers and dribbles are far and few, in the Mavs.
The big-man situation isn’t enticing either. Despite having bigs like JaVale McGee, Christian Wood, Dwight Powell, and Maxi Kleber, the Mavs have one of the weakest big man rotations in the league. Kleber was the best performing big and he is expected to miss time till February after suffering a hamstring tear.
The Mavs are looking to add a non-ball dominant scorer next to Luka in the trade market and might be looking at moving the expiring contract of Christian Wood to the Atlanta Hawks along with Josh Green and Frank Ntilikina for John Collins.
Someone at Heavy is reporting that the Mavs are looking to flip Christian Wood to the Hawks for John Collins in a trade that would send Wood, Josh Green, and Frank Ntlikina to the Hawks.
This isn’t happening.
— Josh Mazur (@MazurFocus) December 22, 2022
Replacing Wood with Collins won’t necessarily be a major upgrade for the Mavs. Both have defensive deficiencies and Wood has been more consistent offensively. In addition, the Mavs could re-sign Wood in the summer and give him a contract of 4 years, $97 million at the max, which is still less than what Collins would earn.
Is This A Smart Trade For Either Team?
Adding Wood to the Hawks won’t necessarily move the needle. Josh Green would be the best pickup in this trade, as the young versatile wing has shown tremendous improvement this season and still has a lot of room to grow. Frank Ntilikina could be a good defensive option on the bench. The Mavs don’t need to do this trade and might lock up years of cap space on a player that is averaging 12.0 points this season.
Collins just isn’t the player that Dallas needs right now. Kemba Walker has helped their ball-handling issues tremendously, but the team still needs to look for 3-and-D wings to maximize Luka’s skill set. A defensive center that can pull down rebounds and protect the rim wouldn’t hurt, either.
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