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22 hours ago
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Following a season where the franchise underwent a massive change, the Dallas Mavericks remain hard to work sculpting their roster. Ahead of the NBA Draft, they inked Kyrie Irving to a three-year deal worth $119 million. With this new price tag, the front office now has some financial flexibility to seek out backcourt help to start next season.
After suffering a torn ACL back in March, Irving will not be ready to compete when the 2026 campaign gets underway. Knowing this, the Mavericks have to find a short-term solution at point guard. According to recent reporting, Dallas might have their sights set on a former All-Star as Irving insurance.
On Wednesday morning, NBA insider Marc Stein detailed the latest regarding the Mavs' efforts in the point guard market this summer. He cited that Dallas is now viewed as a frontrunner to acquire Brooklyn Nets guard D'Angelo Russell.
More on this topic: Dallas is now regarded as a leading suitor for D'Angelo Russell, sources tell @TheSteinLine.
The Mavs can make a free agent run at Russell because Kyrie Irving's new deal has a lower Year 1 salary than his $43M player option.
As a former All-Star and starter for the majority of his career, Russell is someone who can provide scoring and facilitation in Irving's absence. In 58 games for the Lakers and Nets last season, he averaged 12.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 5.1 APG.
While Russell makes sense for the Mavs offensively, he doesn't exactly fit the identity the front office is so eager to build. Following the Luka Doncic trade, Nico Harrison cited defense as the path to winning a championship. Seeing that Russell is known for being a subpar defender, going after him could be seen as a questionable move.
Seeing that it is a short-term fix while they wait for their star guard to return, the Mavericks might be willing to overlook Russell's defensive shortcomings as they look for a stopgap option at point guard.
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