The one move the Mavericks made Wednesday afternoon, the last full day before the NBA’s trade deadline at 2 p.m. Thursday, may end up being their most notable.
On the daily injury report, the Mavericks ruled out Kristaps Porzingis for Thursday night’s game against the Clippers, his sixth consecutive absence with a right knee bone bruise.
In the meantime, many will continue to debate the merits of Dallas and first-year general manager Nico Harrison trying to make a last-minute trade.
Should they ensure some sort of return compensation before pending free agents Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith hit the open market this summer? Or should they stand pat with a team that’s 16-5 since its record dropped to 16-18 on Dec. 29 amid a COVID-19 outbreak?
But the franchise’s recent trade and playoff history indicates that the most affordable and most impactful path to boosting their support for Luka Doncic come postseason time already exists on the roster.
As long as Porzingis returns and can remain healthy.
“We’re going to be excited for the day that we’re all healthy,” Maxi Kleber said. “But we have a lot of potential.”
As the Mavericks crunch contract math over the next day, consider another number, too: Four.
That’s how many games Dallas’ full rotation has played together this season.
There were the first three games of the season, and then the Jan. 15 win over Orlando.
In between:
— Porzingis’ back tightened up.
—Kleber strained his oblique.
— Doncic sprained his left knee and ankle.
— Willie Cauley-Stein missed weeks on personal leave
— 11 players tested positive for COVID-19
Since their one-healthy-game reunion, Sterling Brown has missed 11 straight with left foot soreness — and he’s questionable to return Thursday. Tim Hardaway Jr. broke his foot and underwent surgery. Porzingis’ latest knee issue has passed the 10-day mark.
Whew.
Could the Mavericks add a new trade acquisition to the rotation before Porzingis returns? It’s possible, though unlikely to be a marquee addition.
Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith — the Mavericks’ two most coveted players outside Doncic — offer more value in starter production and continuity on the court than their current salaries ($1.8 million for Brunson; $4 million for Finney-Smith) indicate.
To trade one — or both — by Thursday would force the Mavericks to either include additional players in the deal to match the higher salary of whatever pieces they’d receive in return. Or to gather assets for the future, taking a temporary step back with an eye to the future.
The Mavericks, No. 5 in the West, are within 1.5 games of the No. 4 Jazz for home-court advantage but also just 2.5 games ahead of the No. 7 Timberwolves in the first play-in tournament spot.
Dallas has little cushion for future experimentation with the standings tight and with Doncic in one of the most productive stretches of his career after healing his ankles and losing weight since the start of the season.
The Mavericks also have a $10.9 million trade exception, which will expire June 27, available from the Josh Richardson deal and $428,854 remaining on a trade exception that expires Friday, which they created in the Wes Iwundu swap at least year’s deadline.
Trade exceptions, which cannot be combined, allow teams to take on salary without matching in return, but few players who might be available and who could satisfy the Mavericks’ needs have contracts that fit.
Coach Jason Kidd joked Tuesday about how he helped the Mavericks stay focused on winning their last three games before the deadline.
“Um,” he said, “I told them it was over.”
No moves in Kidd’s fantastical post-deadline world might be just as productive as the previous regime’s actual attempts.
Ahead of the franchise’s first two playoff berths under Doncic, former general manager Donnie Nelson made minor deals for J.J. Redick (March 2021) and Willie Cauley-Stein (January 2020) in hopes of upgrading 3-point shooting and center depth, respectively.
Neither Reddick nor Cauley-Stein played a minute in the following postseason.
But Porzingis has, and will again this season — should he avoid further injury.
After an all-bubble run during the 2020 NBA restart in Disney World, Porzingis tore the meniscus in his right knee during Game 1 against the Clippers.
He managed to play through it with stellar statistics the following two games — averaging 28.5 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 58.1% from the floor and 61.5% from three — but pain and swelling kept him from finishing the round.
Then, former coach Rick Carlisle used Porzingis — who never regained optimal strength and mobility last season after October 2020 knee surgery — as little more than a corner-3 decoy in the playoffs. The Mavericks still came one of Kawhi Leonard’s best-ever playoff games from winning the series with largely the same roster as now.
This year when available, Porzingis has played more in the post, at Kidd’s urging, to expand his scoring threat, help create for others and keep opposing defenses spread out. On defense, his 1.7 blocks-per-game average ranks No. 8 in the league.
The team’s hopeful addition of *that* Porzingis this postseason will cost them nothing but patience — and some more rehab treatments — at Thursday’s deadline.
