The Dallas Mavericks continue their wheeling and dealing this summer. Under the tutelage of Masai Ujiri and new head coach Dusty May, the Mavs have made an effort to revamp their roster significantly.
Perhaps the blockbuster moves involving some of their veterans with trade value never materialized, but the Mavs added several young players with some upside to kick-start the new era of Mavs basketball.
On Sunday, the Mavs made a surprise move out of nowhere, sending Ryan Nembhard to the Atlanta Hawks for former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher, per ESPN's Shams Charania. In the same deal, Atlanta sent three second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire defensive standout Lu Dort.
Mavs add more quality and depth to their loaded frontcourt
This deal is surprising for a variety of reasons. The Mavs were already loaded in the frontcourt, but needed more depth in the guard rotation. Instead of balancing out the roster, the Mavs sent another point guard to acquire a combo forward. Nembhard had shown intriguing flashes last year and started 27 games. He was expected to be a bigger part of the rotation next season.
However, the Mavs presumably couldn't turn down the opportunity to acquire a 21-year-old former first-overall pick for such a low price. Even though the forward rotation is very crowded in Dallas, this was likely seen as an asset play. The Mavs could make subsequent trades to open up some playing time for Risacher.
P.J. Washington has to be considered the most likely departure candidate now. How well the Mavs do in a possible future trade may change how we evaluate this deal for Risacher.
On the court, taking a gamble on the youngster makes a ton of sense. Even though he hasn't been impactful in his two years in the NBA, Risacher hasn't been terrible. The athletic and physical tools that made him the first pick off the board are still there. There aren't too many 6'8" forwards who can guard multiple positions, handle the ball, and shoot.
The problem is that these skills are mostly theoretical for Risacher. He has hit 36 percent of his threes so far, but hasn't been a difference-maker defensively. He hasn't done a good job applying his length and athleticism to the court. He hasn't learned how to play with more physicality and intensity.
If he can do that, the Mavs may have a starting-caliber, two-way forward in their hands.
A big reason why the Mavs were able to acquire Risacher for so little is his contract. Even though he is on a rookie-scale contract, he makes $13.8 million next season because he was the No. 1 pick. His team option, $17.4 million for the 2027-28 season, will be a fascinating decision for Dallas.
While this makes Risacher overpaid for next season, the Mavs were able to absorb him into the $20.9 million trade exception created in the Anthony Davis trade, per cap expert Yossi Gozlan. As a result, Dallas is still under the luxury tax line and hasn't hurt their financial flexibility.
This makes this a big win for the Mavs. Sure, there is a chance Risacher isn't going to develop into a quality starter, but this is a worthy swing. The only thing keeping this away from being an "A" is the roster imbalance due to the loaded frontcourt.
Add us as a preferred source on Google