Threat to sign Indiana Pacers’ Doug McDermott: Dallas Mavericks
Led by generational talent Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks figure to be one of the West’s heavyweights for a long time. However, the team saw their title aspirations crash this year after falling to the LA Clippers in a thrilling seven-game series. Into the offseason, the cap-rich Mavs should be able to splurge in free agency to install better pieces around their superstar.
One thing that hampered Dallas this season was their subpar three-point shooting, registering a 36.2 percent mark on triples which ranked 18th in the association. The trade that sent Seth Curry away clearly bit them back, but so was the decline of Kristaps Porzingis and Josh Richardson whom they acquired from the trade.
Tim Hardaway Jr., one of their most dangerous shooters, will be in line for a hefty pay day this summer. They can easily re-sign him to a new deal, but it’s becoming clearer that Dallas needs a star to pair with Doncic. Assuming they accomplish that, they will still have loads of wiggle room to snag fitting pieces for their team. That can very well be Doug McDermott.
Banking on low-volume shooters like Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber to get the sniper duty is not ideal for a high-octane offense. McDermott’s quick trigger all over the floor and off-ball movement will easily thrive with Doncic’s playmaking. Also, he can arm the Mavericks with a switchable forward to avoid their overreliance on plodding bigs who don’t have the mobility to keep up with guards in switches.