The Dallas Mavericks have to wait for quite some time until they can see the duo of Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. Before the 2024-25 NBA season ended, Irving suffered a devastating torn ACL injury which ruled him out for the entire campaign. Because of his injury and the Mavericks missing the postseason, they were rewarded with the No. 1 at the NBA Draft Lottery
Without Irving, no one knows how Dallas will perform. That is why the team could make a move and acquire a backcourt player to pair with Davis. One name that was mentioned by NBA insider Marc Stein is Lonzo Ball. The 6-foot-6 guard has a two-year, $20 million contract with the Chicago Bulls and that could serve as a one-year rental for the Mavericks.
The final year of his deal is a player option and it would be up for Nico Harrison if he’ll give him and extension or not.
Pairing Ball with AD would make things easy for the big man. The former lottery pick loves to get his teammates involved and makes sure the star players he’s with are getting easy buckets
There’s alos history between the two. The Los Angeles Lakers traded Ball, including other players and picks, to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 for AD. It will come full circle if the Bulls opt to move the veteran guard this summer.
However, one thing to take note about is that Ball is often injured. The point guard missed the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons because of a nagging knee injury. Paired with Davis’ injuries, pairing them wouldn’t be the best move.
The Golden State Warriors were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this week. One of the reasons why they couldn’t last in the postseason was because of their lack of a true big man. Entering the offseason, the Warriors are rumored to be on the market to address their frontcourt problems.
One name that has been linked to the Warriors is Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report linked the two in his latest piece.
