For a while, we’ve been writing at DallasBasketball.com about how the Dallas Mavericks bid for Detroit Pistons forward Jeramy Grant might make sense for all parties involved, especially if the Los Angeles Lakers’ bid to award Grant is the best Detroit has ever gotten. All of our reasoning on paper made sense, but there wasn’t much noise elsewhere as to whether or not it was something the Mavs might actually be striving for… until now, that is.
According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, the Mavericks are officially a team to watch as a Grant Scholarship student.
“One of the dark-horse teams that mentioned that they were interested in Grant is the Dallas Mavericks,” Pincus said. “With Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell, the essential pieces.”
As we wrote in our initial trade proposal, Grant is no longer the primary focus for the Pistons going forward since drafting rookie guard Cade Cunningham. To be fair, Grant wouldn’t be the The primary focus is in Dallas too, given that Luka Doncic is the #1 top pick, but very likely the team’s second-best scorer behind Doncic and a piece that lifts the Mavs from a playoff contender to a legitimate title contender.
A proposal of this sort would certainly sound better for Grant, who is at the height of his sporting activity at the age of 27, than to continue losing games as the Pistons’ top scorer. And while the Lakers are the Lakers, the Mavis are clearly the youngest and best team at this point in the season. If Grant valued winning and fitness, one would think he would have the Mavs on his list as well.
Our trade proposition offered Tim Haraway Jr. and Josh Green and the first-round pick went to Detroit in exchange for Grant, given that the Pistons had shown interest in Hardaway Jr. Recently last summer. However, dealing with players with shorter contracts like Vinnie Smith and Powell may make more sense for Detroit. Although not Grant’s top scorer, Vinnie-Smith brings many of the same things to the table at the defensive end, and many expect him to sign a new contract this summer for slightly less than Grant is currently achieving.
“The Mavericks have also been linked with (John) Collins in Atlanta and Marcus Smart in Boston,” Pincus added.
The mention of Collins isn’t surprising, as he fits right in with Doncic and has been linked to Dallas for over a year now, but it’s interesting to see DFW’s original Smart tie up with the Mavs this time around. Smart did not pay more than 40% from the field In three consecutive seasons now, his three-point shot has been on the decline since the 2018-19 season. Unless Boston is just looking to ditch Smart at this point, we’re not sure the potential pairing makes sense anymore.
Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for all the Mavs trade rumors and update report.
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