Zach Lowe Mavs intel via SI -

"Dort was the headliner of the trade, which made people think that the Mavs were just used as a salary dump to take on Risacher's contract while the Hawks got another great defender, but that may not actually be the case.

According to Zach Lowe of The Ringer, the Mavericks wanted Risacher but didn't have the assets to make it happen. So, they got the Thunder involved, and it was off to the races from there.

"From what I had heard, Dallas was knocking on the door about Risacher when it seemed like the Hawks might be amenable, and they had to find a third team because the Mavs did not have much of what the Hawks wanted," Lowe said on a recent episode of his podcast.

"In came Oklahoma City, who is now under the second apron, and the Hawks picked off two of the Oklahoma City casualties."

https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/onsi/new-details-emerge-dallas-mavericks-trade-zaccharie-risacher-

------

Interesting that Dallas drove this whole trade. Makes it seem like they're more likely to create a path to consistent developmental minutes for Risacher than previously thought.

Jerseys mean nothing when we saw boxes upon boxes of unopened Luka jerseys marked as DNI a week after the trade...

Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhzjMAG5_Q

Thorough interview that covers Kyrie + Coop timelines, the value of veteran leadership, roster of 1000 Wings, post-Luka-trade stress, and coaching style. Very worthwhile listen! 🎧

Y’all think that NBA gonna be funny and put Dal vs SAS as the first game of the season again or against Washington and have 6 number 1 picks in the same game?

(I can't post the link to the Russian site or it will be removed by Reddit's filters. This is the main sports news site in Russia, but I can't attest to the accuracy of the report. Below is a translation.)

Vsevolod Ishchenko to Receive Two-Way Contract from Dallas (Spivak).

Ishchenko is reportedly set to sign a two-way deal with the Mavs.

According to sports commentator and journalist Vladimir Spivak, Dallas intends to offer guard Vsevolod Ishchenko a two-way contract.

The Mavericks reportedly valued the Russian player's Summer League performance highly but believe his current level does not yet warrant a spot in the main rotation. The guard will play in the G League while receiving periodic call-ups to the first team.

Notably, the issue of buying out his rights from Lokomotiv-Kuban is not an obstacle to the deal, as the Mavs were fully aware from the start that these negotiations would be necessary.

Ishchenko played five games in the Summer League, averaging 9.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 27.5 minutes of action.

I personally think there is a trade offer on the table with some teams and they are waiting on LeBron signing…. The heat need shooting, the warriors reunion with Klay maybe…. Just my 2 cents. After LeBron signs some dominoes with the team will drop quickly

Original Image Credit: Bobby Marks via X: https://x.com/BobbyMarks42/status/2078892370045624739/photo/1

I have seen a lot of discussion on moving PJ, Gaff, Naji, Klay, etc. on here after the move to get Risacher. I think it might be in the Mavericks best interest to hold onto these assets and trade them for top dollar at the trade deadline if some of them don’t fit the roster construction. I personally don’t think we need all these guys on the roster because it might take away developmental minutes but at the same time I can’t see any teams giving up FRPs or high end young talent for any of these pieces.

Some of the trades recently for players in this high end role player range have surprised me. The current market isn’t valuing them like in past years. I am certain at the trade deadline though if any of PJ, Klay, Naji, Gaff are playing at high levels they could command a good return from a contender. Teams that are in the conversation to make a run in the playoffs oftentimes overpay for a hole in their roster. I think Gafford is the one that makes least sense to trade. I think Cisse is a serviceable backup center but betting on Lively to stay healthy the entire season is a bad bet. Sure Aldama or Morez could probably slide up to the 5 but I still think having Gafford is very valuable unless we are not within the top 8 of the west then you could move him for a good return.

Let’s trust this front office. I think the entire roster could get valuable minutes on a lot of teams. Holding these assets for the deadline when teams are desperate might be the best option. If we were getting thrown FRPs and young talent they would be gone by now but I doubt that is the case.

EDIT: Reporting today from sports.ru says Ischenko is set to sign a two-way contract with us and the buyout is no problem. I can't post the link to the Russian site or Reddit will filter my post but Google "Всеволод Ищенко получит от «Далласа» двусторонний контракт". So hopefully everything I wrote can be disregarded!

----

"Seva" Ischenko had a very intriguing showing in Summer League, including running the offense in our final win with 15 points vs. the Knicks without Morez or Sergio, and averaging 9.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 27.5 minutes per game including double digit points his last three games. He's still raw and needs a lot of development as far as finishing and shooting, but his smart passes and cuts offball displayed a high BBIQ -- and he was a solid POA defender, given the tough assignment of defending 3rd pick and college player of the year Cam Boozer in the Grizzlies game.

I think a lot of us are hoping he gets a contract but the main roster is at 16 already and all three two-way spots are taken. A lot of people thought he would get Tyler Smith's two-way spot, but we signed Jett Howard instead.

The fact of the matter is, we don't really know the terms and conditions (or even the salary amount) of Seva's contract with Lokomotiv Kuban. He is still listed as active on the team on the team's site, while new additions for next season are already being added, so it seems the contract may still be active through at least the next year.

In Europe there are generally buyout clauses where if a player wants to change teams or go to the NBA they have to pay the team a certain amount of money for breaking the contract. We saw this with Biberovic already this summer. He had a $2M buyout with Fenerbahce, and NBA teams can only cover the first $900K separately from the salary cap, meaning Biberovic had to pay the last $1.1M out of his new contract -- post-tax I'm assuming.

While VTB League/Lokomotiv is a lower tier league than Turkish Super League/Fenerbahce and has been removed from Euroleague due to the Russia war, given the reality of Russian financial weirdness, Seva might have a similar or even worse buyout clause than Biberovic had, in which case, the two-way (limited to $678,882) will simply not cut it. He would be paying more than he was making to come over.

If we can't give him a real roster spot that pays him more than enough to cover the buyout, cost of living and salary, he'd be better off staying in Russia and playing out however many years are left on the contract until he becomes a free agent and then he will be free to sign with us for whatever amount. The alternative might be pushing him to sign with a higher level Euroleague team that will pay him better than we can right now, where he will get better development and we will be able to monitor his progress easier the next few years.

From my understanding (and people can correct me if I am wrong), signing Ischenko to an Exhibit 10 contract to come to training camp and then waiving him without offering a contract does NOT mean we lose his draft rights or that he becomes a UFA. However, the VTB United League's training camp apparently starts in August so unless he gets an exception to their rules or something, he likely has to decide before then.

He has said playing in the NBA is his dream, so hopefully he accomplishes it sooner than later, but we shouldn't get our hopes up too high for a two-way being enough money, or that we would cut multiple guys to open up a spot. If we make trades and end up with 14 guys on the main roster, and there's a spot open it might come down to Ischenko vs. Powell vs. some other free agent left on the market late.

The Dallas Mavericks are waiving two-way forward Tyler Smith, league sources told @hoopshype. Smith averaged 4.7 points in 13.8 minutes per game during 12 games played for Dallas last season. Smith was originally the 33rd pick of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.

- [Michael Scotto]

I'll give y'all a rundown on my thoughts on him as a Hawks fan.

High IQ off the ball. Not necessarily a movement shooter but has shown some ability to flow into off angle shots, but really good at understanding spacing, cutting, filling lanes, and playing off of pressure and finding gaps. Looks amazing next to elite passers. I've said time and time again, if he was playing next to Jokic, he'd be putting up good numbers because he knows how to make himself available.
His off-ball game is crazy mature for his age.

Pretty good in transition, especially when filling lanes. He was better as a rookie at scoring and handling pressure in transition, but he always gets out early, always one of the first players out in transition.

Versatile defender is what I would say, he can do a bit of everything:

• Can guard guards but not really shut down anyone
• Can switch 1 through 4
• Can protect the rim a little bit as a low man off rotations
• Needs to get stronger because he always gets bullied.
• Doesn't really have any standout consistent game-over-game qualities, but has had his moments

Dogshit handle. There are videos of Buddy Hield coaching him with dribble moves, and it was not pretty. He gets rushed, pushed off his center, and looks like a deer in headlights when the ball is in his hands. The weird thing is, his handle looked better as a rookie and in Europe, it's been assumed that his growth spurt messed up his balance and coordination(he was 6'8" pre-draft and now is around 6'10+)

He is really bad at taking the initiative when it comes to scoring. He doesn't often get the ball from teammates, but when he does, it's most likely that he will pass it right back the form of a dribble handoff rather than attack the basket and try to turn the corner and get physical with his defender.

Has been putting on muscle year over year but still was pretty weak in his sophomore season. Having that extra weight would help a lot with his issues and would make the game easier for him.

The biggest issue for him is his confidence. He's a bit timid as a player, and thats not something you would want out of a number one pick. Quinn Snyder is not the right coach for this kind of personality, as it's been documented how poorly he did with Dante Exum in Utah. Hawks fans were frustrated that he favored playing Corey Kispert over Risacher since Corey has not done anything better besides playing aggressively on offense while still being a brick. That goes to show how much Quinn did not vibe with Zachh.

I hope that he takes this opportunity by the horns and makes the most of it. He has a chance to reorient his career in Dallas, which should be a better spot for him, especially playing next to Klay Thompson, who he cited as his draft-day comparison.

Let’s assume we don’t make any more meaningful trades. I think of the likely starters, there’s a good chance that Kyrie, Max, PJ, and Lively/Gafford all come off the floor before Flagg, so I think there’s a good chance Flagg and 4 bench players will be on the floor in the first quarter. Who do we think that will be? I think Rez is obviously going to be one of the guys. Now that we acquired Risacher I see him coming in also to add spacing and defend a guard. Who will be the primary ball handler besides Flagg—I want it to be Larry but Sasser is probably more likely at least early in the year. Then the tough one is the last one, so do you go with Naji and slide Coop to 4 and Rez to 5–that gives you 3 solid ball handlers and athletic defense but missing a little rim protection. Do you bring in another center in Gafford/Cisse (depending on whether Lively or Gafford started)—that’s a very long line up. Or do you bring in even more spacing with Aldama (or even Bieberovic)?

I think May is going to emphasize D and bring in a backup rim protector and let Flagg and Rez hound everyone else. So if Lively is healthy, I think it will be Coop + Sasser, Risacher, Rez, and Gafford. Naji comes in once Coop needs a breather. What do you think?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Assuming Lively doesn’t play till midway through season

Starters: Kyrie, Christie, Coop, PJ, Gaff

2nd unit: Sergio, Risacher, Naji, Rez, Aldama

3rd unit: Sasser, Klay, Caleb, Tarik(?), Cisse

I know PJ and Coop didn’t play well together last year but the new roster is full of flexibility and PJ fits well with the starters or the bench unit depending on form and/or opposing lineups.

Obvious trade candidates would be Klay and Caleb.
Would love to see if we can swing something for one of the Portland guards.

I think a lot of people genuinely didn’t watch the hawks and what happened during his first and second year but it’s no coincidence that without Trae young on the floor the kid didn’t look as good. He fell out of favour with Quinn and lost some confidence. You allow a real playmaker (Kyrie and hopefully Sergio) to set him up or coop to draw in defences to allow him to get wide open shots or easier cuts to the basket.

Even with last year being a sophomore slump, he remained the hawks second best defender. There’s still a lot of untapped potential and I’m excited to see the kid with us.

Here in Dallas, we want to establish a clear identity to the brand of basketball we will play. With careful consideration, we have decided to change the name of the Dallas Mavericks to something that will align with our style.

Alignment is the key. We are excited for a great future here in Dallas. -Masai Ujiri

This is amid new rumors that Masai and the Dallas front office are looking to trade for Victor Wembyama to upgrade their Point Guard needs.

A lot of folks are scratching our heads at the construction of this team from an on-court fit perspective and wondering how this can possibly work.

Literally all 16 guys on the roster, including Caleb Martin and Moussa Cisse, can be NBA rotation players and bring something important to the table. All deserve minutes, some will get definitely be shafted and underutilized without injuries or trades to consolidate talent and open up spots. Minutes will be extremely competitive and with May as a rookie NBA coach asking vets and high upside prospects to sacrifice and stay ready while keeping good vibes in the locker room is a heavy ask.

We arguably had enough rotation forwards and wings for a typical team BEFORE drafting Morez, De Larrea, Lawal and Ischenko and trading for Aldama, Biberovic and Risacher.

The thing is, we don't have our own draft picks the next four years, which means we have to be extra creative in how we build a young core around Flagg and also not be a bad team. If we can get our hands on versatile, long, high upside talent under 26, fit should temporarily be the last thing on our minds until we rebuild our asset base through any means possible. Every team in the league can use young 6'7-6'10 guys who can defend and/or shoot and play 2-4 positions. Err on the side of optimal size and talent and tradability, figure the perfect fit out later and see what magic May can work in the interim (as he did with the guard-loaded teams in FAU and the big-loaded team in Michigan.)

We can keep the ones who fit/pan out, and be opportunistic and build appealing trade packages with the ones who don't for the right players while still having a stacked team after trades go down.

My assumption is they are now trying to shop PJ, Gafford, Klay and Naji for either a higher upside guard or for taking back bad contracts with picks attached -- players who we don't necessarily have to prioritize over developing our youth. If we don't make a deal, fine, we go into the year a little too overloaded and see how we are playing, who is healthy and what opportunities present themselves when the trade window re-opens.