Dallas Mavericks: 5 cheap options in 2017 NBA free agency
By Simon Smith
With the Dallas Mavericks trying to maintain salary cap flexibility moving forward, here are five cheap options in 2017 NBA free agency.
If there were any doubts remaining as to the Dallas Mavericks‘ intentions moving forward, owner Mark Cuban promptly erased them.
In attendance at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Cuban spoke with the ESPN broadcasting team about the direction in which the franchise was headed, next season and beyond.
"“We’re rebuilding. Right? There’s no question about it. If we were in the East, we would not be rebuilding. We’d be handling things completely different. I think I’m going to kidnap [commissioner] Adam Silver and not let him out until he moves us to the Eastern Conference. Given where we are, given where the [Golden State] Warriors are and what’s happening in the Western Conference, it kind of sealed what we have to do.”"
In essence, the Mavericks have now joined a long list of teams around the league who are rebuilding in the knowledge that the Warriors’ dominance is bound to continue for the foreseeable future.
"We're rebuilding. And if we were in the East we would not be rebuilding." –Mark Cubanhttps://t.co/lZ4NWgenL8
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 9, 2017
After selecting Dennis Smith Jr. with the No. 9 overall pick of this year’s draft, the Mavericks’ next main point of business is extending the contract of free agent center Nerlens Noel. Acquired last season just prior to the trade deadline, Noel is seen as a key rebuilding piece, along with Smith and forward Harrison Barnes.
And when you combine Cuban’s comments with the fact that a number of players on the Mavericks’ roster are coming out of contract at the end of the 2017-18 season, this offseason, aside from Noel, does not represent a period for Dallas of splurging out for lengthy contracts.
With this in mind, here are five cheap free agent options that can serve the Mavericks next season, and potentially beyond.