Indiana Pacers: 5 crazy deadline deals the Pacers should try for

3. A Dallas deal

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has never been trigger shy at the trade deadline, and this year should be no different. As Dirk Nowitzki creeps toward age 40, the Mavericks may want to start thinking more about their future.

While point guard Dennis Smith Jr. has the superstar upside Cuban looks for, swingman Harrison Barnes — although a reliable player — has yet to live up to his promise he once flashed as a member of the champion Golden State Warriors.  So why not shake things up?

A plausible deal that could work financially would be sending Myles Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic and Cory Joseph to the Dallas in exchange for Harrison Barnes (complete with hefty contract), Seth Curry, and Dallas’ first round pick this season.

There is motivation for both sides to complete this deal.

For the Mavericks, it would give them a high upside prospect in Myles Turner to pair with Dennis Smith Jr. as potential generational talents to bolster the future of the franchise. Cory Joseph and Bojan Bogdanovic’s generally reliable skill-sets provide even more incentive to get a deal done.

But the Indiana Pacers hardly get the short end of the stick here. Harrison Barnes will provide the Pacers with a two-way small forward to pair with Thaddeus Young that will make for a nagging duo on league superstars. In addition, Seth Curry (once healthy) will provide a high-upside backup to Victor Oladipo. He did some real damage last season as a starter and once in a groove will have a field day against second units on a nightly basis.

Of course, the deal still doesn’t compensate for the loss of Turner without Dallas’ 2018 first round draft pick.  That pick could potentially be a top-five selection, as the Mavericks certainly aren’t playoff-bound.