Dallas Mavericks: 3 reasons retaining Kristaps Porzingis was a no-brainer

1. Chance to build a super-team

It’s arguable to say that two new super-teams were formed in the month of June, 2019. The first was the Los Angeles Lakers, who mortgaged their future to trade for Anthony Davis and pair him with LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma. The Lakers might not be done making moves, as they have the cap space to add either another max-level free agent or depth.

The Brooklyn Nets made splashes to start free agency, as they agreed to deals with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and DeAndre Jordan, according to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski. They will join many of their young holdovers from their 2019 playoff squad, sans D’Angelo Russell.

The Dallas Mavericks, on the other hand, have not had much success in free agency in the past few years. They missed out on superstar players, and although they were linked to All-Stars like Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler and Nikola Vucevic, they were unable to secure any meetings or deals.

If Porzingis has a great year in 2019-20 regular season, and even helps secure a playoff berth along with reigning Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic, it bodes well for the team’s chances in future free agency. Of course, that’s a big “if” that depends on how he bounces back and whether the team can unload Tim Hardaway Jr.’s hefty contract.

Dallas gave up a large chunk of their future to pair Porzingis and Doncic together, and it would have been an extreme failure if they never saw the floor together in the playoffs. For now, they are both under contract for at least the next three seasons and that gives the Mavs multiple free agencies to make the moves necessary and add a third All-Star caliber player.

Kristaps Porzingis’ massive contract is a high-risk, high-reward type deal, but the Dallas Mavericks have to be willing to roll the dice if they want to be contenders and a more legitimate free agent destination.