Since Kyrie Irving went down with a torn ACL in early March of last season, one of the Dallas Mavericks' biggest roster holes has been their lack of playmaking. With this in mind, the Mavericks would sign D'Angelo Russell; however, it's already clear just two games into Dallas' preseason schedule that the Mavericks will need more playmaking off their bench if they want to prove that they are serious.
Many fans and analysts speculate that the Mavericks may need to acquire more players via the trade market, which may not be a bad option later on down the road. With playmaking and trades at the top of everyone's mind, Bleacher Report recently published an article where they detailed "one trade every NBA team would make," assuming the trade deadline was before the 2025-26 NBA season tipped off.
While trades are traditionally a topic that every fan loves to engage in, Bleacher Report's idea of what trade the Mavericks should do almost universally angered Dallas fans across the board. In Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report's trade idea for the Mavericks, he had them getting more playmaking at the sacrifice of a negative veteran asset on the Mavericks roster, but the team would take a dent on the defensive end of the floor.
Mavericks must do everything in their power to avoid this trade
In this presumptive trade between the Mavericks and the Utah Jazz, the Mavericks would be sending Caleb Martin and a 2030 second-round pick to the Utah Jazz in return for Kyle Anderson. While this trade may not seem like all doom and gloom, considering the Mavericks are getting off of Martin's negative contract, the Mavericks would be taking a massive hit within their perimeter defense as well as sacrificing a future second-round pick in the process.
There's no doubt that Martin's time in Dallas can be summed up as a disappointment so far, considering he has sat on the bench for most of it, and when he does play, it's been a major failure. For the Mavericks, they would be getting back a player of Anderson's versatility who has proven that he can be a viable offensive initiator in multiple stops around the league now, as well as a positive team defender in some schemes.
To many, this may sound like a win-win for the Mavericks, but Anderson is not the player he once was for the Minnesota Timberwolves or Memphis Grizzlies. In his 2024-25 campaign with the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, Anderson would average 5.9 points per game while shooting 35.7 percent from behind the 3-point line, but would constantly be played out of favorable roles in both stops.
By no means is Anderson a slouch defensive player, as he has played a major defensive role off the bench in the multiple stops he has had over the last few seasons, but Martin is, without a doubt, a better defender when healthy. Not only do the Mavericks need as much defense as possible around the perimeter, but Martin also offers the ability to stretch the floor, assuming he is healthy entering this season.
In addition to Anderson being a lesser defender than Martin, he is also a much slower player in an offense that will likely need to rely on speed and athleticism to keep up with faster and better offenses. Anderson's speed alone should be a major reason the Mavericks avoid this trade, but packing Martin alongside a future second-round pick should automatically be a red flag for Nico Harrison, considering the team should be looking to add draft capital, not giving it away.
There's no doubt that Anderson would give the Mavericks an extra punch in the playmaking department, but it should not be at the sacrifice of Martin or a future draft pick.