In just over two weeks, the Dallas Mavericks will be eligible to trade Kyrie Irving, Dante Exum, and D'Angelo Russell. Trade season is bound to heat up soon, and Dallas will shortly have three new trade chips to utilize in deals if they choose to go in that direction.
The Mavericks always seem to make deals near the time of the trade deadline, and they definitely need to move some parts around as they look to build around Cooper Flagg. Nico Harrison's former three-year championship vision has been thrown out the window, and the new era of Mavericks basketball is here.
Dallas already has plenty of players who are trade-eligible, but this month is when things truly start to take off. December 15 of each NBA season allows teams to trade players who were signed during the previous offseason, and Dallas can now explore trading three of their players if they'd like to do so.
Dallas can soon shake up the roster with Irving, Russell, and Exum trades
The trade noise has been quiet to begin this season, but the end of December and heading into 2026 will get the ball rolling. Teams on the bubble are still deciding what direction they want to take for the final stretch of the season, and a few wins or losses over the next month could push them to become more aggressive or enter tank mode.
The Mavericks' direction is still unclear at this point, but the trades that they make before the trade deadline will define how they feel about this year's roster and the direction that they'd like to head in.
Kyrie Irving
The Mavericks don't want to trade Kyrie Irving, but even if they did, they'd have to wait until at least December 15.
Irving signed a new three-year deal with the Mavs over the summer, and even though he hasn't played this season due to a torn ACL, Dallas views him as a future building block for the future alongside Flagg. He has become a fan-favorite over the last two and a half years due to his incredible shot-making ability, especially in the clutch, and Mavericks fans would be crushed if they had to see him go.
Irving has completely transformed his image in Dallas, and Mavericks fans have clung to him tightly ever since the Luka Doncic trade. A trade this season would enrage Mavericks fans, and unless something major changes over the next two months, fans can expect that he'll be one of their stars of the future.
D'Angelo Russell
The D'Angelo Russell experience couldn't be going any worse in Dallas, and Jason Kidd decided to remove him from the rotation during the Mavericks' two-game road trip in Los Angeles. Russell was a DNP-CD in both of those games, and Kidd trusted Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard more than him to run the offense.
As soon as December 15 rolls around, it seems likely that Dallas will look to include him as a salary filler in a separate move. No team will want to take on Russell's $11.7 million deal, considering how poorly he has played as of late, but it doesn't seem probable that the Mavericks will keep him around much longer.
Now that Kidd is involved with basketball decision-making to some degree alongside Matt Riccardi, Michael Finley, Patrick Dumont, and Mark Cuban, it seems like they may push for him to be moved before February 5.
It's hard to justify Russell having a spot on the roster despite Kidd seemingly not viewing him as playable, and the Mavericks' decision to make him their stopgap point guard while Irving recovers from his ACL tear has been a disaster.
Dante Exum
Along with signing Russell, bringing back Dante Exum on a one-year deal over the offseason was a major mistake. And they could have the chance to get rid of him beginning on December 15.
It seems extremely unlikely that any team would consider taking on Exum's contract, as he has already been ruled out for the rest of the regular season due to a knee injury. The Mavericks' most likely route to part ways with Exum would be to cut him at the beginning of January and sign a player to a 10-day deal, but soon they'll at least have the option to trade him.
This season is likely the end of Exum's Mavericks journey after playing in just 75 regular-season games over three seasons, and going their separate ways as soon as possible seems like the only path forward for them.