Hi All,

Here's my ideal outcome as Mavs GM for completing the roster to make the Dallas team a contender for years to come. Here's an explanation of why each team makes this move.

Mavericks: I'd be really excited and really scared as a Mavs fan right now. They've just acquired a top 25 guy to pair with Luka and for my money he's as close to a perfect fit on the offensive end as you could get next to the Slovenian. I love the idea of the staggered rotation for the Mavs, keeping one of their ball dominant guys on the floor at all times. I think Luka and Kyrie could form an all time two man game too. Luka's post up ability could facilitate a Murray-Jokic like conection on the perimeter and the spacing Kyrie provides off of Luka is unreal. If you double either guard you're dead if they're sharing the court together.

That being said, losing DFS is massive. Their conference final run last year was predicated on Luka running the show and dogged wing defenders switching and protecting the rim at the same time. The Mavs were at their best last year with DFS at the 5 and they lose that option completely now. So, in order to put up some semblance of a competent defence, I think they have to change scheme, bring in a big who can protect the rim and rim run ot a decent level instead of attempting to switch everything and thus the search for a starting level 5 with their remianing assets commenced. The likes of Myles Turner and Rudy Gobert aren't available at this time. John Collins, Jonas Valanciunas and Kristapz don't fit the bill for various reasons thus I thought they should look at someone like Clint Capela or DeAndre Ayton. The issue with Clint who's probably a more realistic target is that Christian Wood is largely redundant on that Atlanta roster. His skillset lines up with John Collins too closely so I can't see him being valued in a trade but he makes sense for the Suns in this scenario hence going after Ayton.

DeAndre is a skilled 5, still only 24 tied down to a long contract. I think the Mavs can acquire him for this package because he hasn't playe dot the best of his ability this year, seemingly down due to his relationship with the organisation and his role within the offence. On Dallas he's getting premium service from Luka and Kyrie, Jason Kidd has shown a willingness to incorporate post offence into his schemes like with Porzingis last year but most importantly Ayton is the rim protector the Mavs need. He's got a massive frame combined with quick feet for his size, in the irght scheme I can see him blossoming into one of the leagues premier rim protectors which is exactly what this Dallas team will need.

I think he fit son both sides of the court. Ayton's jumper is far from broken, I think feasibly he could be asked to space the floor but really he'd be adding serious strength, length and athleticism to Dallas as well as his elite touch around the rim.

If the Mavs can get him they absolutely should whether that be this trade deadline or more realistically in the off season where they feasibly have an additional pick they can move.

On the court I see Dallas playing like this:

PG: Luka, SG: Kyrie, SF: Bullock, PF: Kleber, C: Ayton - Bench: Green, Hardaway jr., Powell, Hardy, Morris and Javale.

It's easily one of if not the best starting 5 in the league with some decent bench options. I like that sparkplugs like Hardy and Hardaway can come in off the bench when one of Irving or Luka sits. Powell would enable them to play the same way on offence 48 minutes a game and Green should ultimately usurpe Bullock in the starting 5. Green has wonderful complimentary skills on offence for both Luka and Kyrie, he's a connective passer, smart cutter and this year he's knocked down his 3's at a decent clip. I just think Bullock starts because they'll need someone to guard the likes of Kahwi, Lebron, Zion and I don't think Green is physically strong enough to take on those tasks yet.

Ultimately this is an awesome team with the addition of Ayton, their talent level significantly increases with Irving and Ayton is a high upside pick up who could partner Luka for years to come. It's still a flawed roster but they have contracts on their books that can be moved down the line to add more defensive talent on the perimeter.

If they elect to make a smaller move at the deadline and are happy keeping Christian Wood I'd like to see them make a move for Jalen McDaniels and Robert Covington but this is an all in move that incorporate sthe fact that they're probably looking to move Wood at the deadline despite his great form for them this year.

Suns: This is that typical new owner big splash for the Suns. They move on from Ayton who clearly has long term issues in Phoenix, particularly with Monty Williams and reinvest those assets to pick up Pascal Siakam as well as Christian Wood. I think the Suns should make this move for a number of reasons. Firstly, tehy diversify their offence massively with the additions of Wood and Pascal. Wood while being a liability on the defensive end is a great rim runner who seperates himself from other centres in the league with his off the bounce ability. On a roster with elite guards like Paul and Booker he'd fully be able to take advantage of the space made for him as he has in Dallas this year. He's a great 3 point shooter and he could make CP3's life easier with Paul able to set up the center for a multiude of looks as opposed to the typical lobs and pocket passes he's made to more offensively limited centres in his career. With Wood able to affect the game without occupying the painyt perhaps Paul could improve his finishing round the rim and midrange without centres lurking. As well as Wood the Suns bring in Pascal who would really take the team to the next level. An excellent defender, versatile shot creator, playmaker with great size. Pascal will be great for anyone who can get their hands on him at the deadline. Pascal adds a great deal of height and length to the Suns in the wing positions. I think his edition at the 4 next to Wood would mitigate the impact of losing Ayton on the defensive end and when they have the ball the edition of Pascal should supercharge that offence. Again, it takes the pressure off of Paul to be the Suns 2nd shot creator in the clutch, it raises the Suns ceiling from 2nd round out to finals contender again.

I see them lining up like this:

PG: Paul, SG: Booker, SF: Bridges, PF: Siakam, C: Wood - Sixth Man: C. Johnson - Bench: Lee, Landale, Craig, Payne, Biyombo

There's a plethora of 3 point shooting on the roster now and the Suns gain the ability to go small with Pascal at the 5 and Cam Johnson coming in at the 4. For Ayton and the 3 1st's I think they significanlty upgrad etheir talent and become one of the most fun watches in the league for the next few years. This trade also keeps them flexible, they could choose not to bring Cristian Wood back for next year and stay at a relatively similar figure cap wise. They also maintain the ability to improve keeping picks from 26-30 on the roster as well as some tradable contracts when they inevitably look to trade CP3 in the coming seasons.

Raptors: Simpler for the Raptors. They get a great return of 3 unprotected picks and 2 swaps for Siakam as well as only one bad contract back. Crowder could be moved to a 4th team for additional assets too. Bertans's contract isn't as bad as it looks either, he's got one more fully guaranteed year and after that he's only guaranteed $5,000,000 in 24-25 so it can be treated as expiring money next year.

Let me know your thoughts on the trade. Anyone who says this isn't value for Ayton send me a realisitc trade that gets the Suns more back. I don't see his value being much higher than this.

Like and comment down below!