DALLAS — As clocks in Dallas ticked toward 2 p.m. Thursday — and those in the Mavericks’ Los Angeles hotel approached noon — all attention temporarily diverted from the hoopla surrounding Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic’s new partnership.
That’s because the Mavericks hoped this week to make at least one more trade post-Irving before the NBA’s Thursday afternoon deadline.
Would streaky shooter Tim Hardaway Jr. land elsewhere on a team willing to pay him the $34.1 million remaining on his long-term deal through 2025?
Would the Mavericks look to avoid a Jalen Brunson Part II scenario by getting compensation for free-agent-to-be Christian Wood?
Would another mega deal during a mega-busy trade week materialize that would entice Dallas’ leadership to part with top young prospects Josh Green and Jaden Hardy or another first-round draft pick in hopes of contending in this newly overhauled Western Conference?
The answer to all questions after the clock struck deadline: No.
And now new questions arise.
After little market value materialized around potential Hardaway and Wood moves, where do those two rotation mainstays go from here?
Short answer for Hardaway: back into the rotation, either with a continued starting role — or if coach Jason Kidd opts to start Reggie Bullock and Josh Green for better defensive acumen around Doncic and Irving — to the sixth-man guard role he occupied to start this season.
Around the trade deadline, discussions between teams that don’t result in an immediate move often can resume in the offseason, when the NBA’s fiscal calendar resets and executives have more time to evaluate logistics and playoff outcomes.
Regardless of how Irving’s first half-season in Dallas and looming free agency unfolds, look for the Mavericks to continue discussing potential Hardaway moves.
The answer about Wood’s future appears likely to be more complicated.
For the remainder of this season, he could also reclaim the starting center spot he held from Dec. 17 through fracturing his left thumb Jan. 18. But Kidd has played Wood off the bench in the two games since he returned and could opt to re-match Wood’s rotations with defensive ace Maxi Kleber — like the first two months of the season — when Kleber returns from hamstring surgery in the coming weeks.
Wood, making $14.3 million in the final season of his three-year deal, remains eligible until June 30 to sign a contract extension worth up to four years, $77 million.
If the Mavericks offer one.
A person familiar with negotiations confirmed Dallas’ front office has not offered Wood a contract extension, despite recent national reporting to the contrary. Doing so would appear unlikely to benefit the Mavericks’ roster-building flexibility as they evaluate long-term prospects with the controversy-ridden Irving.
Though fizzled extension talks with the Nets prompted his Feb. 3 trade request, Irving and the Mavericks do not plan to negotiate an extension to his contract until after the season. The Mavericks can offer Irving an extension up to two years, $78.6 million before June 30.
Should Irving opt to leave as a free agent — with no compensation back to the Mavericks — Dallas would look to newly opened salary cap space (projected to be about $25 million with Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith’s multi-year deals off the books) as their main avenue to adding other contributors around Doncic.
Offering Wood an extension before then would cut into that potential cap space before the Mavericks could gain clarity with Irving or evaluate how Wood’s standout regular-season production so far translates, particularly on defense, in what should be his first career playoff run this spring.
Consider Wood up for the challenge.
Just after the deadline passed Thursday, the 26-year-old center tweeted: “Beat y’all trade rumors …” with tongue-out emoji.
Five minutes later, he added: “Got to watch y’all disrespect like I haven’t been efficiently HOOPING all year .. using it as motivation”
Let the post-deadline play begin.
