B/R trade idea: Mavericks& Knicks& Nets three-party trade, thick eyebrows& Towns swap owners

Translator's Note: The original article was published in BleacherReport. The data in the article are as of the time of publication of the original article (November 13, local time). The dates and times involved are all local time. The opinions expressed in this article have nothing to do with the translator or the platform.

The Mavericks fired the man responsible for trading Luka Doncic, and they fired president of basketball operations and general manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, fans are bitter about the trade, as Doncic is back in shape and is leading the Lakers to an 8-3 start -- a stark contrast to the Mavericks' dismal 3-8 record.

For interim principals Michael Finlay and Matt Riccardi, the question is what now? Should they try to improve their roster and make a playoff push, or start a complete rebuild around 18-year-old rookie Cooper Flagg?

As the first article in the "How to Save the Mavericks" series, the following is a trade idea involving three teams - bringing in the Knicks and Nets - to send Anthony Davis away and start a transformation.

Complete trade package

The Mavericks receive

Karl Anthony Towns (from the Knicks)

Gershon Yabusele (from the Knicks)

Tyler Kollek (from the Knicks)

Pacom Dadier (from the Knicks)

Ariel Hooker-Bolty (from Knicks)

$4 million trade exception (Dwight Powell)

Knicks receive

Anthony Davis (from Mavericks)

Jaden Hardy (from Mavericks)

Brandon Williams (from Mavericks)

Dante Exum (from Mavericks)

Vanja Marinkovich's rights to sign (60th overall, 2019, from Nets)

$2.8 million trade exception (Dadiye)

$2.2 million trade exception (Kollek)

Nets acquire

Dwight ·Powell (from Mavericks)

$5 million (from Mavericks)

2027 second-round pick (from Knicks)

This deal needs to be completed closer to the February 5th deadline, because the Knicks must sign a minimum-salary player to return the lineup to the minimum 14 players. The Mavericks packaged Davis, Hardy, Williams and Exum in exchange for Towns, Yabusele, Kollek and Dadier, and created a trade exception for Powell.

The Knicks packaged Towns, Yabusele and Hookerboldi in exchange for Davis and Hardy, while creating trade exceptions for Dadier and Kollek. The Knicks acquired Williams and Exum through the minimum salary exception, but according to one-year bird rights (Exum has agreed to the trade in advance), Exum's signing rights will be reduced to non-bird rights after this season.

The Nets used their salary space to take on Powell's contract and waive Tyrese Martin, whose contract was guaranteed, to free up a roster spot.

Why the Lone Ranger did this

Solving the Lone Ranger's problem cannot be completed in one transaction. The team needs a healthy core defender. That man could be Kyrie Irving, but he's nearly 33 years old and still recovering from a serious knee injury. If the 2025-26 season is a transition season for the Mavericks, then getting another high draft pick in a big draft year is inconsistent with Irving's career timeline.

Towns, who is nearly 30 years old, is younger than five-time All-Star Davis and has just finished playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. While Davis could play alongside Flagg, the age gap suggests he's not part of the Mavericks' long-term team-building plan. Towns' contract is similar to Davis's (the three-year total is about $4 million cheaper, with the final year as a player option); the Mavericks also got cheap young players like Kolek and Dadier, while giving away Hardy's $6 million contract in the 2026-27 season.

Abusele will also turn 30 before the end of the year. The Mavericks could trade him again before the deadline or see if he can fit in as a tough but undersized scoring big man. For a struggling team, Powell, Exum, Williams and Hardy are all players who could be traded.

Before being selected by the Knicks with the 24th pick in 2024, Dadier played in Germany. Kolek, who came out of Marquette University, is one of the best pure point guards in the same draft (34th overall). With winning not being a priority in the short term, head coach Jason Kidd could give these two players more playing time, as well as some of the team's other young talents like Derrick Lively II and Max Christie (acquired from the Lakers in the Doncic trade).

The Mavericks should consider other transactions to clear up salary space by sending away veterans (except for P.J. Washington, whose early contract extension is too large and cannot be traded this season).

The reality is that given Davis' age and health, there is no Doncic-level return on the market. That was the risk Harrison took, and it ultimately cost him his job.

Why the Knicks did this

The Knicks have shown that they are not a conservative team satisfied with past success. The feat of leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time this century also failed to save head coach Tom Thibodeau's job.

New head coach Mike Brown is known for his defense, and he has adapted (to some extent) to modern offensive concepts. Still, the combination of Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaylen Brunson can be an unsolvable problem on the defensive end, which is one of the reasons why this top pairing may need to be broken up..

The offensive talent of this duo is unquestionable, but can the Knicks still win at the highest level when they need to defend the pick-and-roll with these two?

On the contrary, if they build around Brunson with Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson and Davis, their defense may become a nightmare for other teams in the NBA. Davis doesn't have any shortcomings on the offensive end, although he's not a great outside shooter (to be fair, Towns has struggled with his long-range shooting under Brown).

The risk for the Knicks is Davis' health, but if the team can successfully manage his playing time, the Knicks with an upgraded defense could be even stronger in the playoffs. Hardy, Williams and Exum (who is recovering from a knee injury) can effectively replace Kolek and Dadier; Yabusele has yet to make a name for himself on the team.

Why the Nets do this

The Nets are in complete reconstruction mode and can use salary space to accept contracts that other teams do not want (such as Haywood Highsmith, Kobe Bufkin, Terrence Mann, etc.). The Mavericks sent cash to deal with Powell's contract, which was enough for the Nets to profit from the deal.

The Nets also received an unprotected second-round pick from the Knicks. The Nets may make other trades before the deadline, but as long as they have a roster spot for Powell and enough cap space (or the midlevel exception) to accommodate his $4 million salary, those moves shouldn't be a hindrance.

The $2.2 million salaries of Jaylen Wilson ($325,000 guaranteed) and Tyrese Martin (non-guaranteed) will be converted to fully guaranteed for the remainder of the season at the leaguewide layoff deadline (January 7). If either one of the two were waived, the Nets would still have plenty of room and would only be left with a small amount of dead money on the team's salary book.