The mystery of Dallas’ interest in Dean Wade

The Cavaliers big man is drawing attention from multiple teams, but signs are beginning to point to Dallas as the front-runner to acquire him

Over the past few weeks, Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Dean Wade’s name has surfaced in trade rumors. The Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards have all been said to have interest in acquiring him, but over the last 24 hours, the Mavericks are the team that appears to be moving to the front of the pack in the race to make a trade.

Assuming the rumors are true, the burning question is simple: why? From the Cavaliers’ perspective, finances likely play a large part. As noted by Jackson Flickinger of fellow SB Nation site Fear The Sword, The Cavs are faced with a gigantic tax bill as a second apron team. Therefore, they are seeking any relief they can get to mitigate a burden in excess of $140 million. Beyond that, there is speculation that Cavs’ management does not expect Wade to resign with them after next season, so they’d be wise to get something for him while they can.

Dallas’ perspective on the deal is much murkier. Wade is a 6‘9” power forward, so adding him to one of the deepest frontcourts in the NBA doesn’t seem to be the most logical move for the Mavericks. Of course we’re talking trade here, so the obvious solution would be to move one of the current frontcourt pieces to Cleveland in the deal. The problem with that is there is no simple way to swing such a transaction based on salary-match considerations. Further complicating things is the Mavericks’ desire to open a roster spot for Dante Exum. This means Dallas would have to send out at least two players in exchange for Wade and his roughly $6 million contract.

Leaving the trade details to the respective GMs for the moment, Dallas’ desire to bring Wade in is puzzling in and of itself. Again, he is a front court player, which lands him in an area of the floor where the Mavericks are already stacked. Further, he does not necessarily solve the problem of the team’s need for outside shooting, a problem which could be further compounded if one or more of the guards are used in a trade to acquire Wade – Jaden Hardy’s name has been floated. While Wade is a respectable 36.8% three-point shooter for his career, his per game attempts (3.2) and makes (1.2) are identical to Jaden Hardy across their careers. The difference is that Hardy connects at a higher clip (38.1%) than Wade, while also covering a position of greater need for Dallas.

Wade is regarded as a solid defender, making him a fit in the eyes of Nico Harrison, but beyond that it’s something of a struggle to find the logic in adding another frontcourt piece to the mix. It’s quite possible the trade will develop into a larger multi-player or even multi-team affair (if it develops at all), but for now there are more questions than answers as to why the Mavs would be targeting Wade.

(Editors note: Kirk here, I don’t believe any of this Amico and seeing that no one reputable around the Mavs has touched it yet, color me skeptical. However, it IS out there, so we’re better acknowledging it and calling it stupid than ignoring it.)

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