Hornets: Dallas Mavericks players to target in free agency

As a part of our series detailing which players the Charlotte Hornets should target in free agency, our attention shifts to the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs finished with a 52-30 record, which earned them a 4th-place finish in the Western Conference.

Riding their First-Team All-NBA player, Luka Doncic, the Mavs turned their regular season around and finished as the fourth seed in the West. Heading into free agency, Dallas will have a slough of guards hitting the open market; their frontcourt will remain intact for next season.

Starting with the player and team options, Dallas only has one guy on their radar. Trey Burke has a player option for next season, which he will likely pick up. At this point in his career, he may not get another contract anywhere else, so he might as well stay in the system he is familiar with and hope to crack the rotation once again.

Moving onto the unrestricted free agents, the Mavs have one of the biggest names in the 2022 free agent class. Jalen Brunson, Frank Ntilikina, and Theo Pinson are all set to become unrestricted this offseason. While Ntilikina and Pinson may not command much attention, Brunson will receive offers from nearly every team in the league.

The Hornets should absolutely be targeting Brunson this summer. To make money work, a deal for Brunson would likely have to be a sign-and-trade, which would probably involve Terry Rozier (if I were to guess). Brunson will be 26 at the start of the 2022-23 season, and Rozier just turned 28. Although that does not sound like a big difference in age, it can be a massive difference by the time their respective contracts expire.

If Charlotte can cash in Rozier’s contract in exchange for Brunson, they should at least entertain the idea. Otherwise, the Hornets are set in the way of guards for the time being. They need to invest in wings and bigs, which Dallas cannot offer in the free agent market.