NBA Rumors: Dallas Mavericks Interested in 4 Point Guards to Cover Kyrie Irving's Absence

The Dallas Mavericks will not be able to count on Kyrie Irving until at least the middle of next season as he is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. For a team aiming to be a significant factor in the Western Conference, they will have to fill that huge void in the backcourt until his return.

With that, reports have surfaced that the Mavs are targeting four standout point guards. It is expected that the Mavericks will use their $5.7 million Mid-Level Exception (MLE) to secure either Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, D'Angelo Russell, or Malcolm Brogdon, according to Shams Charania.

All four (Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, D'Angelo Russell, and Malcolm Brogdon) are unrestricted free agents, and none of them should expect more than the $5.7 million Mid-Level Exception for contributors for the upcoming season. Should they prefer the tax-free Mid-Level Salary Exception, any of them could increase their salary to $14.1 million, but would likely be stuck on a non-contending team.

Pros for each player

The connection with Brogdon, for instance, makes sense. In the 2016-17 season, during his rookie year with the Milwaukee Bucks, his coach was none other than Jason Kidd, the current head coach of the Mavericks.

Additionally, midway through that season, Kidd suggested (and was ridiculed for it) that Brogdon might win Rookie of the Year over Joel Embiid. When award time came, it was indeed Brogdon who took home the accolade (Embiid finished third despite playing only 31 games).

However, Brogdon is injury-prone, having not played more than 56 games in a season over the last six years. If he were to get injured while Kyrie is still recovering, that would be an issue.

Russell is a former All-Star (2018-19) and is also high on the Mavs' target list. Schroder, like Russell, a former player of Los Angeles Lakers, is also on their radar. Paul, a future Hall of Famer, is now 40 years old but had a solid season in San Antonio last year, starting all 82 games and averaging 28 minutes, while scoring 8.8 points per game with 7.4 assists.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rumores NBA: Los Dallas Mavericks se interesan en 4 bases para cubrir la baja de Kyrie Irving