The Dallas Mavericks have been one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises this season, but all of a sudden, their frontcourt could use a shot in the arm. The Mavs watched as starting center Dwight Powell suffered an achilles tear against the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this week, and as a result, he’ll miss the remainder of the season.
As a result, Dallas turned to the trade market to find an answer, landing Willie Cauley-Stein of the Golden State Warriors on Friday afternoon. The news of the deal comes via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Golden State is finalizing a deal to trade C Willie Cauley-Stein to Dallas, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 24, 2020
Source: Dallas has acquired center Willie Cauley-Stein from the Warriors.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 24, 2020
Charania also reported that acquiring Cauley-Stein won’t cost the Mavericks all that much.
Sources: Dallas is sending a Utah 2020 second-round pick to Golden State for Willie Cauley-Stein.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 24, 2020
Cauley-Stein joined Golden State this past summer on a one-year deal with a player option for the 2020-21 campaign. He’s appeared in 41 games with 37 starts and has put up solid numbers in limited minutes — 7.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 22.9 minutes per game. While Cauley-Stein won’t need to be an All-Star or anything in Dallas, he’ll now go from a squad that has struggled this season to one that’s in a fight for a top-4 seed in the West.
The fact that this deal happened because of a serious injury is unfortunate, but Cauley-Stein could be a good pickup for the Mavs. At the very least, watching him catch lobs from Luka Doncic when the two are on the floor should be a joy.
