As Derek Lively II has dominated the postseason, it’s understandably led many to re-evaluate the draft-night trade between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks that sent the Duke graduate to Dallas for Cason Wallace.
The trade was simple: the Thunder moved up to No. 2 and used their cap space to acquire Wallace to acquire Davis Bertans, while the Mavericks took Lively II with the 12th pick.
Dallas used the move to acquire Richaun Holmes and the Kings gave the Mavericks the draft rights to Olivier Maxwell-Prosper. The Holmes deal later helped the Mavericks acquire Daniel Gafford, who has been a big contributor to the Mavericks in this season’s playoffs.
Oklahoma City watched Wallace play all 82 games as a key cog in the rotation while also acquiring Gordon Hayward in the Bertans trade at the NBA trade deadline. It’s fair to say the milk-stale Hayward acquisition was a mistake, but that had nothing to do with the draft-night trade.
The question at hand is comparing Wallace to Lively II, and the discussion continues with a win-win. Wallace would be a perfect fit in the Thunder’s system, providing a strong spark from beyond the arc while also serving as a defensive stopper as a rookie.
The Thunder won’t be a top-five defense and best 3-point shooter in the NBA without the Kentucky native. He still has a lot of room to grow. Mark Dainault’s confidence in the rookie is clear because of how valuable a player he is. You can never have enough of a Wallace, and he’s a lot harder to find than a rim-running Lively II.
But that doesn’t take away from how impactful Lively II has been for Dallas. You can imagine him working with Holmgren defensively and at the very least adding depth to Oklahoma City’s frontcourt, but the Thunder don’t have the table-setters necessary to get the most out of Lively II’s limited offensive potential.
As a more versatile offensive weapon, it’s easy to imagine Holmgren hitting an offensive plateau, an issue that could be exacerbated by a player entirely reliant on ball-handlers to make accurate reads and quick passes to score easily.
Lively II has enough talent to make it hard for him to not succeed in Oklahoma City, especially as a recruit and high-end screen setter, but Dallas’ style of play is better suited to him. The same can be said for Wallace, who would make an immediate impact anywhere outside of the Thunder’s main roster.
Both teams should be ecstatic about the outcome of that draft-night swap and the possibilities it has opened up, but with Dallas leading the series 2-0 in the Western Conference finals, this is not the time for after-the-fact overreaction.
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