Dallas Mavericks fans had to suffer the blow of another potential guard on the trade market being pried away by another team, as the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Lonzo Ball in exchange for Isaac Okoro earlier today. While there are still options for the Mavericks on the trade market to significantly upgrade their guard spot, it seems like Dallas' most likely route is to stray away from making a trade, as they will likely try to get their stop-gap point guard with the Taxpayer's MLE.
Kyrie Irving's contract structure in the first year of his new deal allowed Dallas to have the space to exercise the TPMLE, but with that exception only being $5.7 million per season, the Mavericks are going to have to find a guard who is willing to sign for a bargain to play for a contender or someone who wants a one-year-prove-it type of deal.
While this player may not want to initially sign for that low of a number if he were to come to Dallas, Cleveland's Ty Jerome is definitely a candidate for the Mavericks with the TPMLE this summer after the Cavaliers added another guard by trading for Ball and extended their payroll further by giving Sam Merrill a contract extension today.
Mavericks should target Ty Jerome after Ball trade changes Cavs' plans
If Jerome were to look at the free agency landscape and see the lack of contenders with money to play with, perhaps he'd take a bargain to come to Dallas, especially since it's extremely unlikely Cleveland retains his services following the Ball trade. Make no mistake about it, Jerome was a turnstile defensively against the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs, but he's a very high-level shot creator and could definitely aid in that department in Dallas.
Jerome played by far the longest stretch of his career with the Cavs last season, as the soon-to-be 28-year-old guard averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game with shooting splits of 51.6/43.9/87.2. Jerome is dynamic offensively, as he's a great shooter off the catch and dribble, has a great in-between game, and can get to the basket if a defender gets caught sleeping.
He's got good size for a guard too, as he's a solid pick-and-roll playmaker and ball mover and was selfless in the way he embraced his role for the Cavaliers last season. However, Jerome isn't an A-type athlete, and this hurts him on the defensive end as was aforementioned. Jerome doesn't have insane burst to get to the rim and finish through contact consistently, and many opposing guards can blow by him on the other end.
Idealistically, the Mavericks would want someone who fits well better alongside Irving defensively once he returns to the lineup, as even Klay Thompson is a far better defender compared to Jerome, even at this stage of Thompson's career.
Dallas probably has the compensatory defensive pieces to surround Jerome with considering how dangerous their front line is, but they'd be losing nearly all of their point-of-attack defense if Dante Exum leaves this summer, so while bringing in Jerome would be great offensively, Dallas would need to find another point-of-attack defender on the market or in training camp if Jerome is the only guard they bring in this summer.
