Mavericks send No. 10 pick, Davis Bertans to Thunder in draft-night trade

The Mavericks and Thunder have agreed to a trade, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that Davis Bertans and the No. 10 pick are headed to Oklahoma City in exchange for the No. 12 pick.

The Thunder selected Kentucky guard Cason Wallace at No. 10, Charania adds, while Dallas will get off Bertans’ pricey multiyear contract. The No. 12 pick that Dallas acquired was used on Duke big man Dereck Lively II, Charania notes.

The Mavericks will generate a $17M trade exception with this trade, according to Yossi Gozlan of Hoops Hype. They’ll now be approximately $74M under to projected luxury-tax line, which will help them make other moves, such as re-signing Kyrie Irving.

The TPE will allow them to absorb a veteran contract. The Mavs may not waste any time utilizing it. They are active in the trade marketplace, seeking to acquire a player and a current or future pick, Charania tweets.

Dallas is still over the $136M salary cap due to Irving’s cap hold, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes.

The Mavs were looking to move down in the lottery, get off a bad contract and acquire a veteran starter, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. They accomplished the first two goals with this deal.

Bertans had a career year in 1919-20 with the Wizards and cashed in with a five-year, $80M deal. Dallas acquired Bertans as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade with Washington.

The addition of Lively could lessen the possibility of the Mavericks re-signing big man Christian Wood.

The Thunder now pick up the two remaining years left on his deal — $17M next season and $16M in 2024-25 with an early-termination option. However, the final year is only guaranteed for $5M.

Oklahoma City’s desire to move up was motivated by the concern that another team might jump the Thunder by making a trade with Orlando, which held the No. 11 pick, Jeremy Woo of ESPN notes. The Raptors, who held the No. 13 selection, were a potential trade-up suitor for Wallace.

Oklahoma City will still have a minimum of $15M in cap space, according to Gozlan, after taking on Bertans’ contract. The Thunder could increase that figure to around $22M by waiving their non-guaranteed players.