3 potential landing spots for Terrence Ross at the trade deadline

Dallas Mavericks

This hopeful contender needs to make a move to move up from a borderline playoff team in the Western Conference to a potential contender.

They are currently 26th in terms of scoring, 19th in scoring efficiency and only 25th in 3-point shooting so far this season.

Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic have rarely been a good fit on the court together on the defensive end, especially this season. They need some Luka-friendly teammates.

The Mavericks have started playing a lot better though, having won seven of their last 10 games and have climbed to fifth in the Western Conference. Dallas is certainly going to be looking for something to cement that improvement.

Enter the Human Torch.

For starters, Terrence Ross has always been an adroit three-point shooter. Take that with the fact his perimeter defense against shooters and faculty to deflect passes makes him a much better defender than his defensive rating would indicate.

Ross is the exact kind of perimeter role player who Dallas should be trying to target in that sense. The Mavericks need someone who can space the floor and take attention away so Doncic can attack the basket more freely.

Ross would also benefit from this. He has not played with a perimeter creator and distributor like Doncic. He would surely see his 3-point percentage improve.

Dallas also has some solid front court role players like Dwight Powell and Dorian Finney-Smith. But the Mavericks lack many other young up-and-coming players that might entice the Magic. Orlando seems set at center, unless the team decides to move on from Bamba mid-season.

Finney-Smith is a good workhorse guard, but would hardly set the Magic up well to replace Ross. Let alone where he might fit in with the Magic loaded with big forwards already on the roster.

Finney-Smith would fit in as a defender with the kind of team the Magic are trying to build. If worse comes to worse, a future first-round pick is not a bad haul.

Even better, while it is implausible the Magic trade Bamba before the deadline, the fact he was not extended before the season started lends credence to the belief he likely will not be retained this offseason. So, adding a front-court piece like Powell or Finney-Smith makes a ton of sense.

Both players are not ensconced at one position. Powell can play the 4 or 5 while Finney-Smith can play the 3 or 4.

With the versatile front-court players who can play multiple positions like Jonathan Isaac, who will hopefully be returning sooner rather than later and Wendell Carter extended through 2026, this is an inherent trump card to deploy. The team can use each guy at two different positions. It is nice to mix and match, contingent upon the adversary and for in game situations.