Andre Drummond (Photo : Getty Images)
The Dallas Mavericks could consider Andre Drummond or Timofey Mozgov as the team's next big man next season.
The Mavs lacked a dominant big man in the past season following the failed pursuit of DeAndre Jordan in last year's free agency. Dallas traded for Zaza Pachulia and David Lee to boost the team's frontcourt, but the Mavs will once again be without a legit big man with both players set to explore free agency.
Matthew Galatzan of Hoops Habit has listed potential free agents for the Mavs once the summer market opens. With the Mavs looking for a starting center, Galatzan listed Drummond and Mozgov as possible targets this summer.
Mozgov would give the Mavs a low post scorer to balance the team's heavy perimeter offense. While Mozgov is not exactly one of the elite big men available in the market, but the 29-year-old center has proven his effectiveness on both ends of the floor, averaging 6.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks, while only playing 17.4 minutes per game.
Mozgov, who is on the final year of his three-year $14 million contract, should be able to command a more lucrative deal from other teams. The Mavs, with a projected $48 million of salary cap space, have been known to spend big on free agents even if the money is not entirely at par with a player's potential. But in signing Mozgov, the Mavs could get their money's worth even at a slightly higher price than what the Cavs center has earned.
On the other hand, Drummond would probably the splashy signing the Mavs need to turn the franchise back into title contenders. Drummond has a lot to offer for Dallas, including his potential to become a perennial All-Star in the league.
With averages of 16.2 points, 14.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, Drummond would instantly impact the Mavs in all aspects of their game. However, unlike Mozgov, Drummond enters the market as a restricted free agent, which means the Detroit Pistons could, and very much likely would match any offer sheet given to the 22-year-old big man.
Drummond would likely command a max contract in the summer, and the Pistons are willingly open to sign the youngster to a max deal, according to team owner Tom Gore.
"We'll talk about it this summer but we want Andre," Gores said, reports MLive. "So to me, I don't think there's a lot of question about it. Honestly it's how we feel about it." [...]
"I think he's had a great year, an All-Star, more double-doubles (than anyone else in the NBA), and when you look at the other centers in the league -- everybody's got something (a weakness) but I'm proud of the 22-year-old man."
As much as it would behoove the Mavs to pursue such talented big man like Drummond, their chances are slim to none.
Acquiring either of the two would bring instant interior presence for the Mavs, which was evidently absent despite the emergence of Pachulia as a scoring big man, but Mozgov seems the more realistic option, with the Cavs center being an unrestricted free agent.
Whether the Mavs have genuine interest in pursuing Mozgov or Drummond remains to be seen, but acquiring a talented big man should be on top of Dallas' free agent list.
