Have to make a free place! Will the Mavericks work hard to trade this first-round forward pick in the next trade?

According to the well-known reporter of The Stein Line, the Dallas Mavericks are speeding up the pace. In order to free up the lineup space needed for Dante Exum's signing, they are working hard to trade forward star Olivier Maxence-Prosper to create roster spots and cap space.

Prospe was born in July 2002. He is 23 years old, 203cm tall and weighs 97kg. He is a forward player from Marquette University selected by the Mavericks in the 2023 NBA Draft in the 24th pick in the first round. In the NBA regular season last season, Prospe played 52 games in 82 games, averaging 11.2 minutes per game, with averaging 3.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocks, and 0.3 turnovers and 0.5 fouls. His shooting percentage was 40.2%, a three-point shooting percentage of 23.5%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 64.5%. Prospe actually got a lot of playing time and performance opportunities last season, but his progress was indeed relatively slow, and he did not show his talents in all aspects, and his effect on the court was not ideal. Prospe's offensive efficiency is very average. His feel outside the three-point line is still a mess. His contribution to the defensive end cannot meet expectations. For a second-year rookie, this performance is indeed a little worse.

Prospe is still in a rookie contract, his contract expires in the summer of 2027, with his salary of $3.01 million and $5.26 million in the next two seasons, and his contracts for the next two seasons are team options. Judging from Prospe's potential and his salary, if nothing unexpected happens, there should be some teams willing to take over his contract and provide him with some playing time to see if his potential can be realized. But the question now is the question of how much return the Mavericks hope to get. If the Mavericks were willing to send him away for nothing, the situation would definitely not be too complicated, but if they wanted to get some reward, there would probably be no team to consider Prospe.

As the Dallas Mavericks were hit hard by the second rich man in the new season, they no longer have enough salary space to sign Exam under the current circumstances, and their current lineup already includes as many as 16 players holding standard contracts. From all perspectives, they need to clear the contract first to successfully sign Exam. Under this circumstance, Prospe, who performed mediocrely and had limited improvement last season, became an ideal trader. The Mavericks had to clean up Prospe as soon as possible, and I don't know how they will do it next.