The Dallas Mavericks spent the night of the 2023 NBA Draft working the phones. First, they pulled off a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder that involved swapping first-round picks — OKC moved up to 10, Dallas went back to 12 — while Davis Bertans’ contract went to the Thunder and the Mavericks received a monster trade exception in the deal.
But as it turns out, Dallas was not done. That Traded Player Exception that the team received was immediately put to use, as Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Mavericks absorbed the deal of Kings big man Richaun Holmes. As an added bonus, Sacramento sent the number 24 pick on Thursday night to Dallas, which used it to select Canadian forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper. The news was confirmed by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Kings are trading Richaun Holmes and No. 24 to Dallas, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2023
Kings are sending Holmes into the Traded Player Exception created with the OKC trade. https://t.co/L2qVZoQnvA
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2023
Mavericks use this TPE to bring in Richaun Holmes along with Olivier-Maxence Prosper. https://t.co/ubuVueTqET
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2023
Holmes is due a little more than $12 million this season and has a player option for 2024-25 for about $12.9 million, and found himself out of the Kings’ rotation last season. Presumably, this trade will send him to a team that could use some more beef in the frontcourt, which the Mavs attempted to address earlier in the night by selecting Duke’s Dereck Lively.
Prosper rose up Draft boards following the Combine. After starting his career at Clemson and not doing all that much, he transferred to Marquette in 2021-22 and really flashed last season, averaging 12.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.