Dallas' first major trade under Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz showed how the Mavericks plan to build around Cooper Flagg without sacrificing long-term flexibility.
Masai Ujiri was introduced as Mavericks president on May 20. Mike Schmitz followed shortly afterward as general manager. They inherited a team that finished 26-56, lacked draft capital, revolved around a 19-year-old franchise cornerstone and had little financial flexibility. Before July 1, their focus centered on organizational work. They hired a head coach, prepared for the draft and evaluated the roster. The start of the new league year marked the beginning of the real roster building.
On July 8, fewer than seven weeks after taking over, they completed their first major transaction: a six-team trade that landed Dallas Santi Aldama, Marcus Sasser and the draft rights to Tarik Biberovic. The Mavericks gave up AJ Johnson, a top-20 protected 2030 Golden State Warriors first-round pick that has a strong chance of converting into a second-round pick, and two future second-round selections.
Ujiri and Schmitz routed the trade through the Anthony Davis trade exception, allowing Dallas to absorb Aldama's $17 million salary while preserving the club's full $20.8 million traded player exception for future moves. The Mavericks added three players with legitimate value without using cap space or exhausting one of their biggest financial tools. The larger six-team framework also helped facilitate Khris Middleton's sign-and-trade to Washington and John Collins' move to Detroit, with Dallas serving as a key part of the overall transaction.
That type of cap management separates good front offices from great ones.
Ujiri has built his career finding value where other teams do not. He acquired Kawhi Leonard in Toronto and drafted players such as Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby outside the lottery. Schmitz spent years earning a reputation as one of basketball's top talent evaluators before joining an NBA front office. Together, they inherited a roster shaped by the aftermath of the Luka Doncic era and found a way to improve three positions while preserving every meaningful asset they entered the offseason with.
AJ Johnson was the biggest asset Dallas moved. He averaged 3.9 points across 23 games during two seasons with the Mavericks and never established himself as a regular rotation player. Turning his contract into Aldama, Sasser and Biberovic in one transaction says plenty about how this front office plans to operate.
When Ujiri arrived in Dallas, he said every decision would be future based. He delivered the first clear example of what that looks like.
