Mavericks land another shooter for Luka Doncic to work with

The Dallas Mavericks have added another shooter around Luka Doncic, with J.J. Redick coming via a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Dallas Mavericks are clinging to the eighth spot in the West, and they’ve added a piece at the trade deadline. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Dallas has agreed to a deal to get guard J.J. Redick from the New Orleans Pelicans.

According to Charania, the Mavericks will also acquire Nicolo Melli while sending James Johnson, Wes Iwundu and a second-round pick to the Pelicans. Melli played 22 games for New Orleans this year, averaging 2.0 points and 11 minutes per game.

It’s no secret Redick was a candidate to be traded, and failing that he was in line to be bought out by New Orleans. He has missed time recently with a heel injury, so when he might play again is unclear right now. He’s averaging just 8.7 points per game this season, but he’s still shooting a solid 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Mavericks add another shooter around Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic is a special talent, and Kristaps Porzingis is a difference-maker when healthy. But the Mavericks are just 16th in the league in scoring heading into trade deadline day (112.5 points per game). More specifically, they are also a middle-of-the-road 3-point shooting team (36.3 percent) on the fifth-most attempts in the league (37.9 per game).

Besides Doncic and Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. (7.6 per game) and Josh Richardson (5.0 per game) are the only other Mavericks averaging five or more 3-point attempts per game this season. Dorian Finney-Smith comes in close to that, at 4.8 attempts per game. Of those five guys, only Hardaway (39.4 percent) is converting at more than a 37 percent rate from beyond the arc. So Redick, assuming he is healthy, will be a welcome addition for his shooting as well as his experience.