Philadelphia 76ers: How has Dallas treated Trey Burke?

Philadelphia and Dallas have a… contentious relationship, to say the very least.

When the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys play, it’s must-watch television for fans even outside of the NFC East, and when said game takes place in the playoffs? Goodness, things get downright marquee.

Granted, Philadelphia’s other three major sports teams don’t have much of a relationship one way or another with the teams from Dallas, but when one rivalry is that intense, the second-ranked rivalry in the NFL, according to CBS, it can become all-encompassing.

Still, that hasn’t stopped the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks from making more than a few deals over the years, from swapping out Nerlens Noel for Justin Anderson and picks in 2017, to the two-for-one second-round pick swap that netted the Sixers Shake Milton and the infamous Seth Curry trade that Mark Cuban still regrets to this day, the two franchises have been more than willing to exchange players both via trade or the buyout market.

In 2022, the Philadelphia 76ers signed Willie Cauley-Stein to a 10-day contract roughly a month after he was waived by the Mavericks, and in 2020, a little over two years earlier, Dallas did the same, signing Trey Burke a few months after he was waived by Elton Brand. We all know how the WCS signing turned out on Philly, but how has Dallas faired for the Burke?

Trey Burke’s role in Dallas now mirrors his time with the Philadelphia 76ers.

When Trey Burke signed with the Dallas Mavericks, he had a defined role.

With Villanova all-time great Jalen Brunson injured and Willie Cauley-Stein opted out of the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Burke was signed to the Mavericks on July 1st, marking his second stint in as many years with Dallas. Over the final stretch of the regular season, Burke averaged 12.0 points and 3.8 assists in 23.9 minutes of action per game for the Mavs and saw his role ratcheted up even further when the playoffs rolled around, averaging 12.3 points in 26 minutes while serving as the team’s fifth-leading scorer.

When the front office approached Burke about signing an extension, the choice was obvious. After signing a one-year, $2.03 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers the previous summer, earning a long-term deal worth $9.45 million over three seasons must have felt like a nice reward for a job well done.

… but then Brunson got healthy for the 2020-21 season, and just like that, Burke’s role gradually disappeared.

In 2020-21, Brunson averaged 6.6 points in an average of 14.7 minutes in each of the 66 games he appeared in. While he wasn’t afforded a spot in Rick Carlisle’s rotation come playoff time, appearing in two games for a total of 17 minutes, that isn’t too unusual for a bench player, especially for a third-string point guard.

Fast forward to the 2021-22 season, and Burke finds himself a part-time player once more, only now, he’s fallen out of Jason Kidd’s regular season rotation. Burke had appeared in roughly half of the Mavs’ games so far this season and has only played 350 minutes total when actually afforded a chance to take the court. His points per game average, 5.5, falls 13th on the Mavericks, and his chances of re-taking a spot in the rotation took a massive hit last month, when the team traded Kristaps Porzingis for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Other than a four-minute run in the Mavericks’ win over the Sacramento Kings, Burke has been a non-factor for Kidd and company.

Could Burke opt into his $3.3 million player option this summer? Sure, if his agents don’t feel there’s a better money deal on the market for his services, he could bite the bullet and take the money. Alternatively, Brunson could leave in free agency, and suddenly, Burke is a man with a role once more, but if things remain copasetic, a location change might be best for the 29-year-old to keep his NBA dreams alive.

In a way, you sort of have to feel bad for Trey Burke. After being a poor fit in Elton Brand’s defense-focused, guard-less Philadelphia 76ers in 2019-20, it looked like he’d finally found a home in Dallas before that opportunity too eventually soured. While things could work themselves out, when you consider that Spencer Dinwiddie is under contract through the 2023-24 season, that feels unlikely. No, for Burke to continue on with his NBA career, he might have to find a new opportunity, be that in Philly or elsewhere.