The NBA’s trade deadline (2 p.m. CT on Feb. 6) is fast approaching.

Will the playoff-contending Mavericks continue their recent history as one of the league’s most active teams on deadline day?

The Mavericks are just one of five teams to make a trade close to the final deadline each of the last three years, joining the Hawks, Nets, Lakers and Raptors.

Last season was perhaps Dallas’ wackiest situation: Midway through a Feb. 6 game against the Hornets, the Mavericks traded Harrison Barnes to Sacramento for Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson in a move to clear salary cap space. Barnes didn’t return to the game after the trade, but stayed on the bench to cheer on his ex-teammates.

Dallas also dealt for Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee in 2019, but that was eight days before the deadline.

Before the 2018 deadline, Dallas participated in a three-team trade, dealing Devin Harris to the Nuggets. The Nuggets traded Emmanuel Mudiay to the Knicks and a 2018 second-round draft pick to the Mavericks. The Knicks sent Doug McDermott to the Mavericks and a 2018 second-round pick to the Nuggets.

And during the 2017 frenzy, Dallas sent Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut and a conditional 2017 first-round pick to the 76ers for center Nerlens Noel.

However, the Mavericks’ current circumstances are different than when the franchise agreed to those deals in recent years.

Dallas enters Wednesday night’s game against the Grizzlies 12 games above .500 with a 31-19 record. Most analysts project the team as a playoff lock.

In the last three seasons, the Mavericks haven’t finished with a record better than 33-49 and used the trade deadline to improve their rebuilding plans, rather than try keeping a successful core intact ahead of a postseason push.

The last time Dallas didn’t make a trade deadline move (2015-16 season) was the last time the franchise made the playoffs.

But the Mavericks have already shown their willingness to improve gaps in their roster this season — in January, Dallas traded a second-round pick to Golden State for Willie Cauley-Stein as Dwight Powell’s injury replacement — and could still continue their reputation of trade-deadline participants.

Here’s a breakdown of the number of trades every NBA team has made at the trade deadline in the last three years:

Team 2019 2018 2017 Atlanta 2 2 1 Boston 1 0 0 Brooklyn 1 1 1 Charlotte 0 0 0 Chicago 0 2 1 Cleveland 1 3 0 Dallas 1 1 1 Denver 0 1 1 Detroit 1 2 0 Golden State 0 0 0 Houston 3 0 2 Indiana 1 0 0 Los Angeles Clippers 2 0 0 Los Angeles Lakers 1 1 1 Memphis 3 2 0 Miami 0 2 0 Milwaukee 1 0 1 Minnesota 0 0 0 New Orleans 2 1 0 New York 0 1 0 Oklahoma City 0 0 1 Orlando 1 1 0 Philadelphia 2 0 1 Phoenix 0 1 2 Portland 1 1 0 Sacramento 3 2 0 San Antonio 0 0 0 Toronto 2 1 1 Utah 0 1 0 Washington 1 1 0

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