Quote:
Originally posted by <b>droppinknowledge</b>!
Cuban is leading this team in the right direction:
He drafted josh howard. second team all rookie
He signed marquis daniels as a free agent. second team all rookie
He traded raef and nve (who played a COMBINED 57 games last year) and acquired delk, fortson, jamison and walker. Jamison went on to be the sixth man of the year. NVe and Raef went on to sit on ir for the majority of the year.
That trade did what it was supposed to do. Give the mavs MORE REBOUNDING cause they were getting killed on the glass every year.
They were second in the nba in rebounds per game and first in offensive rebounds.
This team has an 87 mil team payroll. cuban is sick of paying 120 mil for this team every time out. Obviously you don't understand how the luxury cap works. Cuban has to pay the team salary of 87 million then ANOTHER 40 TO 45 MIL TO THE NBA FOR BEING OVER THE CAP by that much. That's ridiculous. So not only is he making this team YOUNGER. He's also cutting team payroll while STILL putting out a competitive team that can do the damn thing.
The mavs gave themselves "insurance on the steve nash free agent situation" by acquiring devin harris (who is all they really wanted), laettner, and stackhouse for jamison. Laettner ( SIX MIL SALARY) comes off the books next year. Stack comes off the books in three more years (8 mil)
The mavs offered steve nash 11 million. He went to phoenix for 13 million after the mavs traded for him when he was a 3rd string pg and signed him TO A HUGE EXTENSION EVEN THOUGH HE'D NEVER BEEN A STARTING PG IN THE NBA IN HIS ENTIRE CAREER. The first 2 years he sucked badly. He did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHEN HE "WASN'T HURT" which was alot during that time.
So what should the mavs have done? gave a 5 year 65 million dollar deal to a player that is already 30 years old? LOL that's insane. Why do that when you got devin harris waiting in the wings?
Then after summercamp the mavs decided that harris "could start if necessary" but didn't wanna rush him so they traded walker for hendersen and terry and a first round draft pick. Henderson (8 mil) comes off the books next year and the mavs have an "NVE like" pg to run the team while harris adjusts to the nba game.
The the mavs brought in a 7 foot african big man who has the build of ben wallace and is athletic as hell. *see pic below*
www.phyrstamendment.com/dj.jpg
This guy has like a 7 7 wingspan and blocked 80 shots in 120 mins of summer league action. He's a MONSTER on the defensive side of the ball.
Then the mavs traded fortson (who was not gonna get any major pt this year) for booth (who can block shots and rebound) to give them a lil more size at the center position.
How can you guys hate on cuban for making this TEAM YOUNGER, BETTER DEFENSIVELY, AND MORE ATHLETIC while building his team around HIS SUPERSTAR DIRK NOWITSKI? Aint that what you sposed to do? Dirk is just now about to hit his prime and cuban is letting him know that the mavs are NOW HIS TEAM.
mavs young players:
Dirk is 26
Daniels is 23
Howard is 24
Harris is 21
Pavel is 19
D.J is 24
Steffanson is 22
And Terry is just about to turn 27
mavs vets:
Fin is 31
Booth is 28
Bradley is 32
Najera is 28
Laettner is 35
Stack is 30
Hendersen is 32
All Dirk needs to do is build on his RIDICULOUS postseason last year and it's on and popping.
Dirk averaged 27 points 11 boards 3 blocks 1 steal and 1 dime a game this past postseason. That's just a ridiculous statline. For the first time in 3 YEARS his ankles aren't bothering him. He will be top three in scoring this year and grab around 10 or 11 boards and block 2 to 3 shots this year. I mean this guy just put up 32, 13, and 3 on the USA team like it wasn't nothing where there are ALLSTARS at every position. Do you honestly think he won't torch teams that only have ONE ALLSTAR on their team? LOL
Daniels, terry, harris, and howard are ALL BALL HAWKS. They wreck havoc in the lanes.
Daniels was in the top ten in spg in the playoffs swiping 2 a game.
Terry was in the top 20 in the nba in spg last year swiping damn near 2 a game.
Harris, Daniels, and Howard were all averaging 3 steals apiece during summer leagues
Daniels also showed how capable he is of being a starting sg by averaging 18 points 6 boards and 5 dimes and 2 steals in the month of april while shooting 49 percent from the field. This wasnt just some stretch at the end of the season where the mavs were just playing young guys cause their season was over either. They were STILL FIGHTING FOR HOMECOURT IN ROUND 1 OF THE PLAYOFFS AND DANIELS DID HIS THING AND EARNED HIS CONTRACT WHEN THE HEAT WAS ON.
now you have Booth, D.j, and bradley at center. All three of these guys can swat 2 to 3 shots when they step on the court at any given moment. Now that shaq is in the east who do the mavs really have to fear center wise? Besides yao there's no great center in the west anymore.
I'm pretty sure that booth, d.j and bradley can hold their own with rasho, kandiman, brad miller, vlade's old azz, camby, and any of these other guys out there.
but the question is. How do you stop dirk, terry, fin, daniels, stack, howard, and harris on the other side of the ball? This team is LIGHTNING QUICK. Terry and Harris give the mav the two fastest pg tandem in the league. They will dunk on you. They will defend and they will take the ball to rim. Daniels is the slashing sg who has a midrange game and is a heck of a defender. It wasn't by accident that peja shot 29 percent from 3 land in round 1. it was because daniels was ALL OVER HIM. The you have fin and Dirk. Both of these guys can torch you for 25 plus with ease. Then with Booth, D.J and bradley holding it down at center? You can get like 18, 12, and 6 from that position. Plus you have 18 fouls to use at that position.
Let's not forget about Najera and howard sitting on the bench itching to get in the game and defend. najera is one of the best post defenders in the nba. He frustrates duncan and Cwebb whenever he's on them. they HATE PLAYING AGAINST HIM. Howard is 6 7 with a 7 2 wingspan. Just ask kobe (33 percent against the mavs last year including some 4 for 18 from da field games) how good howards "D" is.
So yes be very afraid people. This team is quick, athletic, will defend and is more than just a "jump shooting team" now. They have slashers. They have defensive stoppers. They have jump shooters. They have athletic wingplayers who can get in the lane at will and have 3 big men who do nothing but swat shots and rebound. They have a deep bench and will be a force to be reckoned with this upcoming nba season. *puts on his mavs hat*
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I couldn't read this entire post. I almost fell asleep. lol jk. But I see your point. People are kinda sleeping on the Mavs. I kinda like their team right now. They did lose Nash. But like you said resigned Daniels who had a very good last 6 weeks and playoffs last year. I love Devin Harris. I'm an Illini fan so I obviously watch a lot of big 10 basketball. And I think Harris is gonna be awesome. Now I question the Jamison for Stack/Laettner trade. Jamison was flat out solid for Dallas last year. And you trade him for Laettner{a scrub} and Stackhouse {Injury prone cancer]? Now the only way this makes sense is if Cuban has another trade in mind. So i'll wait and see if that happens.
You still got Dirk/Finley/Terry/Howard
But for the Mavs to be taken seriously as far as winning a title goes. They're gonna have to take on more of a defensive minded attitude. Now I realze that's not somthing you can teach. But they're obviously not going anywhere giving up the amount of points you do. They need to get some bangers. Guys that can defend the post. Physical guys. I think a guy like Dampier would be perfect.
Look at the Kings. They let Divac go "mainly because he wanted too much money" But Divac was not a defensive presence at all. Then they went and signed Ostertag. Now of course i'm not saying Tag is great. But he's a big body that can bang and block some shots. And I'm almost certain that if the Kings do end up trading Peja. It will be for Artest. I really believe they wanna change the identity of their team. When the Mavs start doing things like this. They'll get more respect.