Dallas Mavericks will need to get creative in off-season
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
On his way out the door, Avery Johnson hit on the most important point regarding the Dallas Mavericks' future.
Asked what attributes his successor would have in a perfect world, Johnson said the new coach would need a strong grip on reality.
"I think there's a lot of work to be done," Johnson said. "Mark and Donnie realize that there's some holes that are going to be have to be filled."
If history holds, owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson will not be shy about trying to fill those holes. But it won't be easy. In fact, it may be a multiyear process.
Creativity is going to be needed to revamp the Mavericks' roster next season. Seven players, all of whom were in Johnson's rotation, are under contract for next season, with an eighth, Eddie Jones, able to exercise his player option for a guaranteed year. Those veterans put the Mavericks over the salary cap – way over, by about $23 million. They have no first-round draft pick.
That means the Mavericks have three ways to improve the roster, or four if you include signing veterans for minimum wage.
• The mid-level exception, which gives them somewhere around $5.4 million to sign a player or players.
• Trades.
• Free agents acquired via sign-and-trade, where another team signs its free agent at a salary usually higher than the mid-level exception and immediately trades that player.
The problem with two of those options is there isn't much water in the free-agent pool this year. Kwame Brown and Antawn Jamison probably aren't going to get the Mavericks' pulse racing. Although Jamison is coming off a terrific season, he's already been here and done that. Brown remains one of the biggest busts ever drafted No. 1 overall.
So, then what?
The Mavericks must decide if there is a reasonable market for players such as Josh Howard, Jason Terry and/or Jerry Stackhouse. Those are trade chips of varying value. But it's about all the Mavericks have to dangle unless they want to make a serious change in philosophy and trade Dirk Nowitzki or admit the Jason Kidd trade was a mistake and deal him. Kidd enters the final year of his contract, worth $21 million.
The Mavericks also will have Reyshawn Terry and Renaldas Seibutis, two former second-round picks, in summer league. Both are being given a decent chance of making next season's roster.
Meanwhile, some of the prominent names around the league who could be on the trading block are the LA Clippers' Corey Maggette, Sacramento's Ron Artest and Charlotte's Gerald Wallace or Jason Richardson.
Beyond trade scenarios, the remaining free agents who might intrigue the Mavericks include Chicago's Chris Duhon, Denver's Eduardo Najera, Golden State's Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus, Miami's Earl Barron and Utah's C.J. Miles.
The first step in fixing a team that has been drop-kicked in the first round of the playoffs two seasons in a row is to hire the new coach.
Rick Carlisle continues to negotiate with the Mavericks and is believed to be the lone serious candidate as the first week after Johnson's firing comes to a close. And he will have a voice in the roster decisions.
"With us, it's always been a triad of decision-makers, with Mark, myself and the head coach," Nelson said. "The head coach's style will have an emphasis on what we do with trades, free agency and the draft."
And there probably will be plenty of action in those areas for the new coach.
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Mavericks will need to get creative in off-season
and not our roster? Awesome.
