http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...r.32c3f23.html
Quote:
I'll dispense with the I-told-you-so. Those of you who are keeping up know what I'm talking about. If not, see last week's newsletter topper.
This week, we have a confession to make.
These Mavericks are good, but not good enough. That's just a humble opinion, of course. But unless some serious attitude adjusting happens in the near future, they just aren't quite championship quality.
That's why you are going to hear a ton of trade rumors in the coming month before the deadline. If you think the Mavericks are always the default clearinghouse for all trades, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Carlos Boozer? Chris Bosh? Al Jefferson? Kevin Martin? Caron Butler? All of them will be coming to Dallas during conjecture over the coming weeks.
You know we are the voice of reason in this little corner of cyberspace. We don't jump off half-cocked about trades. But this time, something needs to be done.
I don't claim to know what that "something" is. But if it doesn't happen between now and Feb. 18, it won't be for a lack of trying.
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Don't know what the Mavs would want with Boozer or Bosh, since they already have a power forward, and no way should Dirk, Bosh, or Boozer be playing center on a team hoping to be a contender. So unless nothing else is getting done and Cuban is really desperate, we can probably rule them out.
I maintain that Jefferson is an excellent option for a team that currently has some of it's own talent and is hopeful but not positive they'll land a big free agent this summer. At the start of next season, Jefferson's AAV on his contract will be $12 million for 3 more years, compared to 5/6 years at $15+ AAV you'd have to shell out for the likes of Amare, Wade, LeBron, etc. With Kevin Love emerging as he has, Minnesota actually has reason to unload Jefferson and get some quality parts back in return, other than just dumping him for the sake of dumping him. If they can avoid giving up the house for him (i.e. hold on to one of Josh Howard and Erick Dampier's contracts, and keep Beaubois, who I doubt Minnesota has much use for anyway), Dallas might be able to get both Jefferson and another player, Butler or Martin.
Jefferson trade: Jefferson and Sasha Pavlovic to Dallas for Howard and Beaubois, plus a pick or two.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMa...radeId=ygtuc6o
Hard to say exactly what the Wizards are looking for, but Sacramento would definitely have use for whichever contract wasn't traded to Minny, and they would definitely have interest in Beaubois (or Barea, if Minny flat out has to have Beaubois). In my scenario, since Howard is going to the Wolves, and Dampier's bigger and slightly longer contract (and less desirable talent) would be left for the Kings, I have Barea heading that direction, and then either a) Ross also goes to the Kings (though that makes it tricky financially), or b) Matt Carroll heads to the Kings, and Nocioni comes back to Dallas. Barea is a decent player, but hardly a can't miss point guard. In my book, at least.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMa...radeId=ylnrse4
PG: Kidd/Terry
SG: Martin/Terry
SF: Marion/Nocioni
PF: Nowitzki/Thomas
C: Jefferson/Gooden
That's a lineup full of known names and well established talent, and here they actually fit with each other. Kidd is the distributor, and still a good one. Martin, Nowitzki, and Terry are the outside/all-around scorers (from different positions). Jefferson is a formidable inside presence, especially on offense, that Dallas hasn't had in some time. Defense might be a concern, especially with the undersized Gooden backing him up. Marion, Nocioni, and Kidd can defend. Thomas and Terry are three point specialists. This is a deep, scary Mavericks lineup that I believe can challenge the Lakers in the west. The main concern is down low defense, and the fact that if this ultimately doesn't work, there is no easy cleanup for the Mavs. Far from it.
Come to think of it, Ross is probably still on board as a trade chip, if they package him and Gooden (expirings) together and offer them to Washington for Brendan Haywood, who knows. Wizards might actually do that, considering they're cleaning house, and they would save about a million dollars here and still have no additional cap commitments after the season. If that went through, there's a big chunk of the down low defense problem solved.
Mavs primed for a major trade?
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