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You can't close The Matrix, you can only trade him to make cap room for someone betterRight now, they're 21-12 and I still think -- despite their clear deficiencies -- that when you list the contenders in the NBA that the Mavericks are still in the conversation. Considering, that's pretty good.
And despite everything, the Mavericks are in an advantageous position in the off-season. Jason Kidd and Jason Terry are coming off the books. Lamar Odom and Vince Carter have non-guaranteed money. That leaves three significant contracts -- Dirk Nowitzki, Brendan Haywood, Shawn Marion -- on the books for 2012-13 and a amnesty clause in their pocket.
With all the savings, that's about $40 million coming off the books next season (assuming they will amnesty Haywood -- which seems crazy since he's so fucking AWESOME!), which will be used to lure Dwight Howard and Deron Williams in free agency.
I think Williams is a legit possibility. I think Howard is more of a pipe dream. Getting both seems wildly insane.
The odd duck, seemingly, is Shawn Marion. The veteran forward is due $8.3 million and $9 million the next. If you've read this blog for any amount of time with any eye for detail, you know I've championed Marion for the last two seasons. He was the third-best Maverick in the championship run and he's been the best Maverick this season. If you were handing out an MVP trophy today, it'd go to Marion.
He's opportunistically offensive and his defense is out of this world. Something -- maybe from Kidd, Dirk -- infected the guy and he's given his career a second life. It's seem unconscionable trading him. Yet, it could very well happen.
If Marion were traded, free agency hit, Haywood was jettisoned and Odom and Carter were not brought back, that would leave Nowitzki ($20 million) and Roddy Beaubois and Dom Jones ($3.4 million combined) as the only Mavericks under contract next season (Brandan Wright has a team option for $947K, which I assume they'll pick up).
OK. You want Howard and Williams and trading Marion is the way to make that happen, it feels like fait accompli that all of this is going to go down. However, the minute you trade Marion you are giving up on the 2011-12 season, for whatever that means.
If you trade Marion, you know that Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson and everyone else knows that this team presently constructed can not probably win a championship. As much as I agree, why not show a little effort? This is probably Kidd's last season -- at least with the Mavs -- and who knows what happens to Terry (I think the Mavs would re-sign him). This may be their last hurrah and management is merely willing and ready to flush it down the toilet for a shot at the big stars.
The problem I have with this is that A) no one preaches the "we are a family, these are my guys" more than Cuban; and B) superstars didn't win this team a world championship. Yes, Dirk is a superstar, but he's also a guy that's been ridiculed for being soft for most of his career. He's become a star almost despite himself and expectations. However, the rest of the bunch are a bunch of castaways and guys on their way out. All good, all professional and all know how to win. But none of them were given much of a shot by the rest of the league. Then they went out and shocked the world and beat the evil triumvirate in Miami.
If the Mavs make these moves (some have them shipping Marion out for Michael Beasley) and wind up getting Howard and Williams along with Dirk, how is this any different from Miami in 2010?
It's a business, I guess.
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