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Where I put the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks into bed, fluff their pillows and tuck them in. Then smother Brendan Haywood with a pillow. Mark Cuban -- F
We need to quite pretending that Cuban isn't running 90 percent of this franchise, from top to bottom. Outside of the players playing, Rick Carlisle coaching and Donnie Nelson going to Belarus to scout players, Cuban's the man -- whether it's writing checks, pounding the StairMaster, dancing or signing free agents. Cuban attempted to manipulate the media and fans with the collective bargaining agreement rigamarole, the Tyson Chandler saga, the Lamar Odom disaster, Dirk Nowitzki's fitness and just about everything in between. Now we have Rick Carlisle in the wind, Dwight Howard having back surgery still in Orlando and Deron Williams seeming like a long shot. At least we have cap space. By a million miles, Cuban's worst year as Mavs owner.
By the way, remember the Mavericks traded Corey Brewer and Rudy Fernandez to the Denver Nuggets for a second-round pick. In 2016. At least Dwight Howard and Deron Williams are coming here ...
Donnie Nelson -- Incomplete
At a loss as to what he actually does. Belarus!
Rick Carlisle -- B
Carlisle was given a bag of turds and a butter knife and told to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to snack on before we go to the five-star restaurant. In the meantime, we all had turd sandwiches (unmotivated, ill-fitting players) and the reservations for the restaurant fell through.
Roddy Beaubois - C
I don't know if Beaubois is the problem or if Carlisle is the problem. Before you could claim that Carlisle doesn't trust young players. But Beaubois played his third professional season and he played a total of 11 minutes in the playoff sweep. I sort of get the feeling that Beaubois is, at least, a valuable sixth man on any other team. Although, if he can't show Carlisle enough at this point, you have to wonder.
Brian Cardinal -- Incomplete
Can't hate The Custodian despite playing just six minutes per in 44 games. He shot poorly. He's The Custodian. He cleans messes. He fixes things.
Vince Carter -- D
If he's looking for a last gasp for his NBA career, he did a lot of good. Shockingly, I thought Carter would turn out to be what Lamar Odom was. Quite the opposite (obvs). At times, you saw Carter as the difference maker in a game. Still, his production was middling, at best. He shot 46 percent in December, 47 percent in January and everyone was excited. He shot 37 percent in February, 31 percent in March and 29 percent in April. It was his worst points per game total in his career and it tied his worst shooting percentage (41.1 percent) of his career (done while giving up in Toronto).
Brendan Haywood -- F
Of all the centers the Dallas Mavericks have brought in here (more or less gave tons of money) Haywood may be the worst. Worse than Erick Dampier. Period. People bitched about Dampier's general lack of drive, emotion or edge. I see little difference in Haywood's demeanor. Literally, zero. He shot 51 percent from the field, which is poor since he's perpetually five feet from the basket, he shot 47 percent from the line (he shot 57 percent his first half season with the Mavericks) and grabbed an anemic six rebounds a game and scored just five points per game. Worst player on the team. And he'll have to get amnestied. Pathetic.
Yi Jianlian -- D
If he's your 11th man, you could probably do worse. Not what you want to say about a former lottery pick (way to go, Milwaukee).
Dominique Jones -- D
Like Beaubois, I don't know how good or bad Jones really is. Maybe he's terrible. Maybe he's a bench player. Before you note that you can't find good value in the latter part of the NBA Draft and it's the Mavericks' fate to be good and get terrible picks, they actually didn't choose Jones. The Mavericks had one second-round pick in 2010. He bought the rights to Jones from Memphis. Meanwhile, the Grizz took Greivis Vasquez a few picks later, the Nets took Jordan Crawford, the Thunder took Quincy Pondexter and the Knicks grabbed Landry Fields in the second round. The Mavericks didn't need to draft right. They needed to buy right and they couldn't even do that. So, yeah, no value in the NBA Draft.
Jason Kidd -- D
He's had a fantastic career. Why run a superstar in the twilight of his career through the ringer?
Ian Mahinmi -- B
He is not an everyday starting center nor would I describe him as the "future" at center for the Mavericks. He's a really nice player with some skills that could make him a lot of money. Possibly with another team. Completely outperformed Haywood in a reserve role for much of the season.
Shawn Marion -- B+
Team MVP. For my money, pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the most effective Maverick for the last two seasons, and that includes Nowitzki. Since Marion made the "world champion" comments before this season, he played with as much fire as he did a year ago. Those 33-year-old knees jumped into 63 games this season. Although I think the tenacity of the season wore him down late (scoring dipped a lot in March and April), he was still terrific and the only guy in the playoffs that made me think he was really trying. Love Marion.
Dirk Nowitzki -- C
Nowitzki climbed the mountain, got to the top and didn't want to come back down. It's noble. It's not so much that fans deserve him to take this season as seriously as he took the previous 13 seasons. I think he deserved to take this as seriously as if he never won the title. More pronounced as Nowitzki's clear aging process. It's been a slow decline. He's great, but his age is getting to him. His rebounding's dropped every season since 2004-05, which is not so much a big deal, but over time it's dropped three rebounds a game. His shooting percentage dropped precipitously this year and his three-pointers attempted continues to go back up. A so-so, disappointing year for the greatest Maverick ever.
Lamar Odom -- F-
There's not enough alphabet.
Jason Terry -- C
Going from my gut, I never got the impression this season that Terry was even carrying the team. Meaning, in the past, there would be stretches of games where Terry would absolutely come off the bench and put the team on his back and win them games. Terry, instead, was a lot more steady. He got his points, shot well and was the typical sixth man that we've come to expect. All of this is fine, for a really good team. Sixth men like Terry are luxuries. When he's literally the second best player on the team, that's a problem. I disliked the "audition" comments and that's primarily why he's bumped as low as he is.
Delonte West -- B
As long as he takes his meds, there's no reason why West doesn't have a back-up guard job for the next 10 years. He's just 27 and he's an OK defender (this was a bit overrated this season) and a good scorer. He can run a team.
Brandan Wright -- B+
Outplayed Brendan Haywood in a quarter of the minutes and games. He is limited in that Brandon Bass kind of way. He's a big guy, but he can't really play center all the time, but he plays like a modern-day center. No matter, loved watching him grow up a little. Sort of the consolation prize for swapping Corey Brewer for air.
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