Your Newest Mav

[NT03]

Marion next ???

[Censored by Laurie]

[Green P1]

I'm drooling over a starting five of Kidd, JJ, J-Ho, Dirk and Gorat. Lets get ivory up in here!!!1!

[TheTastyGreek]

Can Gortat pitch? Maybe we can use him as a specialist reliever against Chone Figgins.

[MDH]

This Shawn Marion rumor is nuts...we could actually contend for a top 4 spot with him.

[NT03]

This Shawn Marion rumor is nuts...we could actually contend for a top 4 spot with him.

Say Dallas does get Marion , who is the starting 5

1 - Kidd

2 - Howard

3 - Marion

4 - Dirk

5 - Gortat

Would Marion be happy coming off the bench because I would think you might need another ball handler out there besides just Kidd.

JJ,Terry coming off the bench ? Is Bass gone for sure or is he coming back ?

[Quoner]

Say Dallas does get Marion , who is the starting 5

1 - Kidd

2 - Howard

3 - Marion

4 - Dirk

5 - Gortat

Would Marion be happy coming off the bench because I would think you might need another ball handler out there besides just Kidd.

JJ,Terry coming off the bench ? Is Bass gone for sure or is he coming back ?

Timmy had the same idea: http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/20...h-the-mavs.html

I think you need to turn Damp on Howard into a 2 that can create his own shot, but easier said than done.

[hickoryhouse]

I think Bass wants the mid level exception... We have upped our offer to 3.5 Mil but there are a few other teams looking at him. I do not want to lose Bass, he is the best piece that we have under the age of 30... If he goes then we are going to be the laughing stock of the league in three years and we will have to go back to reunion and wearing those old green unis

[Quoner]

I think Bass wants the mid level exception... We have upped our offer to 3.5 Mil but there are a few other teams looking at him. I do not want to lose Bass, he is the best piece that we have under the age of 30... If he goes then we are going to be the laughing stock of the league in three years and we will have to go back to reunion and wearing those old green unis

Why? If you have more money to play with than anyone next summer, there is no reason to be a laughing stock in three years. I expect nothing more than a series win or two from the current group if everything breaks perfectly, but the team should be in good shape to rebuild Celtics-style with all the contracts coming off the books during the next two years.

[hickoryhouse]

We have been so far over the cap for years now. Our luxury tax number is amazing, only the Knicks make us look frugal.

NBA Salary Cap, chart is on the bottom

Dallas Mavericks Payroll for the Next few Years

2010 Salry Cap may Drop to 57 Milion

Basically we are going to have around 7 Million in Cap room next year, assuming that we don't give Marion decent money. I don't think that we are going to have a dime to play with next year, the 2010 free agency bonanza is going to pass us by, remember we still have to resign Dirk, and that is going to be more than a $21 Million proposition because he is a restricted free agent next year...

[Quoner]

We have been so far over the cap for years now. Our luxury tax number is amazing, only the Knicks make us look frugal.

NBA Salary Cap, chart is on the bottom

Dallas Mavericks Payroll for the Next few Years

2010 Salry Cap may Drop to 57 Milion

Basically we are going to have around 7 Million in Cap room next year, assuming that we don't give Marion decent money. I don't think that we are going to have a dime to play with next year, the 2010 free agency bonanza is going to pass us by, remember we still have to resign Dirk, and that is going to be more than a $21 Million proposition because he is a restricted free agent next year...

What the contracts and deals mean - from Yahoo Sports

Yes, the 2009-10 Mavs could very easily fall off the face of the earth. They could fall into the lottery. They could leave themselves prone to be mocked.

And it might not matter.

Because this team has loads of cap flexibility, starting next summer. Starting this summer, actually. Heaps of cap flexibility. Room to move. Beaucoup de options.

If rumors are true and Kidd signed a three-year deal in the $25 million range, then he's overpaid. No way around it. But the team also has Erick Dampier(notes) turning in with an unguaranteed deal worth about $13 million for 2010-11, a contract that figures to be worth its weight in gold on the trading market. Same for Josh Howard, who has a team option for a little under $12 million for 2010-11. Those are huge, huge chips.

Chips bigger than any combination of unguaranteed deals we saw shift hands during this offseason, and this offseason saw guys like Richard Jefferson(notes) and Shaquille O'Neal(notes) switch teams for the pittance of unguaranteed deals and expiring contracts.

It doesn't end there, either. If the Mavs pick on Jerry Stackhouse's(notes) option, he then has an expiring deal worth over $7 million. Jason Terry(notes) is coming off a sublime season, and if you assume that no team (Mavericks or otherwise) will guarantee the last year of his deal at $10.7 million during 2011-12, then you can more or less consider this guy on an expiring contract to play with during 2010-11.

Bottom line, even with Kidd coming back at a price that doesn't suit his talents? The Mavericks can ship out something like $39 million worth of expiring deals between now and February.

Or, the team can just hold serve, go for those 50 wins again (go get ‘em, tigers!), and become major players on perhaps the most storied offseason for free agents in NBA history. As it stands right now, if the team declines all options, they'll have just about $50 million committed in salary to Nowitzki, Kidd, Terry, Marcin Gortat at the MLE, and Matt Carroll(notes).

This works. And though Kidd and Dirk might be on the downside of a pair of fabulous careers, the team has a smart owner who is willing to pay the luxury tax, a fantastic coach, and loads of options. It wants to win, and it'll pay to win. A dangerous combination, in any economy.

So no, they won't be straight signings, but they are in great shape to reshape the roster - better than most of the league.

[hickoryhouse]

Perhaps I have been a touch short sided... I don't see us sitting on Damp this year to try and get to next year, I see us trading those guys which is going to heap contracts on top of us and drive us ou of that market again, but this time with trades... I guess that is the same effect isnt it?

I am looking frward to getting Damp off the books, and Stack, and even Josh Howard. I guess either way we get to do something with the roster, so essentially it is the same right?

Then that leaves us with trusting Nelson and Cuban to make good trades and not go get Tariq Abdul Wahad, Wang Xhu Xhu, Raif LaFrentz, Calvin Booth, etc.....

[TheTastyGreek]

I think Bass wants the mid level exception... We have upped our offer to 3.5 Mil but there are a few other teams looking at him. I do not want to lose Bass, he is the best piece that we have under the age of 30... If he goes then we are going to be the laughing stock of the league in three years and we will have to go back to reunion and wearing those old green unis

Every time I hear the anxiety about potentially losing Bass, I think back to how uneasy I was when Calvin Booth got away from us. It makes me feel better.

[Green P1]

Every time I hear the anxiety about potentially losing Bass, I think back to how uneasy I was when Calvin Booth got away from us. It makes me feel better.

Booth made one basket and had no chin. The comparison does not stand.

[TheTastyGreek]

Booth made one basket and had no chin. The comparison does not stand.

Not to discount the critical "Jawline Factor"... My point is that some of these grit guys get way, way overrated because of their appeal to local fans. Eddie Najera would be another good example.

As lovable and scrappy as some of these guys can be, teams usually survive their departure without even so much as a hiccup.

[Guest JohnDenver]

Every time I hear the anxiety about potentially losing Bass, I think back to how uneasy I was when Calvin Booth got away from us. It makes me feel better.

But Booth returned ... Oh. I see what you did there.

[Quoner]

Not to discount the critical "Jawline Factor"... My point is that some of these grit guys get way, way overrated because of their appeal to local fans. Eddie Najera would be another good example.

As lovable and scrappy as some of these guys can be, teams usually survive their departure without even so much as a hiccup.

Not me - I expect to see a team built around Bass in 2015.

In Frisco.

[TheTastyGreek]

But Booth returned ... Oh. I see what you did there.

You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone.

Then you realize what you've got was maybe just a little above spare, and start to resent its limited game.

Edited July 7, 2009 by TheTastyGreek

[Quoner]

You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone.

Then you realize what you've got was maybe just a little above spare, and start to resent its limited game.

But you really don't know what you got until Don Nelson turns it into Keith Van Horn.

[UNT90]

Say Dallas does get Marion , who is the starting 5

1 - Ki

2 - Howar

3 - Marion

4 - irk

5 - Gortat

Would Marion be happy coming off the bench because I would think you might need another ball handler out there besides just Kidd.

JJ,Terry coming off the bench ? Is Bass gone for sure or is he coming back ?

They will need to score 150 a night with this lineup.

[hickoryhouse]

That is a good point about Bass, but every team needs that grit and hustle guy. I think that he might have something more than that though.

Or I could just have a bit of my homer glasses on.