They shook it up at the trading deadline -- in comes Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. Scoring help and a better center, a deal that looked great on paper -- and that didn’t work well at all. The Mavericks looked dangerous at first but their season ended with another first round loss.
May be time to shake up the roster again. Got to love Mark Cuban. ESPN’s Marc Stein breaks it down.
The Mavericks’ hope, according to team sources, has always been signing Nowitzki to an extension before the start of free agency and then making a sign-and-trade run at top free agents. Sources say that list, improbable as it seems, starts with Cleveland’s LeBron James, based on the idea that a locked-up Nowitzki would be among the major selling points to lure a big name, along with Cuban’s free-spending history and -- in James’ case -- the promise of playing a few regular-season games in the Dallas Cowboys’ palatial new stadium that hosted the NBA’s All-Star Game in February.
Convincing any marquee free agent to push for a sign-and-trade to Dallas, however, would seemingly depend on Nowitzki’s presence as a sidekick. Yet it remains to be seen how Nowitzki, who comfortably ranked as the best player in this series, copes with another postseason ending that is sure to bring him unjustified criticism, even after he averaged 26.7 points on 54.7 percent shooting.
We covered the first part of this earlier today - Nowitzki isn’t going anywhere. He is Dallas, he is going to stay. He may opt out to get a new deal that extends into the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but he will not leave.
Some roster changes are needed, that is for sure. They need some young legs -- something they may not even have to trade to get -- and they need depth up front.
As for a major, Jamesian-level addition, the Mavericks will need to find a team with a star player and liking to slash salary. They have the $13 million contract of Erick Dampier, which is non-guaranteed, meaning a team could trade for him then cut him and save big bucks fast. But that is not Cleveland (as if James is leaving anyway). The Mavericks wouldn’t really want Bosh (plays the same spot as Nowitizki).
It doesn’t leave a lot of options, but Mark Cuban and his people always surprise us.