Comments on: Mavericks apparently had a “players on expiring contracts” issue last year

By: tk41

tk41 — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 02:06:50 +0000

I admit Chandler was a critical part of that team, however they opted cap flexibility. In hindsight, this probably wasn’t a terribly good decision, but was defensible at the time. I agree that letting the other guys walk had a minimal impact on their future, nor did I ever suggest differently.
Chandler has helped NY immensely, but they still aren’t a championship level because their key players do not compliment each other. Its unreasonable to believe adding far over the hill vets like Camby or Kidd will change that.
Its ironic you mention how “old” the Mavs are as their oldest player (Kidd) just joined the Knicks whom you rave about. Its very likely that the Knicks will be one of the oldest teams in the league next year and, barring drastic change, will be much older than the Mavs.

By: loungefly74

loungefly74 — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:47:12 +0000

i give much respect to the Mavs for fielding a competitive team for several years…with that said, man…seems like their window instantly closed, i mean, really fast!

By: borderline1988

borderline1988 — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:34:42 +0000

Chandler was everything to that team. He’s the most under-rated player in the league. He essentially helped Dallas to the their first championship (even though they had better teams for about a decade and never got that far).
Then he goes to NY, a team that’s notorious for poor defense (hello Amare, Carmelo, Lin) and suddenly NY is one of the best defensive teams in the league.

Cuban should have locked him up. Was the only mistake on his part. Letting Barea, Terry, Kidd, etc. walk doesn’t mean much. They are all replaceable. But there are only ~4 players in the league that can single-handedly vault a defense to the top – Chandler, Howard, Lebron and Garnett. Those guys are rarer than elite scorers and even superstars (such as Deron Williams).

Dallas dropped off big time last year, but if you think it’s b/c Barea left or due to a ‘championship hangover’, you’re delusional. There will be a further dropoff this year. The team is too old and slow, and will not be able to guard anyone. Sure, they have some terrific individual scorers. But that’s not enough to be a good team in today’s NBA.

By: davidly

davidly — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:23:21 +0000

Good points. You busted me using hyperbole, but allow me to tell you more specifically what I mean:
They dropped fifteen percent more games last year from their championship season. I daresay that if they’d played the full 82, they’d've fallen even more.

By cellar, I mean that they are going to be hugging the bottom of their division with the Hornets–which is only one more place downward (though I still think they’ll finish last–and they probably won’t make the playoffs.

You are right. They have excellent coaching. Too bad they had their lifeblood drained before they could try to defend their title.

By: tk41

tk41 — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 02:33:30 +0000

How do you figure? They are an excellently coached team with one of the NBA’s elite players. Their roster is consistently one of the most turned-over in the NBA, yet they remain playoff competitive in bad years & championship level in good years. They also have one of the most innovative and aggressive front offices that consistently demonstrate the willingness to add pieces as the season goes on. They have added an above-average starting NBA center in Kaman & young scorer in Mayo. I don’t believe they will play championship basketball, but its completely baseless to believe they will be anywhere near the cellar.

By: davidly

davidly — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 22:09:06 +0000

No biggie. Since they’ll be playing from the cellar all season, neither players, nor management will have any leverage over the other.

By: 00maltliquor

00maltliquor — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:01:51 +0000

“…running up the whine tab…”

LOL!