DIRK- the new version of Mark Aguirre

[SWC2010]

Some of you may not remember, but Dallas had a couple of great teams back in the 80's. And like this year with Dirk, they hung their hat on Mark Aguirre. Similar to Dirk, he could score at random, excpet in the last weeks of the season.

Once Mark was traded to a team that saw his potential (and his shortcomings) and placed the pressure on Isiah Thomas, Mark blossomed and so did Detroit.

Is it time to bring in a true #1 player to give Dirk a roll he can handle under pressure, or is it time to consider his trade?

[Higher Authority]

Unless Shaquille O'Neal is coming to town, you don't trade a 7-footer with his skills. He underachieved in the playoffs -- no question about it -- but he's too good and too multi-talented. If, as has been reported, he spends his offseason learning how to become something of a low-post threat when teams put a small forward on him, then his dominance will go up. No way you trade him unless you are simply blown away with an offer. And I don't know any team right now that could put that kind of package together. Shaq and Wade for Dirk? Of course. But Miami wouldn't give up either one for Dirk, much less both. What you don't want is to get suckered into a trade in which the sum of the guys the Mavs get back are supposed to equal Dirk. Sorry -- that doesn't work. There's not enough time and not enough shots for the guys who already are there.

[Hoop Fan]

David Moore finally hit it on the head about Finley in the paper today. The truth his Fin is not much more than a streak shooter at this point in his career. His contract will be a albatross around the Mavs for the next few years and will prevent them from getting the help Nowitski needs. The best they can hope for is he accepts an off the bench role behind Josh Howard. Even that will only make so much difference.

This might sound extreme, but the only thing I see changing this team into a true contender is a lottery pick. And the only way they get a lottery pick any time soon is an injury. Like when the Spurs got Tim Duncan.

[LA_Mustang]

I'm going to beat a dead horse-

05-06 salaries:
Van Horn - 16 million
Bradley - 5 million
Abdul-Wahad - 7 million

28 million for nothing.

BTW, the guy that really wanted to come to Dallas, Tracy McGrady is making 15 million next year, but Cuban felt that was too much money to pay him??? Hummmm.

[Hoop Fan]

I dont pretend to understand the ins and outs of the NBA salary cap, but on the surface the Van Horn thing looks like horrible decision. He is basically the highest paid player on the team. But I guess it got them some type of exception or something that they can use to replace hime with another high $$$ player when his contract is up.

[Corso]

Van Horn exceeded everyone's expecations when he got here. He went hard to the rim and he actually played a little defense. He looked better than I can remember since before Jay Poerner poster-ized him. (Sorry - had to get that in.)

Anyway, his salary is cumbersome. But it would be much more palatable if they could somehow shed the Bradley and Abdul-Wahid deals. Bradley at least is tall. Is Abdul-Wahid even living in Dallas? Or are they just wiring his money to an offshore account? That guy steals money as well as Deion Sanders and Jason Giambi.

[PK]

Isn't there a mavericks board somewhere far far away where you guys could ramble on about the ups and downs of a PRO team. This is a college athletics board.

[Hoop Fan]

youre right PK, there is just too much traffic on this board right now to accomodate this thread.

[LA_Mustang]

PK, forgive us. Let's get back to discussing no bowls or winning seasons in 20 years, no NCAA appearances in 12 years, how we continue to get out-classed in recruiting, attendance and results by our so-called pier schools (TCU, Baylor, Tulsa, Tulane), or let's talk about how we have fallen so far that NTSU supporters are more likely to visit PF.com and talk trash than Froggie fans. Face it, there's not much to talk about SMU wise, unless we discuss for the 100th time our chances of a .500 season in football before 2020.

[PK]

I know , I know. It's just that I can't get too excited about the PRO sports that have driven SMU to the bottom of the City's conscience level. And don't give me all the post dp drivel about why we don't have any fans. Austin has no pro sports...Texas is their team. Prior to the Pro sports hitting Dallas, SMU was Dallas's team despite the state school alumni in town. And Bryan\College Station or Lubbock for that matter or even Ft Worth, they have no local PRO sports and the home college teams are their teams. Rice and U of H have the same problem we do. Therefore I hate giving any of them space on our boards. This is of course my own personal opinion and I am not suprised that it is a lonely opinion, but I am not going to give comfort and aid to the enemy.

Actually, it will be interesting in a few years from now when the "Dallas" caboys become the Tarrant County caboys to see how that affects the froggies.

[LA_Mustang]

Come on, PK. SMU drove SMU to the bottom of Dallas’ conscience level. You can’t blame that on the Cowboys, Mavs or Stars. Over the past several years we have made improvements to reach out to the Dallas community, but it’s hard to change public perception, especially when you continually put a sub-par product on the field/court. It's very simple- if you win, Dallas will support you...if you don't, they won't.

[PK]

It's very simple- if you win, Dallas will support you...if you don't, they won't.

That is a true statement, but Texas fills up a 75,000 seat stadium because they are the only game in town. Even in the 80's when we had, without a doubt, the best college team you could buy...we couldn't get those numbers in a stadium, because we had to compete with the caboys for the entertainment dollar. We will be doing great to fill half our current stadium with local fans regardless of what quality of team we put on the field. This is now a PRO sport town and that is what gets the media attention and the fan attention. I have zero love for any of the PRO teams in town, but that's just me and I am by no means saying you shouldn't, I'm just saying you should have your love fest on their boards...not SMU's boards. IMHO.

Actually I don't give a rats a** one way or the other...I just felt like throwing out my two cents worth of an opinion.

[HorsePower]

It's very simple- if you win, Dallas will support you...if you don't, they won't.

That is a true statement, but Texas fills up a 75,000 seat stadium because they are the only game in town....

No, they fill up because they're winning. UT fans are just as fickle as Dallas fans. When John Mackovic had UT going 3-8 or 4-7 every year, there were thousands of empty seats. Of course, most UT fans claim they were with their team (in person, as well as in spirit) during the lean years, just like so many Dallas Cowboys fans who claimed they were at Texas Stadium in 1989 when 30,000 fans showed up every week disguised as empty seats. Texas played to a bunch of empty seats during the Mackovic regime.

[Dooby]

I'm going to beat a dead horse-

05-06 salaries:
Van Horn - 16 million
Bradley - 5 million
Abdul-Wahad - 7 million

28 million for nothing.

BTW, the guy that really wanted to come to Dallas, Tracy McGrady is making 15 million next year, but Cuban felt that was too much money to pay him??? Hummmm.

KVH played very well at the end of the year and got hurt in game 3 of the Houston series. He was traded to Dallas for Calvin Booth and Alan Henderson who made a combined $15M per year. Milwaukee cut Henderson and he returned to Dallas for the vet minimum of $1.1M. So the Mavs acquired KVH for Calvin Booth, who was barely playing. KVH has one year remaining on his deal. The mavs are hopelessly over the cap. KVH is not the reason the Mavs lost anything.

Bradley is a spare. And he only made $4M this year, BTW. I don't know if you knew this, but most backup centers in the NBA are spares. There are a lot of spare centers making around $5M/year, and some of them start.

TAW takes up the 15th roster spot. A lot of teams don't even go the full 15 spots. What kind of production are you expecting to get out the 15th spot on your roster? TAW will be bought out this summer as his salary is only partially guaranteed for the next two years.

The money on their contracts is irrelevant. The Mavs are hopelessly over the cap. If you could have wiped all $28M you point to off their cap, the Mavs would still have been $20M over the cap last year.

[LA_Mustang]

I am well aware how the Mavs acquired Van Horn and the salaries that were involved. I don’t want to hear that Van Horn played well at the end of the year. The guy is soft and there’s a reason he’s on his fifth team in eight years. He can put decent numbers in the regular season but when it comes to the playoffs, he becomes a non-factor, not to mention a defensive liability (prime example- when Van Horn allowed T-Mac to shot an uncontested 15 footer in the closing seconds of game 2.....that’s unacceptable from a guy making 14 million dollars)

And don’t tell me that those three players contracts are irrelevant, because they are a part of the bigger problem- Cuban’s willingness to take on huge, ridiculously overpaid contracts through trades (Juwan Howard, Raef Lafrentz, Wahad, Van Horn). Now, it has finally caught up to him and it cost the Mavs Tracy McGrady and Steve Nash. Personally, I have a much bigger problem with not getting McGrady than losing Nash.

It’s amazing how many athletes get a free pass in this city. Bradley has been stealing money from the Mavs for years and he still gets cheered when comes into games. It's a joke. And anyone who says that $28 million for spare 1,2 and 3 is irrelevant because the Mavs are already way over the cap is missing the point.