Post by nick24 on Aug 26, 2010 12:01:37 GMT -5
After a positive 1999 season, where the Mavs qualified for the Playoffs and made it to the 2nd round, the Mavs were hoping for an even more positive offseason. However, it has been so-so for them thus far. If there's anything positive really, the Mavs weren't the only ones affected by a crazy offseason.
The main goal this offseason was to resign SF Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The Mavs traded for him last season because of his scoring and solid defense at the SF position. They still felt he had room to improve his game even more, especially with his outside shooting. Reef got along with all the players on and off the court, and formed a great bond with FC Tim Duncan. Everything looked great, but no one knew what was going on in Reef's mind.
We all know Abdur-Rahim left Dallas for the almost the same money, but one less year. What's most important about this is that we need to look at this in a much deeper sense. (We have many valid sources on all these claims, so this is no BS). First of all, Reef hated the fact of having to play SF in Dallas. He did it and bit his tongue day-in, day-out, but he loved playing PF in Vancouver. He was even quoted saying, "I knew I had to move to SF when I was traded to Dallas with Timmy and the combo of Austin/Miller controlling the paint. I was so angry I didn't even want to step off the plane in Dallas. I'm a professional and this is my job, so I had to show up to work." So even though Reef put that Mavs jersey on, I don't think he was fully there mentally.
Now comes to what everyone thinks is a conspiracy. Reef was not the only one big name FA to leave his previous team for greener pastures. Coincidentally, that big name FA is the best PG in the league, Jason Kidd. Just like Reef, he signed a 6-year deal with the Grizzlies. You are probably thinking, OK...so what? That GM made bids, got lucky, and has a great team now. However, that's not how it all really played out. OK, you conspiracy guys, get ready. Where did Reef and Kidd go to college? I'll spare you the time if you don't know...University of California. Although they never played together, they still met and formed a great relationship immediately. So, there connection goes back from even their NBA days.
A second reason to why Reef left is more of an off-court issue. If you don't know, Reef was born in Marietta, Georgia. Vancouver...Georgia...what's the connection? There is non at all. However, there's bee some huge rumor going on that the Grizzlie franchise wants to move inside the US. The rumors have been circulating that Memphis is the city of choice. The owners just have not seen a good enough revenue from Vancouver fans. If they really do move to Memphis, Reef would be much closer to home than in Dallas or Vancouver.
Reef was not done screwing over the Mavs. There was another great player and arugably the best C outside of Shaq, Alonzo Mourning on the Fa market. Talking while both Reef's and Kidd's team's lost in the Playoffs, they decided to hold a "Summit" with Alonzo so they could court him to Vancouver. Kidd and Reef both knew that Zo would be a big-time game changer on offense and especially defense. What they also knew along with Zo, is that only Kidd and Reef would be able to sign with Vancouver, and Zo with a different team because of salary cap. Zo loved the idea, especially to play with the best PG in the league. Therefore, he left Miami because he knew their GM would keep hold of him and compete. Signing with Indiana, Zo immediately demanded to be traded.
The Mavs were the first true team to respond to Zo's demands to get out of Indiana. From the Mavs point of view, they had been leading all trade offers by offering SG Jerry Stackhouse, C Brad Miller, and the Pacers 2003 1st. The 1st was very important as the Pacers are rebuilding. Did Zo have influence on going to Dallas. OF COURSE! All along he wanted to be a Grizz. After rumors broke out of Dallas going hard for Zo, Kidd and Reef pushed their GM hard to call the Pacers GM and make a deal. The Grizz GM never intended on going after Zo since they wanted to keep their young core, but after further analysis and pressure from Kidd and Reef, he made the call. The rest is history.
From an outside perspective, the Mavs got manhandled by the Grizz this offseason. However, they know it's a business and a lot of variables you can't control (DAMN YOU FBB!). What they can control is further making trades and trying to improve players in camps.
Even before they knew Reef was going to bolt back to Vancouver, the Mavs made a move for a SF as an insurance policy. If you don't know, the SF is Rick Fox. He gets pegged as a pretty boy a-hole, but the guy can score. The Mavs knew that and saw evidence as he led the Hornets to the Finals last season. He avg. a playoff leading 27.5 ppg. The Hornets want to rebuild so the Mavs snagged him for a 1st rounder. The Mavs definitely now feel very fortunate for making the move to get Fox.
Outside of the Zo talks in trying to get a big man, the Mavs were trying to land Kemp. The talks first orginated from last season, but nothing was finalized in time of the trade deadline last season. Knowing they had to improve their frontcourt outside of Duncan, the Mavs GM called the Cavs GM to rework a deal. It was a no brainer. Kemp is just as old as Zo, and not the same rebounder and shot blocker, but he can still put the ball in the basket. Kemp was really excited when he knew a deal to Dallas was finally finalized. Kemp was quoted saying, "Dallas is a fairly young and up-in-coming franchise. I know I'm not getting any younger, but I want to win. Dallas will give me one of the best chances to do so." Kemp and Duncan now form a nice 1-2 punch in the paint.
Knowing that the Mavs were going to get an upgrade in their frontcourt one way or another, Austin became expendable. Therefore, they were shopping him for a wing player. The Mavs weren't getting much interest, so their GM decided to make a few calls. One of the last people that he called was the Wizards new GM. Knowing they could use some frontcourt help, the Mavs thought they could be good trade partners. Although raw, the Mavs really like what Q could become in the future. They also thought he was better suited at SF. The deal was done, and the Mavs put him through drills in their offseason workouts. He can really shoot but needs help on his inside scoring. Also, his ability to defend SF's well was evident compared to SGs (When changed from SG to SF, defense went from B- to A-!) Although the Mavs would most likely want to keep hold on him and maybe eventually take over Fox's spot at SF, his name has been swirrling around Cavs camp. The Mavs really like SG Derek Anderson, so maybe a deal will get done.
Outside of FA and trades, the Mavs are really hoping from some more development. They know what Duncan and now Kemp and Fox bring to the table. PG Jason Williams has developed into the PG they want. There's two big questions heading into training camp his season, one being the lesser of the other.
The first, what version of Jerry Stackhouse will show up? Stackhouse got paid last offseason, but has not fully shown he deserves that money. He really needs to improve his inside scoring and defense. He says he has put the work in this offseason, so we will have to wait and see. However, Stackhouse has also been the conversation of trade talks, so that wait might be with another team.
The lesser and second question is, will QRich be able to pan out at SF? The Mavs want to put the least amount of pressure on him. They know he is young and still learning the game of basketball. However, the expectation is to take over at SF after Fox retires. Therefore, accountability is still present. QRich will probably be placed in an individual camp after training camp, probably focusing on his inside scoring.
All in all, it's been an up-and-down offseason for the Mavs. With their roster pretty much set, the Mavs have huge expectations this season. As a team goal, they want to get past the 2nd rd this season in the playoffs. From a player goal, FC Tim Duncan wants to be a serious MVP candidate and JWill wants to be top 5 in apg. and spg. Well, GL to all this season!
The main goal this offseason was to resign SF Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The Mavs traded for him last season because of his scoring and solid defense at the SF position. They still felt he had room to improve his game even more, especially with his outside shooting. Reef got along with all the players on and off the court, and formed a great bond with FC Tim Duncan. Everything looked great, but no one knew what was going on in Reef's mind.
We all know Abdur-Rahim left Dallas for the almost the same money, but one less year. What's most important about this is that we need to look at this in a much deeper sense. (We have many valid sources on all these claims, so this is no BS). First of all, Reef hated the fact of having to play SF in Dallas. He did it and bit his tongue day-in, day-out, but he loved playing PF in Vancouver. He was even quoted saying, "I knew I had to move to SF when I was traded to Dallas with Timmy and the combo of Austin/Miller controlling the paint. I was so angry I didn't even want to step off the plane in Dallas. I'm a professional and this is my job, so I had to show up to work." So even though Reef put that Mavs jersey on, I don't think he was fully there mentally.
The sinister Abdur-Rahim already thinking about his leave from Dallas
Now comes to what everyone thinks is a conspiracy. Reef was not the only one big name FA to leave his previous team for greener pastures. Coincidentally, that big name FA is the best PG in the league, Jason Kidd. Just like Reef, he signed a 6-year deal with the Grizzlies. You are probably thinking, OK...so what? That GM made bids, got lucky, and has a great team now. However, that's not how it all really played out. OK, you conspiracy guys, get ready. Where did Reef and Kidd go to college? I'll spare you the time if you don't know...University of California. Although they never played together, they still met and formed a great relationship immediately. So, there connection goes back from even their NBA days.
Kidd and Abdur-Rahim met at the University of California
A second reason to why Reef left is more of an off-court issue. If you don't know, Reef was born in Marietta, Georgia. Vancouver...Georgia...what's the connection? There is non at all. However, there's bee some huge rumor going on that the Grizzlie franchise wants to move inside the US. The rumors have been circulating that Memphis is the city of choice. The owners just have not seen a good enough revenue from Vancouver fans. If they really do move to Memphis, Reef would be much closer to home than in Dallas or Vancouver.
Reef was not done screwing over the Mavs. There was another great player and arugably the best C outside of Shaq, Alonzo Mourning on the Fa market. Talking while both Reef's and Kidd's team's lost in the Playoffs, they decided to hold a "Summit" with Alonzo so they could court him to Vancouver. Kidd and Reef both knew that Zo would be a big-time game changer on offense and especially defense. What they also knew along with Zo, is that only Kidd and Reef would be able to sign with Vancouver, and Zo with a different team because of salary cap. Zo loved the idea, especially to play with the best PG in the league. Therefore, he left Miami because he knew their GM would keep hold of him and compete. Signing with Indiana, Zo immediately demanded to be traded.
The Mavs were the first true team to respond to Zo's demands to get out of Indiana. From the Mavs point of view, they had been leading all trade offers by offering SG Jerry Stackhouse, C Brad Miller, and the Pacers 2003 1st. The 1st was very important as the Pacers are rebuilding. Did Zo have influence on going to Dallas. OF COURSE! All along he wanted to be a Grizz. After rumors broke out of Dallas going hard for Zo, Kidd and Reef pushed their GM hard to call the Pacers GM and make a deal. The Grizz GM never intended on going after Zo since they wanted to keep their young core, but after further analysis and pressure from Kidd and Reef, he made the call. The rest is history.
From an outside perspective, the Mavs got manhandled by the Grizz this offseason. However, they know it's a business and a lot of variables you can't control (DAMN YOU FBB!). What they can control is further making trades and trying to improve players in camps.
Even before they knew Reef was going to bolt back to Vancouver, the Mavs made a move for a SF as an insurance policy. If you don't know, the SF is Rick Fox. He gets pegged as a pretty boy a-hole, but the guy can score. The Mavs knew that and saw evidence as he led the Hornets to the Finals last season. He avg. a playoff leading 27.5 ppg. The Hornets want to rebuild so the Mavs snagged him for a 1st rounder. The Mavs definitely now feel very fortunate for making the move to get Fox.
Fox will be a good scoring option for the Mavs this up-coming season
Outside of the Zo talks in trying to get a big man, the Mavs were trying to land Kemp. The talks first orginated from last season, but nothing was finalized in time of the trade deadline last season. Knowing they had to improve their frontcourt outside of Duncan, the Mavs GM called the Cavs GM to rework a deal. It was a no brainer. Kemp is just as old as Zo, and not the same rebounder and shot blocker, but he can still put the ball in the basket. Kemp was really excited when he knew a deal to Dallas was finally finalized. Kemp was quoted saying, "Dallas is a fairly young and up-in-coming franchise. I know I'm not getting any younger, but I want to win. Dallas will give me one of the best chances to do so." Kemp and Duncan now form a nice 1-2 punch in the paint.
Let's just say Kemp was happy to leave CLE
Knowing that the Mavs were going to get an upgrade in their frontcourt one way or another, Austin became expendable. Therefore, they were shopping him for a wing player. The Mavs weren't getting much interest, so their GM decided to make a few calls. One of the last people that he called was the Wizards new GM. Knowing they could use some frontcourt help, the Mavs thought they could be good trade partners. Although raw, the Mavs really like what Q could become in the future. They also thought he was better suited at SF. The deal was done, and the Mavs put him through drills in their offseason workouts. He can really shoot but needs help on his inside scoring. Also, his ability to defend SF's well was evident compared to SGs (When changed from SG to SF, defense went from B- to A-!) Although the Mavs would most likely want to keep hold on him and maybe eventually take over Fox's spot at SF, his name has been swirrling around Cavs camp. The Mavs really like SG Derek Anderson, so maybe a deal will get done.
Outside of FA and trades, the Mavs are really hoping from some more development. They know what Duncan and now Kemp and Fox bring to the table. PG Jason Williams has developed into the PG they want. There's two big questions heading into training camp his season, one being the lesser of the other.
The first, what version of Jerry Stackhouse will show up? Stackhouse got paid last offseason, but has not fully shown he deserves that money. He really needs to improve his inside scoring and defense. He says he has put the work in this offseason, so we will have to wait and see. However, Stackhouse has also been the conversation of trade talks, so that wait might be with another team.
The lesser and second question is, will QRich be able to pan out at SF? The Mavs want to put the least amount of pressure on him. They know he is young and still learning the game of basketball. However, the expectation is to take over at SF after Fox retires. Therefore, accountability is still present. QRich will probably be placed in an individual camp after training camp, probably focusing on his inside scoring.
Stackhouse got paid, but needs to prove he's worth that money
All in all, it's been an up-and-down offseason for the Mavs. With their roster pretty much set, the Mavs have huge expectations this season. As a team goal, they want to get past the 2nd rd this season in the playoffs. From a player goal, FC Tim Duncan wants to be a serious MVP candidate and JWill wants to be top 5 in apg. and spg. Well, GL to all this season!
