Have you ever had those moments where you think to yourself, I could be a General Manager of a pro-sports team and be good at it? Or at least do a better job than the current management? Last spring, while accompanying Daniel Dessinger of Dallasprosports.com to the hospital to visit a mutual friend battling cancer, was one such time for me. The focus of our discussion was our beloved Dallas Mavericks.
It’s always easy to second guess this franchise isn’t it? Forget about giving Michael Finley the NBA maximum allowed, about $103 million, without even letting him test the market to find out his true worth. Cuban has plenty of money to throw away on an average dime a dozen guard who, even though coming into the NBA was considered a defensive player, had gone gutless on defense, probably to prolong his health and career. Of coarse this move made me scratch my head when the Mavs brass decided not to match the Suns $65 million contract that was given to Steve Nash, who went on to win MVP of the league the next 2 years after leaving Dallas.
No, forget all the past mistakes that were made in dismantling what could have been an NBA championship team. This is 2008. This is the new Dallas Mavericks, re-tooled and rebuilt with youth that could be our new cornerstones of the franchise for years to come. The only problem seemed to be that the management was unchanged and still capable of making the same mistakes at point guard as in years past, and the discussion at hand between Daniel and l was about mistakes that the Mavericks were about to make.
Devean George was in Cuban’s doghouse for saving Cuban and Donnie Nelson from themselves. He was blocking the trade for old and expensive Jason Kidd in exchange for young and cheap Devin Harris and 2 first round draft picks. Gee, I wonder if we could have gotten 2 first rounders for Steve Nash in a sign and trade to the Suns rather than just letting him go for nothing at all. I applauded George for saving the day and Cuban was cursing him for ruining it.
We are not even at the 1/4 mark of the season but let’s take a sneak preview of the results so far. Kidd’s numbers: 10.2 PPG and 8.6 APG 7.3 RPG, points scored in last 3 games 8,12,11. Harris’s numbers: 25.3 PPG ( that is almost Dirk-like scoring) and 6.4 APG 3.7 RPG, points scored last 3 games 47,41, and 36.
Cuban now says about the trade, “It was a win-win for both teams.” Sometimes I think Cuban has more dollars than he does sense. I guess we will know in the summers of 2009 and 2010, using the NBA draft as our bench mark, and we’ll see if those 2 first round picks that the Mavs shipped to New Jersey end up being lottery picks. I believe they will. Devean George did his best to save the Mavs from a serious mistake, but ultimately management prevailed.
written by Cass Brock
