I wanted to have some words of hope for you Mavs fans, but I keep coming up short. It’s not that Dallas can’t still pull this series out. It’s that they’ve given up a tremendous surge of momentum.
One win in Portland was all I asked. Just one. Dallas had a 23 point lead with 13 minutes left in the game. TWENTY THREE. Do you know how huge that is? I was sitting at home VERY comfortably, thinking to myself even Dallas can’t screw THIS up!
According to Marc Stein’s twitter stream, New York is buying out Corey Brewer’s contract. This leaves the obvious question: who wants him for a playoff run?
According to Stein,
[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/STEIN_LINE_HQ/status/42342401582448640"]
Could the Mavericks really use another small forward? Absolutely. Brewer may not be a long-term solution, but he wouldn’t hurt a deep playoff run.
For his career, Brewer has averaged 25.7 minutes, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 9.1 points per game. Nothing astounding, but he can keep up with faster forwards on the defensive end. Obviously an asset if Boston, San Antonio, and OKC are all interested as well.
Since when is no news “news”? Since everyone got giddy after New York initiated a little superstar trade madness.
Sorry to disappoint, but the Mavs will hold onto Caron Butler and hope he can be ready to contribute during the playoffs. If Butler was at 100%, I’d give the Mavs a 50/50 shot at reaching the Finals. As it stands, I’d give ‘em a solid 20%.
The Lakers were the team to beat at the beginning of the season. Now they’re fighting for respect. San Antonio is solid. The most solid team in the league.
If you read yesterday’s post about the Carmelo Anthony trade, I “may” have misspoken. As expected, the dominoes have begun to fall, with New Jersey and Utah getting in on pre-trade deadline madness.
In case you haven’t heard yet, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Corey Brewer have been traded to the Knicks along with a few others for Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, three draft picks, some cash, and a few spares. In the process, Minnesota gets rid of Brewer in exchange for Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry’s expiring contract.
How is this great for Dallas?
Need a compelling reason to save the Prime Time dramas for tomorrow’s Hulu? What could be better than the long-awaited return of Roddy Beaubois?
The media is making far too great a noise about the return of Dallas’ favorite star of the hour. Is he talented? Sure. He’s been called the most explosive guard Dallas has ever seen. That’s saying a lot, considering Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, and Devin Harris have all graced the stage here.
But Roddy’s core talents lie at the two guard position. He’s not a natural quarterback. He’s a finisher. He’s the guy the point guard wants on his team to bail him out when the offense is getting stale.
I know it’s Super Bowl Week and you could care less about Mavs talk. So sad. We haven’t talked some Mavs here in a while, so it’s time to give one of Dallas’ last two sports franchises it’s due.
We were all amazed when the Mavericks dominated everyone at the beginning of the year. We held our collective breaths, at first, expecting such stellar levels of awesome to wear off. But they didn’t. Dallas pwned every major market it played. Only San Antonio and Boston held competitive records.
I’m all geeked up after the month-long free agency debates. As I try to calm down and re-enter the blogosphere, let’s go on the record with our estimation and, in some ways, prediction, of the top five players by position.
Keep in mind that this isn’t a comparison of peak performance versus peak performance. Steve Nash was league MVP two years in a row, and during that time, no one could touch him. But these rankings take into consideration the season that just ended and predict the season to come (2010-2011).
It’s time we played the song we’ve all come to know and love just one more time. I won’t lie – the BEST deal would have been LeBron and Bosh to the Bulls. But that isn’t happening, so why not come to Dallas? Best big market city with a chance to win and trade assets to spare.
LeBron, if you’re reading this, and I know you are (he’s a pretty big DPS fan), do me a favor: click play and sing along with me. Just. One. More. Time.
