A year ago on July 1 NBA teams began aggressively pursuing free-agent crown jewel Deron Williams. The Mavericks sent a contingency to New York, but owner Mark Cuban was in Los Angeles, of all things, filming episodes of
Shark Tank.
You know how that ended, with Dallas missing out on another big fish and, in turn, signing mediocre players to one-year deals and missing the playoffs after a .500 season.
Vomit.
The target, of course, is center Dwight Howard. He's telling people in Los Angeles that won't re-sign with the Lakers, upping his suitors' salivating. The Lakers can offer a max deal of $118 million for five seasons while other teams can only go $88 million over four years. At least as we commence this Dwight dance, Dallas is in the conversation, along with the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors.
The Mavs have a couple advantages here, and hopefully they'll be at the right place at the right time this week.
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Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki will apparently be part of the team's group in L.A. to meet with Howard and his representatives Tuesday, the day after he is courted by a Rockets' group including coach Kevin McHale, guard James Harden and Hall-of-Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. The Mavs have the stigma of "never luring any big-name free agents to Dallas," but this is a legit shot at the best big man in basketball.
The Mavs have Dirk, still an elite player but in the twilight of his career and with a disposition that would allow Howard to be the team's centerpiece. And the Mavs' style of play - half-court tempo with lots of pick-and-rolls - suits Howard's preference as well.
To offer Howard a max deal, the Mavs still have to trim about $2.75 million in salary-cap room. That would've been much easier had Shawn Marion opted out of his contract by Sunday night's deadline. It's difficult to envision a scenario where the Mavs land Howard and keep Marion, although obviously that's Plan A.
On other roster fronts, the Mavs are said to be interested in Rajon Rondo as the Boston Celtics continue their fire sale in an attempt to really, really suck next year and draft phenom Andrew Wiggins No. 1 in the draft. But if Boston wants Dirk in return, he has a no-trade clause and that's end of discussion.
The Mavs have already "signed" their first free agent in Israeli Gal Mekel, who will joust with No. 1 draft choice Shane Larkin for the starting point-guard job. Will those players be dumping the ball to Howard in the low post?
Stay tuned ...
The only concern in the ability for mavs to land this deal is D12 inability to make a decision and stick with it for more than 5 mins.
ReplyDeletewhich means it's a good thing the Mavs are one of the last teams he'll see.
ReplyDeleteor not. I dunno. Screw me, I can't support this entire comment section, people!
ReplyDelete