[mavsman55]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
ddh33 - I wasn't online last night and I haven't gone back to read the draft thread, so I suppose that's where the negativity is that you're talking about. Well, I can only speak for myself, but so far I am THRILLED with how the Mavs have done this offseason.

They've converted a luxury (a max paid tweener forward 6th man) and a future No. 1 (which is going to be a late first-rounder) into the following:

- A swingman who is a legit 6th man candidate himself and can still drop 20 a night in a starting role but who also has trade value
- A seasoned veteran big man with a nice expiring contract
- A terrific young backup PG who could be the "heir apparent" to Nash (one of the Mavs' three main needs)
- A really nice project center (one of the Mavs' three main needs)

The Mavs' roster currently stands like this:

C- Bradley, Laettner, Pavel
PF - Nowitzki, Najera, Fortson, Walker
SF - Finley, Howard, Wahad
SG - Daniels, Stackhouse, Delk
PG - Nash, Harris, Steffansson

When you look at it, Stackhouse is not only a tradeable asset (I still think a team like the Bulls would be willing to acquire him), he's a great insurance policy if either a) Daniels leaves or b) we have to trade Finley or c) both.

Pavel is your project center but could also be included if necessary in a package to get Shaq or another big man. My gut tells me Harris is staying, but he's also a nice piece you could put in a Shaq deal.

Laettner gives you either a) a veteran big guy to log minutes in the middle or b) a great piece to combine with Walker to give someone tremendous cap relief.

As I see it, the Mavs have almost limitless flexibility from here to make deals the rest of the summer. They have to get Nash re-signed and try to do the same with Daniels. After that, anything is fair game.

And hey, what if we don't get Shaq? I'm still convinced that you can convert some combination of Bradley, Laettner, Pavel, Walker, Fortson, Najera, Finley, Howard, Wahad, and Stackhouse into a starting center -- which is all you really need at this point.

If you're not optimistic about that, I don't know that you're capable of optimism.

I'm not too comfortable with Finley playing the 3. I don't want to end up moving our guards up to the forward position just because we have too many of them. I mean, Nash, Harris, Steffansson, #50 pick, Finley, Daniels and Stackhouse aren't going to be able to share minutes at the guard position. Some of them would have to go. Could we possibly use a few of them in a package with Walker to pick up Shaq? I don't mind who else we get rid of as long as Nash and Nowitzki stay. The idea of Shaq, Nowitzki and Nash on the same team is pretty exciting if you ask me.