Quote:
Originally Posted by alby
Since the 2-7 start (which I contribute to mainly Rick Carlisle getting his mojo back in coaching), we've gone 29-13 for a winning percentage of .690
Don't get me wrong, I am not completely satisfied with the make up of our current roster, but after allowing this trade scenario to soak in for a few days, I think it was the right decision for the franchise, both for today and for the future.
Furthermore, even though Baron Davis is my favorite point guard in the NBA (this was true before the 2007 series against Dallas), he ultimately would not guarantee us a championship. Baron has missed 144 games in the last 7 years for an average of 20.5 games a season. To put that in perspective, Dirk has missed a total of 30 games in 11 years and that is including all those ankle injuries, Karl Malone elbows, and the countless unfair suspensions from the NBA.
At initial hearing, I thought this would be a no-brainer. We would be getting back two starters while only giving up one, but it really isn't that simple especially with Kidd and Damp both respectively playing well this year for the Mavericks. One of the needs of the team is trying to acquire a low post scorer, but by no means does that mean you need a center to fulfill that need. You can pick up swingmen that play in the post and get to the FT line (Maggette and others). Also, I for one actually like the offensive and defensive capabilities of a Dirk/Damp front court.
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What I initially failed to realize is that we would've needed a motivated AND healthy Davis. He's clearly had injury issues in the past, as you pointed out, and will probably continue to have them as he gets older, so your points are fairly justified. I was looking at his numbers and his impact on us during the playoffs two years ago, but a player doesn't help you on paper and when he's troubled with injuries. We would certainly have taken a risk if we had agreed to a trade.
Still, the option to have Kaman on our team as well for years to come looked intriguing to me. There aren't many centers of his calibre in this league with a reasonable contract. I can imagine worse scenarios than having Kaman under contract until 2012. We could have also used Damp's $12 million contract next February to improve other parts of the team. We can still do it, but we would somehow have to get a center in which seems difficult these days. After all, there are teams willing to pay a guy like Diop $6.5 millions a year.
Assuming that we don't trade Kidd, it takes away a great possibility to change this team and hopefully make it a contender. As great as he unquestionably is, his contract might be even better. Additionally, we can't even be sure to have him on the team next season.
I just hope that the front office has something in store that makes this team better. Granted we've been 29-13 after our slow start, but we've also lost twice to the Lakers, twice to the Nuggets, and once to the Spurs at home. We'd be likely to face one of those three teams in the first round of the playoffs.