Vladimir Stepania
The guy is a great rebounder, a banger, and has a mean streak. Why not?
Honestly, if he's looking for a 2 year, $8 millon deal like Campbell got, why not give it to him? That's not a long-term commitment, unlike the Mavericks' commitment to every other center they have, and they get the MLE for a reason -- to use it.
Sure, Cuban will have to pay the luxury tax. But if he's not willing to spend the money to improve the team, then why did the Mavericks tell us they planned on using both exceptions in the first place?
I honestly could live with it if the following happened:
Sign Stepania to a contract for the majority of the MLE.
Sign Raja Bell back with the 1.5.
Trade LaFrentz and Avery Johnson for Brian Grant.
Lineup:
Bradley - Stepania - Eschmeyer
Grant - Najera
Nowitzki - Howard
Finley - Bell
Nash - Van Exel
You still have Van Exel around to use in another trade, if necessary. You've jettisoned Raef's contract. Your starting lineup is better. Your rebounding is excellent. You still lack a premiere perimeter defender, but you have an extra guy in Howard to throw into the "perimeter defense" mix. You could probably still sign Adrian Griffin back as a 12th man just to guard Kobe when we play the Lakers.
I could live with this. Of our chief competitors for the title in the West, only Sacramento has a small forward that could burn Dirk on the perimeter. I think Dirk works at SF. Also, by putting Dirk at SF, you have an excellent rebounding team. Dirk gets 10, Grant gets 10, Bradley gets 6-7. Stepania should get you 6-7 off the bench, Najera should manage 3, and Howard should get 2-3. That's at least 37 rebounds a game from your frontcourt. With even 10 rebounds from the backcourt (5 from Finley, at least 5 from the other 3), you're a damn good rebounding team.
This is starting to grow on me. At least you've transformed into a damn good rebounding team, you've added bulk inside (Grant and Stepania), and you should have a somewhat more rugged team.
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