[Murphy3]

I know there's been alot of speculation as to the Davis for Jamison trade. However, there's much more to it than that. Inside sources have reported that both Michael Finley and Jamison have openly complained concerning field goal attempts this season.

Since the 99-00 season, Finley's attempts are on pace to decrease by almost 7 per game. Finley has shown a tremendous amount of class in the past by accepting the ever decreasing offensive role as Dirk Nowitzki continued to develop. However, it appears that this was just one step to far. Rumors have it that Finley wants to go somewhere that he can get 17 plus attempts per game so that he can 'make a run' at putting up good enough stats to get into the Hall of Fame.

As for Jamison, he has openly said that the adjustment has not been a 'smooth' one for him coming off of the bench. Also, Jamison's attempts have decreased from 17.9 to 10.9 per game. Jamison believes that he is too young to make that much of a sacrifice. A sacrifice such as this could have a large affect on any future long term contracts. Jamison believes that he does have one more long term contract in him.

So, if Jamison and Finley are going to Toronto, who is coming to Dallas? We've already discussed Davis. With Rose and Finley going to Toronto, it makes sense that Carter would be shipped to Dallas. Reports are that Carter wants out of Toronto. He's tired of playing for a losing franchise and wants the opportunity to compete with the best in the Western Conference. Plus, he wants to play in the south.

Now, let's discuss how this will work for each team.

TORONTO

Toronto would play a two shooting guard lineup with Finley officially being the PG. Finley has worked on his ball handling so much since the end of last season that the Raptors believe that he can fill in handling and distributing the ball. However, it also appears that the Raptors are fully dedicated to Chris Bosh playing the Point-Forward position.

Where will Jamison play? With Finley and Rose playing the guard positions and with Bosh set to play the Power Forward position, where will Jamison play? Curry and Murray will play the SF position. Well, there's only one other position left for Jamison to play. That is the center position. How will he play the center position? It appears that the Raptors are willing to simply try and outscore opponents. The Eastern Conference doesn't exactly have many top notch PF's or Centers to worry about. So, Jamison should be able to thrive offensively and survive defensively.

Dallas
Where does Carter and Davis play? The answers are rather obvious. Davis immediately goes into the starting lineup with Bradley as his compliment. Carter immediately goes into the shooting guard position. The Mavericks have been looking for a shut-down perimeter player for the past several years that can also score consistently. Carter would instantly move to the second scoring option in this Mavs offense.

Carter would be the instant shut down defender in Dallas that they've been looking for at the 2 spot. Carter believes that the higher altitude in Toronto has led to him experiencing frequent bouts with 'shortness of breath'. Most people do not know that Carter has asthma. Well, the thin air in Toronto has not been coducive to Carter displaying his defensive prowess that he was known for coming out of North Carolina He simply has not been able to maintain his stamina.

With Davis, the Mavericks will have their inside presence that can both body up on Shaq AND hit the outside jumper. He'll basically replace the three point shooting that the Mavs lost when trading Lafrentz.

What else is involved in this trade? The Mavericks are reportedly sending either Tony Deok or an unspecified amount of cash to the Raptors. The Raptors are sending a 3rd round draft pick in 2009. You might ask 'A third round draft pick? There's only two rounds.' Obviously, there's currently only two rounds in the NBA draft. However, with the NBA enforcing a little known clause in the CBA, the NBA will change the minimum entry age to 21 after the end of the 2004-2005 season. Also, it is reported that China will allow any prospective professional basketball player to freely enter the NBA draft at that time in exchange for an unspecified amount of commercial time during NBA games to spread communist propoganda.

Why would the Mavs be interested in a 2009 third round draft pick? It is reported that they are intersted in Jonathan Woo out of a small town in far southern China. He is the son of Michelle and Zhu Wong Woo. Michelle is the daughter of a wealthy American businessman. She grew up in China while her father strived under the free trade that has strengthened the Chinese economy for decades. Michelle played on the Chinese National team. Her husband is a five time Scrabble National Champion. Now, on to Jonathan. The 15 year old has grown from 5'8 to over 6'8 in just over a year. He has outstanding leaping ability and can hit the trey. Not much is really known about this kid other than that he is expected to grow at least 6 more inches. At this time, he is still raw but he has tremendous upside.

Also, it has been reported that Don Nelson will be a part of the deal. He will immediately take over head coaching and GM duties with the Raptors. Yes, you knew there must be a reason as to why Bosh would be made into a Point Forward and to why Jamison would be the starting center. Needless to say, the 'rift' between Cuban and Nellie has grown since last season during the San Antonio series when Nellie had to throw Cuban out of the locker room after a game 4 loss. Does anyone remember when Cuban and Nellie got into it concerning the health status of Dirk? Well, Cuban wanted Dirk to play and Nellie said that he wouldn't coach if Dirk played on his bum ankle. Obviously, the relationship never recovered.

Who will coach the Mavs? This is where it gets 'iffy'. It has been reported that Tom Tolbert wille exit the booth to become the Head Coach for Mavs. Cuban's thinking is that Tolbert can take Dirk under his wing and teach him some of the finer low post moves that Dirk needs to take his game to the 'next level'. However, speculation has already begun that Tolbert will be the Head Coach in name only. It is apparent that Cuban has finally decided that he knows enough about the game of basketball to take his involvement to the next level. Sources would not say exactly what they meant by this. It has also been reported that Jerry Jones will be hired as a 'GM Constultant' to help Cuban with some of his duties. Surely being an owner, GM, and head coach is a bit too much for any one man to handle.