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Join Date: Mar 2008
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Originally Posted by SMC0007
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Editor's note: Our series this week examines what would happen if five teams decided to start over by making seismic personnel shifts before the 2012-13 season; due to varying factors including age, salaries or expiring contracts, these five teams decide to begin anew. But such an exercise comes with some rules: (1) the owners get the hard salary cap they desire; and (2) exclude the 2012 NBA draft. Today we look at the Dallas Mavericks.
Why break up the champs? Well, there are a few reasons.
If we do have a 2011-12 season, we don't know if the Mavs will repeat. But it's safe to say that few would be shocked if they don't. Besides, in the summer of 2012, Dirk Nowitzki will be 34 years old and (possibly) entering his 15th season. While I fully believe Dirk will still be a terrific player, I don't think he'll be good enough to carry a team with no other stars to the title. Thus, it will be time for a change. Here's how I'd do it:
While the contracts of Jason Kidd and Jason Terry will expire heading into the summer of 2012 -- thereby theoretically creating cap space -- I'm going to assume the Mavericks signed Tyson Chandler before the 2011-12 season. J.J. Barea moved on, leaving about $8 million of cap room after Terry's and Kidd's deals expire.
Even though Dirk will be toward the end of his prime, we must keep him because of his legendary status within the franchise. Everyone else, however, is available. Since Dallas has a crop of older players, it will take a fertile dose of imagination and creativity to make a deal. Since I've got both, I've come up with a wild four-team deal that may or may not work under the yet-to-be-determined new collective bargaining agreement. Whatever the case, the salaries are close enough to be within the realm of possibility.
The four teams are Dallas, the Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and Utah Jazz.
I wanted to add Dwight Howard to the Mavericks, but Tyson Chandler and Roddy Beaubois weren't enough to get it done. So I turned my attention to superstar point guard Deron Williams, a Dallas native.
Wait, isn't Williams staying in New Jersey/Brooklyn? Well, the Nets' plan to lure Howard to the Northeast failed, so D-Will, faced with the prospect of playing lottery-ball for the rest of his career, began looking elsewhere. Enter the Mavericks, who think (rightly) that D-Will and Dirk can keep them in title contention.
While I hate to give up Chandler, who was so critical to the 2011 championship run, I must send him to the Nets to get D-Will. Not enough for the Nets? That's why I've brought Milwaukee to the party. Can you say Brandon Jennings?
While the Bucks like "Young Money" (is that still his nickname?), the NYC metro area likes him even more, especially after he bounced the ball off a poor fella's head in a summer run at New York's Dyckman Park. If the Nets can't keep D-Will to lead their charge into Brooklyn, they'll settle for Jennings, whose street cred and improving game will be a big draw.
Jennings and Chandler, who'll form an exciting alley-oop tandem, is a nice start, but if I'm the Nets I want even more. Enter Utah. With Derrick Favors and first-round pick Enes Kanter on the roster, Paul Millsap is now expendable. So I'll send him to Jersey.
OK, I know this is getting confusing now, so here's the four-team breakdown:
Dallas: The Mavericks send Chandler to New Jersey and Beaubois to Milwaukee to get D-Will from New Jersey. They also send Rudy Fernandez and Corey Brewer to Utah, and re-sign free agent Jason Terry. Starting five: D-Will, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Brendan Haywood.
New Jersey: The Nets send Williams to Dallas and Brook Lopez to Milwaukee in exchange for Milwaukee's Jennings, Dallas' Chandler and Utah's Millsap. Starting five: Jennings, Marshon Brooks, Millsap, Kris Humphries, Chandler.
Milwaukee: Jennings, of course, goes to New Jersey/Brooklyn, but the Bucks also move the disgruntled Andrew Bogut, sending him back to Utah (where he starred in college) and making him the Jazz's new center. The Bucks also send a first-round draft pick to Utah. They get back Beaubois, Utah's Al Jefferson and Jersey's Lopez. Starting five: Beaubois, Stephen Jackson, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Jefferson, Lopez.
Utah: Millsap goes to NJ/Brooklyn and Jefferson goes to Milwaukee for Bogut, Brewer, Fernandez, a Bucks first-round pick and $3 million cash from Milwaukee. Starting five: Devin Harris, Alec Burks, C.J. Miles, Favors, Bogut.
That may seem like one complicated trade, but it's also one that could lead to Dallas' maintaining title-contender status. For an aging team like the Mavs, making a bold move to add a star like Williams could be necessary for them to stay at the top of the NBA.
Chris Broussard is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.
Follow Chris Broussard on Twitter: @chris_broussard
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