good article on nba.com
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/feature...s=iref:nbahpt1
Lacking a sidekick, Nowitzki must embrace group approach
Dirk Nowitzki did not pull a LeBron James and leave his team hanging last summer, and for that he's either smart or insane, much too content with the status quo or somehow believes more help is coming.
Or maybe all of the above?
If the first month of the season is a hint, then we know the 32-year-old Nowitzki should remain at the top of his game and the Mavericks probably won't win a championship. He's still a star and the Mavericks are still a star shy of being a serious contender.
That's probably a fair and safe assessment, here in a league where logic says a team needs at least two franchise players to earn the right to dream big, where Dirk decided last July to re-sign with Dallas and deal with the consequences, good and bad.
The good? He's spent his entire career in Dallas, so it's easier to stay rooted in one place, rather than pack and leave for the unknown. Plus, by all accounts, his relationship with owner Mark Cuban is excellent. And where could he have gone and improved his chances of winning more games and making more money?
The bad? He's not part of a Big Three. Or even a Big Two.
How much thought did Nowitzki put into leaving as a free agent? Not much. He remembers it being "a weird phase" but never really considered feelers from the Nets and Knicks, and besides, Dirk was the one A-list free agent nobody in the league bothered to chase hard because everyone thought (correctly) that he wasn't going anywhere. He was a free agent for 48 hours and didn't take a single recruiting trip. Or host a one-hour show to announce his decision.
"I always knew what I was going to do," he said.
But by signing and staying, did Dirk essentially write off his championship chances? Since the Mavericks will be a luxury-tax team for at least two of the four years of the extension he signed. They can't add another big name free agent unless it's a sign-and-trade, which is always complicated and tough to pull off. Meanwhile, Dirk is on the clock, and while shooters are always the last to go, you wonder how much longer he'll average 25 points, eight or so rebounds and shoot roughly 50 percent.
The best-case scenario is Dirk, the finest European import ever, avoiding the fate of Charles Barkley and somehow finding a co-star before his skills decline greatly. Sort of like John Elway in the fourth quarter of his career getting lucky with Terrell Davis. Or Dirk will continue leading the Mavericks to 50-plus wins a season, only to get bounced in the postseason by the likes of Kobe Bryant and Paul Gasol or another tandem.
For now, he'll take his drink half-full, thank you. He's hoping the experience and depth of the Mavericks will compensate for the absence of a strong No. 2 guy. Which will likely be the case in the regular season. With the core of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Dirk handling the ball much of the time, the Mavericks won't beat themselves too often with mistakes. But they're not a Big Three; more like a Big One plus two Whopper Jrs.
The key is what the Mavericks get this season from the trade they made last season with the Wizards. Caron Butler is cause for concern; he's unhappy with his diminished minutes and role and shooting just 38 percent, not what you want from your small forward. Brendan Haywood has been a major disappointment everywhere but defensively, where he teams with offseason trade addition Tyson Chandler for a decent two-headed center. DeShawn Stevenson is currently lights-out in 3-point shooting at 58 percent, which will be a bonus for the Mavericks if he can stay in the 40s.
They'll also get Roddy Beaubois back from a foot injury perhaps during the holidays, which will only give the Mavericks more depth and options.
"We've got a lot of weapons," said Nowitzki. "We still like the trade and the moves we made to get the guys. We think it will work. I like our center combination. Caron's got to find a rhythm and I think he will. I think this is the best defensive team I've been on, and we know defense is what wins. We should be in great shape.
"We can compete with the best of them. Whether it's good enough to win a championship, we've just got to go for it."
Well, if you subscribe to the two-star theory, then you don't like his chances much. For the immediate future, Dirk needs the Mavericks to pull off a deal for Carmelo Anthony, the one available star on the market. Otherwise, Dirk must bide his time until he finds someone to ride shotgun. Which could take a while.
Until then, he'll never forget the summer of 2004, when Cuban wouldn't pay Steve Nash, and 2006, when the NBA Finals took a turn for the worse in Game 3. Will those memories follow him into retirement? Or will they be erased?