[V2M]

Josh Edgy About Contract Status

By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com

DENTON -- It seems Josh Howard is trying to see no evil, hear no evil, and especially, speak no evil. Almost as if Howard is afraid of what he's going to say, he punctuates each of the Mavs' morning training-camp sessions (when the media is allowed into the gym) by retreating. Into a corner. Onto the floor. Behind the ice buckets. Headphones on his ears. Text messages occupying his eyes.

"It's going to be hard,'' J-Ho says when I ask him for a brief visit. "I've got to go sign autographs. Lots of people out there who want autographs. But you can try.''

So I do. We do the walk-and-talk. And while the contract thing is a relative non-worry to me -- he gets it done in the coming days, or he gets it done next summer as a restricted FA, but either way, he's a big-money Mav sometime in the near future -- I do sense that J-Ho is very near springing a leak on the subject.

First I toss Josh an innocent softball regarding the Thursday night workout being cancelled in favor of a bonding get-together dinner. I say: "What did you guys do so right to get a night off?''

Answered J-Ho: "I know I've worked hard, that's all I know.''

Well, okaaaaaaaay, then. ...

Then I asked Josh about the contract issue specifically. I'm prepared to eventually discuss names and numbers. The Tayshaun and Manu names. The $47-to-$49-mil dollars. But first I say: "Does the issue bother you? Do the questions bother you?''

J-Ho, who often thinks his replies through, does not hesitate. He shoots me a look on my Tayshaun Prince reference (he doesn't like the comparison?) and then he shoots me a quote: "On that subject, at this point, you'd better ask them.''

Well, okaaaaaaaay, then. ...

Josh, who has one year at $1.66 mil left on his original rookie contract, had that omnipresent grin on his face as he spoke. But the smile is more of a staple of his than a show of positive emotion. Now, maybe catching him immediately following the rigors of a workout meant catching him at a less than cheery time. But on this day, anyway, and in Josh's mind, I believe, it's fair to say the negotiations are something shy of where he wishes they'd be. And from sniffing around, I get the impression that Josh gets the impression that this thing is not on track to get settled before the Oct. 31 deadline.

I will point out here that there are historical positives to letting a guy play on a final contract year. Won't J-Ho have an even better season knowing his performance will help determine his future wage? Hasn't Mark Cuban's usual policy -- "Shop yourself around, take a bunch of limo rides, and then come back home and I'll take care of ya'' -- worked pretty well in general? (OK, there was that one time it didn't, but still. ...) Besides, isn't Mavs management (the aforementioned "Them'') on record as saying Dallas would prefer to do it sooner rather than later? And no matter what, Josh knows that he's beloved here in Dallas, right?

Two other points regarding what Josh might think of his value, though: 1) If you play brilliantly through the first three years of a relatively crummy rookie contract, do you have the right to try to "catch up'' financially once it's time for that second contract? And 2) Does Josh have the right to believe that the bar isn't set by what Prince got paid in Detroit, but rather by what teammate Jason Terry got paid ($57 mil) in Dallas?

It is not Howard's style to create a fuss; he prides himself, I think, on being a low-maintenance guy. It is Howard's style to revel in the telling of the stories of his climb to the NBA; the obstacles, highlighted by him being drafted not until the final pick of the first round, are badges of honor to him. They are scar tissue.

Maybe this -- which I read to be Dallas' suggestion of a Prince-range contract and Josh's rejection of same -- represents another obstacle he's about to leap over. More scar tissue.

Off Josh goes, plunging into the mosh pit of fans who envelope the Mavs' team buses. He's signing, and still smiling. But the cel phone is still at the ready. And the headphones are still covering his ears. And his eyes still avoid contact with others. Even here, Josh Howard is trying to see no evil, hear no evil, and especially, speak no evil.