[bobatundi]

So if this deal goes down, and this is the last major move the Mavs make this offseason, I will be satisfied that the FO has done a solid job.

1. Kept J-Kidd. The guy is still a player, and we had NOTHING to replace him with; if we let him walk, we'd have had to use one of our other chips to fill the hole at PG, and would have been dealing from a position of weakness, even desperation--meaning we'd have badly overpaid.

2. Upgraded the C position. As espoused in the Gortat thread (the 2nd most popular thread I ever started, after the Harry Potter joke I made which turned into a serious one), I'm a fan of the Gortat signing--not because I think he's the second coming, but because whether he's our starter next year or splits the game in half with Damp, our overall 48 minutes at the C position has been improved over what it was last season.

3. Acquired an athletic wing (Marion) who can play on both ends of the court. I'm not a huge Marion fan--though I'm hoping that is mostly sour grapes over him having been on one of our chief rivals for a few seasons. He is athletic, which we needed. He possesses an outside shot--not a deadly one, but defenses can't leave him alone out there. He's a finisher, a guy that Kidd is going to connect with for a couple alley-oops a game. Oh, and he actually plays defense. Marion can also slide over to the 4 for the 8-10 minutes a game that Dirk rests, which effectively fills the void created by Bass's eventual departure.

What I really like here is, we've added two players to our top 8, which makes our top 8 better, but also improves our depth. Assume Damp goes to the bench--well, that's arguably the best backup C in the league. Assume Josh & Marion start at the wings--well, that pushes Antoine Wright down to our #8 guy (Kidd, Josh, Marion, Dirk, Gortat, Terry, Damp), where he's actually pretty solid. Having guys like Barea and Singleton as the 9th & 10th guys, instead of 7th & 8th, is indicative of a stronger team overall.

The other thing I like about this deal--again, assuming it's the Stack chip (and maybe some filler garbage like Williams or George) for Marion--is that we now have two large expiring contracts on the roster who are potentially expendable. If Gortat is really strong, and Hollins returns & shows some development, Damp can be moved; if Marion contributes a lot and Josh persists in being a knuckehead, there's expiring #2. One of those two, or the pair combined, can be parlayed into a significant contributor at the deadline should we find ourselves on the cusp of contention but just one piece away. It also puts us in the position of strength, having something other teams will want, rather than being desperate buyers. For instance, trading Damp & Josh for Michael Redd would be a gamble right now, with us not knowing for sure that Gortat is a 40 minute center, and Redd coming off an injury; but come February, we'll know more about our guys, and more about Redd (or someone like him), which will allow for a more informed decision, should we have to make one.

Oh yeah--and the other alternative is, both Josh and Damp are playing well, the team meshes as a unit...and we find ourselves contending for the West with a lineup of Kidd, Josh, Marion, Dirk & Gortat, backed by Terry, Damp, Wright, Singleton, Barea, etc. Awesome. Then we don't need to make a move, and can decide in the offseason if we want to let those guys expire, pick up the option on Josh, involve one or both in a S&T for Bosh, etc.