A Regarding Damp's contractual guarantee, every source I have tells me there is none at all and no extra contractual deadline where that changes. It's a pure pay-as-you-go deal on a game by game basis, until Jan 10 when all NBA non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed for the rest of the year. But with a written contract at over $13M as his pay rate, there's no benefit to keeping him for even a part of the season: he'll be waived in the summer and then resign with someone at a much more reasonable number. And iit will happen pronto, because whoever has that $13M contract will want to free up cap room to sign free agents.
B To me, the alarmism over Damp's minutes is silly.
1 He's never played more than 1934 minutes in a season if you count all 82 games. If you only count 70 of them, his highest number ever played in a season in Dallas is even lower.
2 The Mavs aren't suddenly going to start playing him more minutes at an older age, even moreso when it would also be contractually unwise to do so
3 The Mavs control his minutes, and they know the contractual clause and its implications for their future.
4 The Mavs need to keep him fresh for the playoffs even without a clause
5 Damp's smart. He knows the deal. It was part of the negotiations when he signed the deal, this advantageous clause didn't just wander into his contract accidentally.
2100 in 70 is just not going to happen.
C I fully expect that once he is waived in the summer of 2010, he'll sign again with Dallas. He knows the team here, and his role, it's become his home, and the Mavs will probably need a center. Dallas will have as much money to offer as anyone else, presuming no one will offer him over-MLE money. And that's a safe expectation.
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