Missing Zo Leads Mavs To Find Other Free Agents

[Tony tha Mavs fan]

DALLAS -- By missing out on Alonzo Mourning, the Dallas Mavericks still have the midlevel salary-cap exception of about $4.9 million to spend.



The question now is, how?

A big man is still Dallas' biggest need and there aren't many elite ones left. Mourning is going to New Jersey, Karl Malone is headed to the Lakers and Jermaine O'Neal is staying with the Pacers. Brad Miller probably will stay in Indianapolis, too. Players can't sign deals until Wednesday.

P.J. Brown remains on the market, but he's now the biggest catch out there, raising the stakes. The San Antonio Spurs have plenty more money to spend than the Mavericks and also could use a player like Brown.

Other options for Dallas could include Rasho Nesterovic, Michael Olowokandi and Juwan Howard.

Going away from the post position, the Mavericks also might go after Scottie Pippen. While they addressed their need for a backup swingman by drafting Josh Howard, Pippen's versatility and playoff experience could be attractive, especially considering what's left on the market.

Mourning was the player Dallas wanted most. Despite his health risk, he's a proven All-Star who could bolster the lineup at both ends of the floor.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban was in Miami the first day the two could meet to show how much he wanted Mourning to be Dallas' starting center. Although the salary wasn't really negotiable, Cuban sweetened the offer by making it for as many as four years.

Mourning picked the Nets at least in part because Jason Kidd decided to stay. That dashed any notions of the point guard returning to his original NBA team in any sign-and-trade deals. The good news for Dallas is that Kidd didn't go to San Antonio.

The Mourning and Kidd tandem make New Jersey the favorites in the East, just like Malone and Gary Payton going to the Lakers makes them the top pick in the West, and the favorite to win the title.

It's got to be a frustrating notion for the Mavericks, especially coming off a 60-win season and a trip to the conference finals.

"What other teams do is up to them," Cuban said.

The Mavs still have plenty to offer free agents. They return their Big Three of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley, plus supersub Nick Van Exel, and have a great reputation throughout the league for the way the organization caters to players off the court.

Dallas is over the salary cap, so the only way to sign free agents is by using the two exception slots. Other teams can offer the same amount or more, so enticements such as first-class treatment and playoff potential become the biggest lures. It worked with Mourning, Malone and Payton, a trio of veteran players with tremendous bank accounts who put winning ahead of another big contract.

Now the Mavericks hope they can find one, too.


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[Chiwas]

"What other teams do is up to them," Cuban said.

Sadly, what Dallas can do is not up to Dallas.

[MavsFanFinley]

Luck could change

07/12/2003

Great wailing and gnashing of teeth arose around the Mavericks on Friday.

No Alonzo Mourning, who will sign with New Jersey.

No Jason Kidd, who will return to the Nets.

No Karl Malone, who will go to Los Angeles as the Lakers prepare for the seniors tour.

No Jermaine O'Neal, who will stay with Indiana.

All is lost.

The 36-hour run of bad luck for owner Mark Cuban triggered panic. The Mavericks will not meet the prime off-season goal of adding an inside presence. They might as well bring back Bubba Wells.

To which only two words apply:

Calm down.

"The good news is championships aren't won on paper," Cuban said in an e-mail exchange.

He's right.

The Mavericks are not doomed before the first 3-pointer.

The Mavericks were good enough to win 60 games and reach the Western Conference finals last season. They will be good again next season, when Dirk Nowitzki's natural progression should take him into top-five-players status.

The Mavericks could still get creative and grab a helpful big man (Brad Miller) off the free-agent market.

They might also benefit from the boomerang factor.

As the Rangers prove, free agency is not a cure-all in professional sports. New players often cause as many problems as they solve. That could be the case with both Mourning and Malone.

The Mavericks envisioned Malone and Mourning as complementary players to be eased through the regular season to have their aging bodies ready for the playoffs.

Their new employers have other, riskier ideas.

Kidney disease has limited Mourning to 88 games in three seasons. New Jersey expects Mourning to be a full-time, hard-driving center again. There are no guarantees that his body can handle the demands.

Mourning will play in the East, which means the Mavericks must deal with him only twice during the regular season and in the Finals if both clubs go so far.

The Mavericks will see Malone and the potentially combustible Lakers four times. The view should be at least entertaining.

The Lakers will also add free-agent guard Gary Payton on Wednesday, the first day in which contracts can be signed. Putting Malone and Payton with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, if his legal problems are settled, will give the Lakers four potential Hall of Famers.

That, Malone and Payton have indicated, makes the Lakers automatic favorites for the title.

History suggests they should not be so smug.

The Lakers will be the most star-studded team since they paired Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West for a four-year run that began in 1968.

The Lakers did not win a title until the final season of that span. There were problems along the way.

Older players are prone to injury.

West, at age 30, missed 21 games in the first season. Baylor, at age 35, missed 28 games the following year and played in only 11 games during his final two seasons with the club. Malone will be 40 when next season begins. Payton will be 35.

Chamberlain's massive ego got in the way of those teams. If Lakers coach Phil Jackson had problems getting détente between O'Neal and Bryant, wait until he gets a load of this group.

Payton has been a career-long irritant. Remember how he defied Seattle coach Paul Westphal at Reunion Arena in 2000 and refused to go into a game? The Sonics fired Westphal to keep Payton happy.

Malone has been the capo on his team for so long that he does not remember any other way. Remember that in his final season with Utah, Malone complained over the attention Matt Harpring received in the offense.

Malone and Payton have said their willingness to take pay cuts indicates they will put their egos aside. Check back in January, when each is getting about eight shots a game as the third and fourth options in the foreign triangle offense.

Malone and Payton each had more than 1,200 shots last season. No Laker other than O'Neal and Bryant has had more than 1,000 shots in a season since Eddie Jones in 1998.

The Lakers will be entertaining. So will the Mavericks. In July, that is all that can be asked of a team.

[aexchange]

another thing besides the ego thing for the lakers to keep in mind is that the triangle offense is a notoriously difficult offense to pick up. while malone may almost be a perfect fit for the lakers, payton in the triangle is going to languish because there isnt a traditional point guard slot per say. the two guards share the same general types of assignments, and unless kobe is willing to defer most of those responsibilities i sense big trouble in LA LA land.

[seelenjaeger]

I hope that Kobe will break it up and demand to get traded before the trade deadline if things are not working out the way they should be ...

This can aswell be a major bust ...

[Murphy3]

with payton, shaq, malone and kobe..does it really matter what offense they run?

..unless the lakers decide to run the ball through their 5th starter, it really doesn't matter what they do...their offense will dominate

[aexchange]

its hard to have an offense be dominant if two of its starters can't pick up the intricacies of the triangle.

tex winters is on record saying that it takes 2-3 years for people to become comfortable in the triangle. it isnt as if both of them came over last season. they each will have a training camp and the regular season to become accustomed to it.

the system relies on each of the 5 players knowing where the other players are going to be and the corresponding passing lanes. defensively for the lakers its pretty much a match made in heaven for them, but offensively they are going to have some serious issues.

[kg_veteran]

Originally posted by: MavsFanFinley
Luck could change

07/12/2003

Great wailing and gnashing of teeth arose around the Mavericks on Friday.

No Alonzo Mourning, who will sign with New Jersey.

No Jason Kidd, who will return to the Nets.

No Karl Malone, who will go to Los Angeles as the Lakers prepare for the seniors tour.

No Jermaine O'Neal, who will stay with Indiana.

All is lost.

The 36-hour run of bad luck for owner Mark Cuban triggered panic. The Mavericks will not meet the prime off-season goal of adding an inside presence. They might as well bring back Bubba Wells.

To which only two words apply:

Calm down.

I'm confused. Are TwoDeep3 and Fraley the same person?

"The good news is championships aren't won on paper," Cuban said in an e-mail exchange.

This is the kind of cliche you throw around when you realize that you don't know what in the hell to do now.

He's right.

The Mavericks are not doomed before the first 3-pointer.

The Mavericks were good enough to win 60 games and reach the Western Conference finals last season. They will be good again next season, when Dirk Nowitzki's natural progression should take him into top-five-players status.

How long are people going to cite "Dirk's natural progression" as a reason the team's going to be better next year? Not that he won't be better, but that gets to be somewhat of a whip after a while, especially when the comment is made to try and excuse front office failures.

The Mavericks could still get creative and grab a helpful big man (Brad Miller) off the free-agent market.

Explain how that's gonna work, Fraley.

They might also benefit from the boomerang factor.

As the Rangers prove, free agency is not a cure-all in professional sports. New players often cause as many problems as they solve. That could be the case with both Mourning and Malone.

That's it. Let's just not sign free agents. They don't really solve anything anyway. What a MORONIC comment. It's pretty sad when a writer suggests that the Mavericks might be better off not adding anyone, because hey, it might backfire. Fraley really is an idiot -- he has no business writing about the NBA.

The Mavericks envisioned Malone and Mourning as complementary players to be eased through the regular season to have their aging bodies ready for the playoffs.

Their new employers have other, riskier ideas.

Kidney disease has limited Mourning to 88 games in three seasons. New Jersey expects Mourning to be a full-time, hard-driving center again. There are no guarantees that his body can handle the demands.

Mourning will play in the East, which means the Mavericks must deal with him only twice during the regular season and in the Finals if both clubs go so far.

The Mavericks will see Malone and the potentially combustible Lakers four times. The view should be at least entertaining.

These are stupid comments on so many levels.

First, the Mavericks may have envisioned Mourning as a guy that would have needed to be eased through the regular season, but they certainly didn't (or shouldn't have) view Malone that way. The guy averaged what, 35 minutes a game last year? How many games did he miss? Do some homework, Fraley.

Second, what makes him think the Nets expect Mourning to be a "full-time, hard driving" center? They now have four centers on the roster. I think they, more so than the Mavericks, can afford to ease Zo along and have him available for playoff duty.

Also, if there are no guarantees that his body can handle the demands, remind me again why we pursued Mourning rather than Malone?

Finally, why should we be comforted that the "view will be entertaining" when the Mavericks play the Lakers? Talk about scattershooting.

The Lakers will also add free-agent guard Gary Payton on Wednesday, the first day in which contracts can be signed. Putting Malone and Payton with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, if his legal problems are settled, will give the Lakers four potential Hall of Famers.

That, Malone and Payton have indicated, makes the Lakers automatic favorites for the title.

History suggests they should not be so smug.

The Lakers will be the most star-studded team since they paired Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West for a four-year run that began in 1968.

The Lakers did not win a title until the final season of that span. There were problems along the way.

Older players are prone to injury.

West, at age 30, missed 21 games in the first season. Baylor, at age 35, missed 28 games the following year and played in only 11 games during his final two seasons with the club. Malone will be 40 when next season begins. Payton will be 35.

Chamberlain's massive ego got in the way of those teams. If Lakers coach Phil Jackson had problems getting détente between O'Neal and Bryant, wait until he gets a load of this group.

Payton has been a career-long irritant. Remember how he defied Seattle coach Paul Westphal at Reunion Arena in 2000 and refused to go into a game? The Sonics fired Westphal to keep Payton happy.

Malone has been the capo on his team for so long that he does not remember any other way. Remember that in his final season with Utah, Malone complained over the attention Matt Harpring received in the offense.

Malone and Payton have said their willingness to take pay cuts indicates they will put their egos aside. Check back in January, when each is getting about eight shots a game as the third and fourth options in the foreign triangle offense.

Malone and Payton each had more than 1,200 shots last season. No Laker other than O'Neal and Bryant has had more than 1,000 shots in a season since Eddie Jones in 1998.

So we're hoping for injuries to older players (Malone and Payton) and egos to stunt the Lakers' title chances? Man, that's pathetic.

Malone and Payton have both been iron men, and they've given no indications that they are becoming more fragile with age. As for the ego issue, sure, that >>could<< happen, but the paycuts those guys took were a big deal. They're serious about winning a title, and they're not going to get into petty disputes over who "the man" on the team is or who should get the spotlight. They KNOW whose team it is going in. They know it's not their team. Also, if Phil Jackson was able to manage the egos of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant, I'm pretty sure he can handle Karl Malone and Gary Payton. He's got the skins on the wall that they so desperately want. They're going to do whatever Phil tells them to do.

The Lakers will be entertaining. So will the Mavericks. In July, that is all that can be asked of a team.

I'm really confused by this comment. All we can ask of the Mavericks in July is that they be entertaining? WTF? While that makes absolutely no sense, if that's all we can ask, they're failing miserably.