Johnson retiring - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

mikeinrowlett · 10-28-2004, 03:41 PM

Mavs' Johnson expected to retire, coach full time

02:31 PM CDT on Thursday, October 28, 2004

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Avery Johnson is expected to announce his retirement as a player today. The Mavericks have scheduled a 5:30 p.m. news conference before their exhibition game tonight against Sacramento.

Johnson signed a player's contract worth $1.1 million for this season. Because he is a 16-year veteran, the NBA paid about $300,000 of Johnson's salary.

Johnson's retirement as a player would allow him to concentrate full time on his assistant-coaching duties for the Mavericks.

Johnson made his coaching debut Tuesday only hours after the NBA released a survey of general managers that named him the active player who will one day make the best head coach. Don Nelson and assistant Del Harris missed the game Tuesday with the flu, allowing Johnson to serve as coach.

EricaLubarsky · 10-28-2004, 03:42 PM

theres the answer

The Miles · 10-28-2004, 03:44 PM

Damn, there goes by Dirk for Pierce and Al Jefferson consipiracy theory.

TheBenger · 10-28-2004, 03:45 PM

It makes sense. Why waste that roster spot when we have so many injuries.

chumdawg · 10-28-2004, 03:46 PM

Frees up a roster spot for Dickau.

EricaLubarsky · 10-28-2004, 03:47 PM

negotiations with TAW have apparently failed.

sike · 10-28-2004, 03:49 PM

ahhh now they keep DD.....nice, I like that guy.

The Miles · 10-28-2004, 03:49 PM

So can TAW play for us or is he refusing? Cause we need a swingman right now.

sike · 10-28-2004, 03:50 PM

screw TAW....the mavs will not use that dude

EricaLubarsky · 10-28-2004, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: The Miles
So can TAW play for us or is he refusing? Cause we need a swingman right now.

I think that we may see him come on. This announcement basically admits that we could not get the insurance company and TAW on the same page. I think it all depends on the seasled doctors report on TAW. If they determined he was healthy, and that he could play, and that that meant that insurance would not pay, then maybe he is also ineligible to sit on the IR all season. If we can't save all that money by benching him, then he may play. However, Sasser, Lopez and Hood combined earn a fraction of the difference in TAW's salary if we activated him. It's just cheaper to sit TAW and play the new guys.

Max Power · 10-28-2004, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: EricaLubarsky

Quote:

Originally posted by: The Miles
So can TAW play for us or is he refusing? Cause we need a swingman right now.

I think that we may see him come on. This announcement basically admits that we could not get the insurance company and TAW on the same page. I think it all depends on the seasled doctors report on TAW. If they determined he was healthy, and that he could play, and that that meant that insurance would not pay, then maybe he is also ineligible to sit on the IR all season. If we can't save all that money by benching him, then he may play. However, Sasser, Lopez and Hood combined earn a fraction of the difference in TAW's salary if we activated him. It's just cheaper to sit TAW and play the new guys.

I think the insurance pays if TAW is on the injured reserve list - I don't think he has to be injured per se.

Regardless I doubt if TAW is wanted back. He burned too many bridges.

Windmill360 · 10-28-2004, 05:46 PM

Quote:

With a nudge from NBA headquarters in New York, Avery Johnson of the Dallas Mavericks is retiring as a player to focus on his new role as Don Nelson's lead assistant, league sources told ESPN.com.

Donnie Nelson, meanwhile, is leaving the Mavericks' bench to focus on his role as the team's president of basketball operations. The younger Nelson has been serving as an assistant coach and as Dallas' personnel chief since the summer of 2002, when he was promoted after interviewing for the Denver Nuggets' head-coaching opening.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Mavericks were somewhat forced into these changes by the league office, because of the NBA's apparent contractual objections over Dallas' plans to keep Johnson on its active roster as a player-coach. Since the advent of the salary cap for the 1983-84 season, the league has forbidden teams from employing the player-coach concept.

A press conference is scheduled for later Thursday to announce the moves.

Johnson, though, has said repeatedly that he had no intention of playing this season unless an emergency demanded it. Joining Del Harris at the forefront of Nelson's staff brings Johnson one step closer to succeeding the elder Nelson as the Mavericks' next coach, a move widely seen as inevitable. Nelson, who turned 64 in May, has one season left on his contract after this one.

The younger Nelson has been angling to spend more time in his front-office role anyway, which seems even more sensible now that Johnson is by far the in-house favorite to be the next head coach. Since his promotion, Donnie Nelson has established himself as Cuban's right-hand man when it comes to roster assembly, with Don Nelson third on the ladder for decision-making.

Johnson played for six teams in his 16 years in the NBA, averaging 8.4 points and 5.5 assists per game and helping San Antonio win its first championship in 1999.

Source

Phil Helmuth · 10-28-2004, 06:20 PM

Glad to see DD made his mark here and gets to stay.

fin4life · 10-28-2004, 08:06 PM

best news ive heard in a while

Drbio · 10-28-2004, 08:14 PM

Avery is a stand up guy and we are fortunate to have him. I bet the TAW negotiations broke down as EL said and Avery (at least in part) did this to be a team guy. Glad to see Dickau is sticking.

MavKikiNYC · 10-28-2004, 08:54 PM

Makes sense. Had to wonder how much Johnson was going to contribute oncourt anyway.

Terry
Harris
Dickau

Finley
Daniels

Howard
Stackhouse

Nowitzki
Booth

Dampier
Bradley
Mbenga

IR:
Pavel

Worthless List:
Henderson
TAW

Windmill360 · 10-28-2004, 08:59 PM

Poindexter Einstein · 10-30-2004, 12:59 AM

http://www.dallasbasketball.com/more...?id=3062&NAV=1

Per DLord, ESPN got it wrong as to the reason all this happened. Apparently it was a squeeze for roster spots.

"Was such a player-coach role against NBA rules in some way? Not at all. In spite of ESPN reports to the contrary, there is no prohibition against such a situation. The Mavs themselves told DB.com on Friday that the ESPN reports claiming that the league forced the Mavs to make this move to remove Avery as a player were "not even a little bit" accurate, and were "all false."

Chef Ed · 10-31-2004, 08:58 AM

Good move by the Mavericks. Something I think we talked about weeks ago. I like the idea of Avery just coaching and putting all his energy and effort into what he brings to the table as a teacher. Not that he can't teach while he is uniform, but it just gives him a better oportunity to make an impact this season.