Donnie on the Mav's - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Eman · 08-30-2005, 11:08 AM

Winged Cats
Donnie Flies Thru Mavs Summer

By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com
My visit with Mavs president Donnie Nelson, a conversation which covers: 1) the improbability of Paul Pierce as a Mav; 2) the legitimacy of considering this summer's big "trade'' a Michael Finley-for-Doug Christie swap; 3) cautious optimism regarding the youth injected into a club expected to be as good as last year's 58-win team; and 4) a Maui-based marijuana-clouded poker party featuring trippy actor Owen Wilson, dippy musician Willie Nelson and Donnie's dad.

"It's been an interesting summer, that's for sure,'' Donnie says, and when I relay to him that owner Mark Cuban said "We're done,'' Nelson feigns exhaustion and says, "I hope he's right.''
Donnie says talk of the Celtics' Paul Pierce being available is "pie in the sky.'' He adds, "I don't think you can ever say for sure you're done; what if a great opportunity is dumped into our laps? But Paul ain't going anywhere.''
Besides, Nelson says, "we all like the pieces. we're a little bit younger than we were in the past, but also a lot better defensively. We've got some young players who are rangy and can guard different positions, and that was a big priority. We really like our team.''
Donnie begins to break down the roster: "Dirk is Dirk. And you've got some nice, interesting young athletic pieces around him. Josh Howard emerged to make the most of the opportunity given him. Marquis (Daniels) was on that path until he got injured. Devin (Harris) is clearly on that path. We're going to give these young cats a chance to spread their wings.''
Excuse the mixed metaphors (cats have wings?); Donnie's excited about a youthful core group, and that's OK -- assuming, of course, that we can really consider Daniels and Devin, backup players who were not pivotal pieces to last year's club, to be part of a core group.
Responds Nelson: "With youth you have to go throuth a certain period of adjustment, adjustment as guys gain experience. Some mistakes will be made as they mature, but you must be patient with young guys and meanwhile let the veterans carry the heavy weight until they're ready.''
Sounds good, Donnie, but in the case of Daniels especially, is seems that just like last year, the crowd of veterans in front of him might prevent him from developing on the floor. And it seems he wasn't exactly a fave of Avery Johnson.
"I don't really agree with that,'' counters Donnie, being polite, because it's clear he really doesn't agree with it. "AJ has made some comments (to try to clear this up), and I will: He was injured last year, so it was hard to know what he could and couldn't do, and by the time he was healthy enough to get back into the lineup, the lineup was set. So Marquis was coming from behind the whole way. This summer, Marquis and AJ had the chance to work together in the summer league. AJ knows what Marquis can do now. He saw him play some point, knows he has good size at the point, is becoming a good decision-maker. ... AJ is just kind of getting comfortable with what he can bring to the table.''

I ask Donnie if it's fair to view the exit of Michael Finley and the entrance of Doug Christie as a trade of sorts -- and whether he considers it an even swap.
"Yes, I do,'' he says. "Mike just provided us with a lot of different things. Some of those things may be replaceable, some may not be. But in Doug, we've got a pretty unique package. He's been to the Finals, he's had all kinds of success, he's a help on the court and he's a really good chemistry-leadership guy off it. Those are the types of things our team now kinda needs. He's also defense-oriented, can guard the 2 and the 3 and some 1, too, which gives AJ a nice gear to go to against some of the taller point guards in the West.
And Christie's offense?
"On the offensive side of it, he has the ability to play a sort of point forward,'' Donnie says. "He can free up Jason (Terry) and Devin Harris to come off screens and be scorers, something they can certainly do. Doug fits into our team look. In the past, we've gone through Dirk, not just to create for himself but in situations where he had to create for teammates. And it was on him. Now, with Doug, we've got another guy who can do that. Doug creates for other players.''

I tell Donnie that while I'm happy to have an assortment of projects at the back end of the roster -- and happier that they're 7-foot projects -- I'm not happy that one of them is actually going to be asked to play substantial minutes. He tries to straighten me out regarding DeSagana Diop.
"Here's the deal with 'Gana: He was four years in the league playing behind a darn good center in Big Z in Cleveland. I look at it as the same kind of thing as Swen Nater.''
Huh?
When Swen Nater was at UCLA, he was playing behind Abdul-Jabbar. Nobody knew what he could do until he hit the NBA and he became a valuable center for years. This kid has just never seen the light of day and we want to give him the opportunity. We want him to have a Hunter-type years, and instead of signing that guy (Hunter), we create our own guy like that here.''
Translated, Nelson is saying that Diop is an opportunity away from being another Hunter. ... a compelling point. (We won't tough with a 7-foot pole the idea of him being another Nater.) But why not acquire a surer bet at backup center?
"Each one of the other guys offered a combination of little things that made it not work,'' Nelson says. "Money has it's place. Also playing time. Hunter was that. It wasn't just financial. We couldn't sit there behind Erick Dampier and promise 30 minutes a game to somebody. I can't lie to a kid or an agent. It was all part of the marketplace.''

I go bottom line: Are the Mavs better?
"That's the hard question,'' says Donnie, hesitating. "The 58 wins was the second most in the franchise, so you never want to slap yourself up against that. But I don't think we're any worse.''

Speaking of doing well. ... I ask Donnie about his dad. You remember Don Nelson, don't you? One of the architects of this program that is now so accomplished that when Donnie essentially informs you that this can be a 58-game winner again, you're not certain if you're satisfied?
Says Donnie: "Dad, he's doing great! I just talked to him. He's looking forward to getting back to Big D. But right now, he's in Maui, living the life of Riley. He's out playing poker with Owen Wilson and Willie Nelson and some other celebrity types. You know, it's hard to function with the kind of stuff that floats around in the air at those poker games.'' Back

V2M · 08-30-2005, 11:45 AM

Thanks for posting, Eman.

It's encouraging to read that they haven't given up on Daniels yet. I'm not still convinced about 'Gana. I just hope DJ develops enough to make him moot.

As discussed already, Christie if healthy would be a very nice addition given he could be guarding TMac, Nash or Manu in the playoffs. I view him as our version of Horry (only w/o the 6 rings).

EricaLubarsky · 09-02-2005, 03:55 PM

jthig32 · 09-02-2005, 04:20 PM

Erica, you have two KVH's and no Pavel...

EricaLubarsky · 09-02-2005, 04:23 PM

suppposed to be a depth chart, and I figured he'd be in the NDBL

(also really a pain to find a good pic of his face, put it on someone's body, smooth it out, extract a mavs jersey, paste it on, smooth it out, find the appropriate numbers, extract, number, etc.....) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] After changing Armstrong's, KVH and Diop's jerseys, and doing Powell and Marshall fom scratch I got tired.