Marc Stein's take on the trade

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Marc Stein
Pitfalls aside, look at the advantages
02/22/2002

The Mavericks just raided the roster of a 16-35 team. They didn't make their team appreciably bigger. They also dove head-first into territory every other franchise on the NBA map sprints away from: Luxury Tax Land.

Most damning of all, the Mavericks have traipsed past yet another trading deadline without acquiring the sort of center to stand up to Shaquille O'Neal.

One more thing.

They couldn't be more pleased.

For all the pitfalls attached to the latest Mark Cuban/Don Nelson blockbuster – and you can't forget the inevitable chemistry concerns – there are just as many potential pluses.

The Mavericks played the only super-sized chip outside the core of the roster – Juwan Howard – and unquestionably upgraded their talent base.

Just to stay where they are now, atop the Midwest Division, the Mavericks couldn't pass on this risk.

"Plan A was to get another Shaq," assistant coach Del Harris shared.

"But when one of those couldn't be located, Plan B was to get people who make it hard for the Shaqs of the world to [play defense]."

Team Unconventional got a lot more than that before the annual trade buzzer sounded.

Dallas had to be willing to absorb Denver's three most haunting contracts to make it happen, which accounts for the Nuggets' willingness to participate, but with those widely unwanted millions came Raef LaFrentz to team on the front line with Dirk Nowitzki.

Meaning the Mavericks will now counter O'Neal with the two most agile 7-footers in the game, praying that approach somehow draws Shaq away from the basket.

In crunch time, they'll also be attacking the Lakers with Steve Nash, Michael Finley and a controversial newcomer named Nick Van Exel, who, for all his supposed warts, ranks as one of the game's pre-eminent clutch shooters.

Not the easiest group to guard, eh?

"I think Nick's going to fit in great," Nash said. "I'm not worried about that all. He's a great player. He can only make us better."

If you're wondering whether Van Exel is indeed willing to scale his game back, you're not alone. Harris fielded that question repeatedly in recent days from Cuban and Nelson after years of Van Exel clashes.

"He's seen the other side now," Harris said. "When you want to be with a winner, we've all got to do winner things. I think Nick understands that."

The bigger worry might actually be that Nowitzki and LaFrentz are too similar to mesh, but Nelson isn't about to fret about having another big man who can shoot. Especially not after the Mavericks kept Van Exel away from rival Minnesota. Nor after they acquired Avery Johnson in addition to Raef and Nick, thereby adding a vocal veteran – who's missed badly in San Antonio, incidentally – to lessen Nash's work load.

The Mavericks have been seriously concerned about Nash's ability to hold up carrying a nightly 40-minute burden. They were also privately prepared to sever ties with Tim Hardaway in the summer, and thus renew the search for a dependable backup. Now they've got Johnson locked up behind the Nash-and-Van Exel twosome that figures to play plenty together.

Dallas even thinks it improved its defense, improbably. Relying heavily lately on a zone that demands mobility from its center, Dallas didn't have it from Evan Eschmeyer or Wang Zhizhi or Shawn Bradley.

LaFrentz, second in the league in blocked shots, can get out to the 3-point line a lot faster than any of the above.

"My hat's off to them," said Boston general manager Chris Wallace.

"In this day and age, as hard as it is to do trades, and with all of us crying about the luxury tax, Mark and Nellie make it happen."

Which brings to mind the biggest reason why this raid of lowly Denver is a worthy gamble, in spite of the payroll toll that will eventually cost Cuban millions in taxes – and millions to LaFrentz in summer contract negotiations.

It's fairly certain that if either one of these Nuggets doesn't work out, Cuban and Nelson will simply make something else happen.

They always do.