Dooby's working list

[Dooby]

Spent maybe five minutes on an off-season plan on the way into work (hopefully, the Mavs spend longer coming up with theirs).

My criteria is always: (i) avoid pipedreams; (ii) I don't love anybody enough that I won't trade or cut him, especially projects; (iii) I don't hate anybody enough that I won't trade for or sign him if it makes basketball sense; (iv) I avoid discussing trades because invariably you are wrong; (v) I am not afraid to sign players I hate; (vi) I assume all options are excersized; (vii) I tend to avoid free agents that are: (a) well known, (b) old, or (c) projects.

The only variable is that I think there is a trade in the offseason to be made. And the likely player to go is Daniels, last night notwithstanding.

Resign:
Terry

Extend:
Howard
Dirk

Let walk:
Keith Van Horn
Darrell Armstrong
Griffin
Benga (maybe; I don't resign him for stupid money if a stupid team is willing to do it)

Draft:
I know Cuban doesn't want to do it, but I think spending the money to move up is worth it in this draft. I think that a good organization can identify a player in the middle to late first that can be a contributor on a playoff team. I personally don't want to take the risk that Josh Howard falls to me again; I move up to get him.


Roster:
Diop (c)
Dampier (c)
Pavel (c)
Dirk (PF)
**** (PF)
Howard (SF)
**** (SF)
Stack (SG)
Daniels (SG)
Terry (PG)
Harris (PG)
**** (PG)

Irrelevant pieces:
Powell
Marshall

Needs:
Backup PF (with some versatility to play the small forward position; must play defense; hit open shot)
Backup SF (with some versatility to play the off guard position; must play defense; hit open shot, especially three pointers)
3rd String PG (good ball handling skills; must play defense; hit open shot)

Working list of FA I theoretically think would be available to Dallas for the money and that I would have some small amount of interest in:

Joe Johnson
Al Harrington
Jumaine Jones
Calbert Cheney
Jon Barry
Walter McCarty
Jim Jackson
Bobby Jackson
James Posey
Jim Jackson
Tim Thomas
Caron Butler

[madape]

I agree with your general ideas about the roster.

I'm still not convinced Terry is the right PG to play with Dirk. He's a wonderful player and was easily our best player overall in the finals, but if this team is built around Dirk, we need someone who can run an offense.. more specifically the pick and roll. My guess is that his performance in the finals puts him out of range for Mark Cuban's suddenly stingy budget. Devin Harris will be the Mavs starting PG next year. I'll slot Sam Cassell in the backup spot. We can draft that Spanish PG everyone is talking about.

Pavel will be our starting center by 2008. He'll be eating up major minutes by the end of next season. He might even give Damp a run for his money in the preseason, considering Damp's second straight playoff disappearing act. Mbenga isn't worth the roster spot. Our best course of action is to use him in a sign in trade, maybe the Cassell deal. Either that or lose him for nothing. Maverick fans should be used to that.

Backup PF - Van Horn is going, going, gone. After taking care of Terry or his replacement, this position will be our #1 priority in the offseason. What do you think about Nene? He'd be a big time change of pace when Dirk goes out. Austin Crochere is probably the best Dirk clone out there if you want to go that direction.

PG - Harris, Cassell, Rodriguez
SG - Daniels, Stackhouse
SF - Howard
PF - Dirk, Nene
C - Diop, Pavel, Damp

[harsh euro barge]

We have a some tough decisions to make: Do we stay with vets like KVH, DA, and Griffin; or go young with guys like Rawle, Powell, and whoever we get in the draft?

Resign for sure:
Terry (4-5 years, 7-10 mil)

Resign if price is right:
KVH (2 mil a year max)
DA (vet min, though I wouldn't mind him as an assistant coach)
M'Benga (3 mil a year max)
Griffin (vet min)

Extend:
Howard
Dirk

Depth Chart:

PG: Harris/Terry/ 3PG
SG: Terry/Stack/Quis
SF: JHo/Stack/ Quis/Rawle
PF: Dirk/ Powell/ 2-3PF
C: Diop/Damp/3C/Pavel

Draft Possibilities:
Steve Novak -excellent shooter, good Bball IQ (coaches son) can play the 3 or 4
Saer Sene
Oleg Pecherov
Kevin Pittsnogle
Damir Markota

I'd rather not take a PG in the draft, if we have to get one, I'd rather have a veteran that can jump in if neccesary

Possible FA's:
David Wesley
Chucky Atkins
Jackie Butler
Aaron Williams

[mattyd]

Originally Posted by harsh euro barge

We have a some tough decisions to make: Do we stay with vets like KVH, DA, and Griffin; or go young with guys like Rawle, Powell, and whoever we get in the draft?

Resign for sure:
Terry (4-5 years, 7-10 mil)

Resign if price is right:
KVH (2 mil a year max)
DA (vet min, though I wouldn't mind him as an assistant coach)
M'Benga (3 mil a year max)
Griffin (vet min)

Extend:
Howard
Dirk

Depth Chart:

PG: Harris/Terry/ 3PG
SG: Terry/Stack/Quis
SF: JHo/Stack/ Quis/Rawle
PF: Dirk/ Powell/ 2-3PF
C: Diop/Damp/3C/Pavel

Draft Possibilities:
Steve Novak -excellent shooter, good Bball IQ (coaches son) can play the 3 or 4
Saer Sene
Oleg Pecherov
Kevin Pittsnogle
Damir Markota

I'd rather not take a PG in the draft, if we have to get one, I'd rather have a veteran that can jump in if neccesary

Possible FA's:
David Wesley
Chucky Atkins
Jackie Butler
Aaron Williams

Anyone interested in a Jim Jackson return? I wonder if he has anything left in the tank?
I wouldn't mind Bobby Jackson either - a ball's to the wall scorer off the bench would be nice - not a turn over machine like Stack. Or Cassell would be nice - I can see where he would enjoy playing with Howard - they both have pretty big personalities off the court that I think would compliment each other instead of hurt each other.

[Drbio]

Personally I would rather have Cassell than JET. I agree that Benga can be allowed to go elsewhere. I like that kid a whole lot but we do not need him. AJ has shown he won't play him so let him walk. I would do anything short of Dirk to get Nene in here, but he has been injured and didn't really look so good towards the end of the season in his rehab. I still think Nene will be a stud for years. I do like the Croshere suggestion if he comes cheaper than he has been over the past few years. I'd hate for Mavs fans to bitch about him like KVH because of salary.

PG - Cassell, Harris, ?????
SG - Daniels, Stackhouse
SF - JHo
PF - Dirk, (Nene is a pipedream), ???
C - Dampier, Diop, Pavel

[madape]

Bobby Jackson is a good name. If Cuban doesn't want to pay for Terry, I wouldn't mind seeing Jackson slide into that backup role behind Devin.

[Dooby]

As for Casell, I think he resigns with the Clippers. They can obviously offer more money, but it is the Clippers. The only way to sign Casell is through the MLE, and if Cassell is willing to sign for the MLE, the Clippers will resign him. As for Terry versus Casell, Terry is eight years younger and that is about all I need to know to make a not very hard decision easier.

The problem with Terry is that if you resign him you have this potential logjam at PG with Harris unless you move Terry to SG fulltime, which I would be opposed to. Signing Casell would alleviate that problem somewhat. Of course, that assumes Harris continues to develop. And if Harris doesn't commit to shooting 1,000 jumpshots a day every day during the offseason, I am looking for a trading partner.

I personally think Pavel is a waste of time in any role other than as Frankenstein's Monster in a community theater. I'd prefer to keep Benga over Pavel, but Pavel has a contract and you wasted a pick on him, so wadya gonna do? No offense, but I think the idea of giving Benga $3M a year is insane.

Someone will be dumb enough to offer KVH 4-5 million a year. If they don't, I'll be shocked. He's a spare at $10M a year; a mere annoyance at $5M, but he gave the Mavs nothing in the playoffs and I have no use for him. Let him play for the Hawks.

I wonder how cheap Cuban will be this offseeason. The guy is making money off this team now. Simply letting KVH walk lowers the payroll dramatically. Let's take a wait and see approach on that.

I forgot to add criteria number (viii), which is that there isn't a man alive wouldn't be willing to sign for the vet minimum.

[madape]

If Cuban re-signs Terry for more than he offered to Nash, I'm going to pull my hair out

[mattyd]

Originally Posted by madape

If Cuban re-signs Terry for more than he offered to Nash, I'm going to pull my hair out

Especially if Mike James is to be had for reasonable money.

[mavs_own]

The position I noticed that we lacked the most was a pure shooter. The games that Terry and Stackhouse were out we really missed their presence. The defense could collapse on the players driving and we would have no one to kick out to.

Needs:
Backup PF
Backup SF
Pure shooter (hopefully they can be a good defender too)

EDIT: I forgot, keep DJ he will be better than Pavel.

[GP]

I think the Mavs desperately need:
Starting point guard
Backup point guard
Starting shooting guard
Low post offense

I'd like the Mavs to resign Terry but as a 6th man.
Keep Devin but as the 3rd point, change of pace guy maybe even a defensive specialist or make him the starter from day 1 and let him learn on the job. Neither Jet or Devin can run the offense even adequately. This was exposed by the Heat. All Devin can do is go right. He really, really needs to improve that all around game tremendously. I can see it though.

I agree that Van Horn, Griffin, Armstrong should walk. Mbenga I waffle over. If the Mavs can get Cassell then they should. The Mavs win the title if he is on the squad this year. The Mavs desperately need on the court leadership from the guard positions. Unfortunately, both him and Bobby Jackson are not what they used to be so the Mavs must be leery.

I think the Mavs should draft a ball handler or a super athletic swing man (if possible). They need to stay away from foreign players and projects. Got to get a guy fromt he States who can contribute right away.

Frankly, I didn't like this team much to begin with. They really surprised me by being able to get to the finals this year. I think the Mavs need to keep their core players intact but they definitely need to upgrade in many spots. Their backcourt was very weak this year even though Terry is a great shooter. I've never been a big fan of the isolation game which is what the Mavs run way too much and probably the second most important reason as to why the Mavs lost.

[Murphy3]

The Mavs need another jumpshooter and some basketball IQ for players such as Terry, Stack, Howard, and Daniels. AJ needs to seriously up his in game coaching abilities. The Mavs are consistently beaten on out of time out plays. AJ doesn't hold his players accountable enough for poor decisions on the offensive side of the ball.

[sike]

Originally Posted by Dooby

Joe Johnson
Al Harrington
Jumaine Jones
Calbert Cheney
Jon Barry
Walter McCarty
Jim Jackson
Bobby Jackson
James Posey
Jim Jackson
Tim Thomas
Caron Butler

Joe Johnson would be sweet.

Harris/Johnson/Howard/Dirk/Damp...

[mavs_own]

Originally Posted by sike

Joe Johnson would be sweet.

Harris/Johnson/Howard/Dirk/Damp...

I wouldn't mind paying a fairly big price for Johnson. He attacks the rim and would open up the court for us.

What would it take to get him here?

[sike]

who knows? doubt they want JT back

but Joe Johnson is exactly the type of 2 they need. 20ppg, 4 rebs, 6apg

I don't wanna give up on Harris.

so riddle me this: Joe Johnson or Josh Howard?

[GP]

I saw on another board that AI may be available. If the price wasn't too steep then I'd say jump on it. It sure looks like the league has morphed to where you absolutely have to have a guy like him to win. He has maybe 3 years left. Of course, Dirk probably doesn't have much more than 3 years left of his prime. I hope the Mavs can go for it. At least Iverson can pass the ball and has the stones to make the big shot. He also would never ever miss a free throw with the game on the line. I still think he is a team wrecker though. On this team he would be unstoppable. Especially if the Mavs can upgrade the outside shooting.

[dalmations202]

IMO,

Josh needs to move to the SG and the Mavs need a big SF with the ability to drive, hit the J, and play D. There are really only 3 players out there that, IMO, the Mavs need to be looking at 1) Andre Kirelinko -- no chance 2) Rashard Lewis -- It would take Terry (SNT), Daniels and possibly their #1 to have a shot 3) Shane Battier -- possibly the best choice of the bunch. Not sure you have the pieces to get him though. Would be great if they could get him, and keep Terry and Howard.

Harris, Howard, (Lewis/K/Batt), Dirk, (Three headed Monster) would make for a pretty brutal lineup, if you keep Stack, Sign Bobby Jackson, and got a backup PG to go along with them.

I could see the mavs going after Pierce, but I don't see him leaving Bean town.

I am also not sure if any of it matters. The league needs Lebron, Wade, maybe Anthony to win some championships to bring back up viewing, so it may not matter who you have, if they aren't named one of these three -- at least these are the ones that ESPN is pushing to be the next superstars.
---------------------------------------------------
SNT Terry, Daniels to Seattle for R. Lewis, sign Bobby Jackson
resign DJ, and Griff

Harris, Bobby Jackson
Howard, Stack, Griff
R. Lewis, Marshall
Nowitzki, Powell
Diop, Damp, DJ, PPod

Still needs another "pit bull", but maybe DJ or Powell can be that person.

[fluid.forty.one]

Did someone say Joe Johnson?

[craggmac]

Where's Kevin Garnet when you need him?

[craggmac]

Damp, Van Horn, Daniels, Benga, Marshall, Powell ALL Strait Up for KG.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Caron Butler, Posey, and Joe Johnson all seem like the best possible fits.

[fluid.forty.one]

If Cuban pays the money for Joe Johnson I will be a happy man.

[ocelot_ark]

Joe Johnson on this team and we would have won the title this year. He's a better PG/SG/SF than anyone we have currently. GREAT court vision from a guy who's THAT big is something that could DEFINITELY take us over the top.

The problem, though, is getting him here. I don't know if we have the resources to pull that off.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Originally Posted by ocelot_ark

Joe Johnson on this team and we would have won the title this year. He's a better PG/SG/SF than anyone we have currently. GREAT court vision from a guy who's THAT big is something that could DEFINITELY take us over the top.

The problem, though, is getting him here. I don't know if we have the resources to pull that off.

Word. He'd be a great fit, but I doubt we could get him here.

[Cybertx]

we don't have money to go after JJ in the FA the only way is a trade, we need a good pg with good field vision and basketball IQ, but the most important it's a low post guy a backup 4 or center.

[Five-ofan]

JJ is a FA???? Didnt he sign a big deal LAST YEAR???? I love jj. I think he could be the second STAR the mavs need. I would give up JHO and stack for him if they would but they wont. My dream offseason will be its own thread shortly whenever i decide exactly what i want to do but JJ is SOOOOOOOOOOOO good.

[GP]

Atlanta is not going to trade Johnson. Hell, they gave up a better player and 2 first round draft picks for the guy. So after one season where he performed very well for them they are just going to jettison him? Please don't ever mention his stupid name again. By the way why would anyone want a player who would rather be the star on a 20 win team than have the chance to win an NBA title as one of the main cogs? That makes no sense to me at all.

[spreedom]

Originally Posted by GP

Atlanta is not going to trade Johnson. Hell, they gave up a better player and 2 first round draft picks for the guy.

Diaw, better than Joe Johnson? Yeah right, pass the bong!

[nashtymavsfan13]

Originally Posted by GP

Atlanta is not going to trade Johnson. Hell, they gave up a better player and 2 first round draft picks for the guy. So after one season where he performed very well for them they are just going to jettison him? Please don't ever mention his stupid name again. By the way why would anyone want a player who would rather be the star on a 20 win team than have the chance to win an NBA title as one of the main cogs? That makes no sense to me at all.

lol, Diaw better than JJ? C'mon!

[some-dude]

Originally Posted by nashtymavsfan13

lol, Diaw better than JJ? C'mon!

Diaw just needed some consistent playing time and a system that fits his style of play. They're different players but it definately not a reach to say Diaw is better than Johnson.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Originally Posted by some-dude

Diaw just needed some consistent playing time and a system that fits his style of play. They're different players but it definately not a reach to say Diaw is better than Johnson.

Yes they are different players, but Diaw can't be a go to guy or a right hand man. He's more of a talented role player that does a lot of things well but nothing really great. A consistent and talented player, but not a star.

[Poindexter Einstein]

Joe Johnson isnt a free agent. He has a long term deal with Atlanta for max money.

[spreedom]

Diaw needs the perfect system to succeed, whereas Joe can play great ball even if he has a bunch of stiffs for team mates.. but if I needed one player to win me a game, I would take Joe before Diaw.

[Nash13]

Agree with nashty13. Teams that play against pheonix worry about two things, Nash and their 3 point shooting. Add Amare into the equation next year, Pheonix is going to wish they resigned Joe Johnson.

The only person on my wish list would be Joe Johnson.

And even though i love Jason Terry, i have to agree with Madape. Truth be told, i wouldn't offer him as much as we offered Nash.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Originally Posted by Nash13

Agree with nashty13. Teams that play against pheonix worry about two things, Nash and their 3 point shooting. Add Amare into the equation next year, Pheonix is going to wish they resigned Joe Johnson.

The only person on my wish list would be Joe Johnson.

And even though i love Jason Terry, i have to agree with Madape. Truth be told, i wouldn't offer him as much as we offered Nash.

Thanks man, well said. If Phoenix had kept JJ they would be unstoppable. I don't see us being able to get JJ, and I definetly don't offer JT, Nash like money. If JT wants that much we should go after Casell. I want us getting a Caron Butler/Posey type player and a Reggie Evans/Wilcox type player, and resign JT.

[Five-ofan]

JJ is better than diaw but diaw is better than anyone on the mavs no named dirk.

[mavs_own]

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

JJ is better than diaw but diaw is better than anyone on the mavs no named dirk.

*Shakes head*

[GP]

JJ was completely disfunctional before Nash came to town. He was so bad that the Celtics were willing to give him away for practically nothing. I like the guys game.............a lot. But, Diaw is going to be Mr. Triple double next year. His play in the playoffs were phenomenal. JJ is more of a 3 point shooter but Diaw is going to have a ton of confidence and he is a great ball handler, great athlete just like JJ. All that guy needed was some playing time and confidence. Atlanta is NBA pergatory. Remember, JJ chose to go there because he couldn't coexist with guys getting more pub than him and wanted to be the star. How would that work in Dallas where he'd be one of the guys again? It wouldn't. I don't think it is stretch to say that Diaw is better. I like his attitude a hell of a lot better, he is very versatile and is willing to take a back seat to the real stars when they come back. I think some of you guys are misguided in thinking that Phoenix will miss JJ. In fact, I think with the 2 draft picks they are going to come out of this very, very well. Atlanta is the team that screwed the pooch here guys, not Phoenix.

[Cybertx]

bottom line we can't get him

[vjz]

JET's performance in the finals was disappointing (except for this big game). But we wouldn't have gotten thru the Spurs if it wasn't for him.

I hope we don't have to pay more than 45 mil for him.

I would LOVE to get AI. He'll get the calls, and thats what matters.

Our formula would be:
AI to the hoop
Dirk to the hoop

Force the damn refs to call everytime. But AI would be a liability on the defensive end...