LaMarcus Aldridge

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Underdog

No worries, that's why I quietly combined them...

Although I don't know how much Stein is "getting Dallas fans hopes up" -- he lists San Antonio as the frontrunner.

FML if Aldridge goes to SA.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by FreshJive

If Zach Lowe thinks Houston is a possibility, then it is a possibility.

If shedding salary is the prerequisite for making LMA a "possibility" then literally every team in the league has a shot at him.

[sike]

Just don't get your hopes up, Mavs fans...

[xtruroyaltyx]

Originally Posted by Underdog

If shedding salary is the prerequisite for making LMA a "possibility" then literally every team in the league has a shot at him.

Houston is in Texas, has a good young team and could still put depth and pieces around him.

Shedding salary isn't the only thing that makes Houston a viable option.

[lucky3s]

omg.. lol i hope not. cant keep losing our top free agent targets to other teams... especially not another texas team :/

RealGM
‏@RealGM
LaMarcus Aldridge Believed To Have Strongest Free Agent Interest In Spurs: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...erest-In-Spurs …

[Melonhead]

Just no way mavs land Aldridge. Feels like plan powder all over again and we'll be stuck as the only guy without a prom date in the end as usual.

[xrobx]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

Just no way mavs land Aldridge. Feels like plan powder all over again and we'll be stuck as the only guy without a prom date in the end as usual.

This is my line of thinking as well. Would be happy if it happened. But not getting my hopes up for superstar free agents, that's proven to be a fool's errand for the mavs

[butchmcrae]

Originally Posted by xrobx

This is my line of thinking as well. Would be happy if it happened. But not getting my hopes up for superstar free agents, that's proven to be a fool's errand for the mavs

Getting a superstar to come here will be hard unless we have enough money to sign two or already have a young superstar on the team. If LMA is leaving Portland to win I don't see why he would choose an aging Dirk over Leonard or Harden/Howard or even Lillard at this point. The Mavs need players that other veterans believe in.

[FreshJive]

Wrong thread

[sefant77]

I say
80% Spurs
19% Blazers
1% Mavs

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by justvisitingsixerfan

Dude...San Antonio is a bigger market then Dallas, with a bigger population. And it is 3 times the sizef Portland. It is not even remotely a small market city.

Originally Posted by justvisitingsixerfan

No, nobody counts the general METRO area size. That is NOT population, and POPULATION is what goes to games. I mean you want METRO size...Baker, CA would be the largest NBA market.

I know I'm way late here, but this is just hilarious to me. Seriously, this guy actually thinks that San Antonio isn't one of the smallest sports markets in the country and that DFW isn't one of the largest. No clue how sports markets work. Just none. That gave me a good laugh.

[Thespiralgoeson]

As for Alridge... meh. He's good, but not good enough or young enough for me to get excited about. And that's IF the Mavs actually could get him- which they almost certainly won't.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

As for Alridge... meh. He's good, but not good enough or young enough for me to get excited about. And that's IF the Mavs actually could get him- which they almost certainly won't.

Pretty much. He's not good enough to milk to a championship a la Dirk. He also doesn't seem to be a good fit next to Parsons.

[bunkmoreland]

San Antonio has surpassed Dallas in population, but yeah, that doesn't make it a bigger market than Dallas. There's a lot more money in Dallas. And sports history. And the proximity to Ft. Worth and the rest of the metroplex matters a lot.

[dalmations202]

Texas
rank U.S.
rank Metropolitan Area Metropolitan Division Population
1 4 Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington 6,371,773
Dallas–Plano–Irving 4,235,751
Fort Worth–Arlington 2,136,022
2 5 Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown 6,086,538
3 25 San Antonio–New Braunfels 2,142,508
4 35 Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos 1,716,289
5 58 El Paso–Las Cruces 1,045,180


Dallas metropolitan area is three times larger than San Antonio's...............maybe the city itself, but not including surrounding area.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Pretty much. He's not good enough to milk to a championship a la Dirk. He also doesn't seem to be a good fit next to Parsons.

Yeah...he'd be better next to Leonard.
We should be targeting Jordan and a decent young backcourt player this off-season.

[Underdog]

Ric "grain of salt" Bucher seems to think the Mavs have a pretty good shot at Aldridge...

Mavericks, Not Spurs, Could Be the Texas Team to Lure LaMarcus Aldridge Away

Of his potential suitors, league sources indicate that the Mavericks are the biggest threat to pull Aldridge away from the Blazers, but it's the general idea of returning to Texas, not a specific destination, that appeals to him. Both the Mavericks and Spurs, of course, could have the requisite cap space, reputation of success and location.

[Vinsanity]

I really hope we make Aldridge our number 1 target instead of Jordan. I'd much rather have Aldridge + Tyson instead of just Jordan... for sentimental and basketball reasons. I'd be sick if we let Tyson walk again.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Vinsanity

I really hope we make Aldridge our number 1 target instead of Jordan. I'd much rather have Aldridge + Tyson instead of just Jordan... for sentimental and basketball reasons. I'd be sick if we let Tyson walk again.

I'd rather have Jordan. I want the younger player who's going to have a better chance at attracting more young players to Dallas in the future.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Originally Posted by Vinsanity

I really hope we make Aldridge our number 1 target instead of Jordan. I'd much rather have Aldridge + Tyson instead of just Jordan... for sentimental and basketball reasons. I'd be sick if we let Tyson walk again.

I thought the only way we could sign LMA(or DJ) is by renouncing his rights to remove his cap hold. Which means we can't go over the cap to resign him. So then depending on how much TC wants and if monta opts out even if we could scrape enough for TC then we are replacing Monta Aminu and a full bench with just the room exception since we would no longer be an over the cap team for the mid lvl from renouncing TC's cap hold?

At least that was my understanding.

Edit--
This of course does not include SnT scenarios which appears much more possible with DJ than LMA.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I'd rather have Jordan. I want the younger player who's going to have a better chance at attracting more young players to Dallas in the future.

Agreed. Plus I dont want to see Dirk come off the bench

[mavs777]

Much rather have LMA+TC than deandre

edit: and LMA's quite a bit better than Deandre. LMA's dip in efficiency can be tied to Stotts and still he had a huge effect on gravitational pull for defenses.

LMA's TS% improved from 52.9% to 53.5% to 54.9% to 56% before Stotts went on board

[mavs777]

fully expect Aldridge to sign with sa

[Thespiralgoeson]

I'm pretty "meh" on both Aldrige and Jordan. Our frontcourt is pretty solid. Our backcourt is where we need help desperately.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Vinsanity

I really hope we make Aldridge our number 1 target instead of Jordan. I'd much rather have Aldridge + Tyson instead of just Jordan... for sentimental and basketball reasons. I'd be sick if we let Tyson walk again.

If we sign LMA there will be no Tyson.
Signing LMA would be going down the "sign the best players available even though they are complete misfits" road again.
Let's not go down the Rondo/Walker path again.

LMA makes absolutely no sense for this team as long as Dirk is around.

[mavs777]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

If we sign LMA there will be no Tyson.
Signing LMA would be going down the "sign the best players available even though they are complete misfits" road again.
Let's not go down the Rondo/Walker path again.

LMA makes absolutely no sense for this team as long as Dirk is around.

LMA makes a lot of sense. Rondo just isn't good anymore and walker had always been overrated. Poor comparison.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

LMA makes absolutely no sense for this team as long as Dirk is around.

Dirk Nowitzki Recruiting LaMarcus Aldridge in NBA Free Agency

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I still feel like we're in the same position as every summer where the Mavs don't have a selling point to big free agents. We've got Parsons coming off a major knee surgery and Dirk who is declining. Is that going to entice guys like Aldrige or Jordan to come here? Team needs do to a lot more than that to compete in the west. The guard position has to be seriously upgraded. I just don't see a way to do all of that this summer, but I hope I'm wrong.

[mavs777]

I think we have a good shot at deandre but are distant third third with Lamarcus

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I still feel like we're in the same position as every summer where the Mavs don't have a selling point to big free agents. We've got Parsons coming off a major knee surgery and Dirk who is declining. Is that going to entice guys like Aldrige or Jordan to come here? Team needs do to a lot more than that to compete in the west. The guard position has to be seriously upgraded. I just don't see a way to do all of that this summer, but I hope I'm wrong.

I don't know about Jordan, but I'd think selling the franchise (Cuban, Carlisle, etc.) is important to Aldridge. The Blazers have perpetually been 1 or 2 pieces away from true contention for his entire career, which is a big reason why he wants out -- he doesn't feel like their FO is trying hard enough.

In my opinion, the pitch isn't going to be about having the right personnel to contend for a ring this season, so much as it will be about having an owner in Mark Cuban who will do what Portland hasn't when Aldridge, himself, is the draw... With the cap going up as high as it is in the next few years, the table is set for any franchise in the league to build a super team -- best to go with a front office that has the balls to maybe pull it off.

Plus, "win now" pretty much died for this team when Rondo quit on us in the playoffs -- we need to start thinking in 2-5 year terms and get a legitimate star who can lure other stars to Dallas... And there isn't a bigger lure on the market this summer than LaMarcus Aldridge (assuming that Marc Gasol can't be had).

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Plus, "win now" pretty much died for this team when Rondo quit on us in the playoffs -- we need to start thinking in 2-5 year terms and get a legitimate star who can lure other stars to Dallas... And there isn't a bigger lure on the market this summer than LaMarcus Aldridge (assuming that Marc Gasol can't be had).

I absolutely agree, but the problem for me is that Aldridge is 29, so I don't see him being much of a selling point to lure stars here in the future. I mean, he's about 75% the player Dirk was at 29, and Dirk's presence was never enough to lure a star here. Plus he's going to eat up tons of our cap room, which we'll need to rebuild the team over a 2-5 year period (even with the cap increasing, that's still significant), so I just don't see the point. The only appeal Aldridge has for me is if you somehow can manage to get major upgrades at both guard spots and put out a roster that can compete in the West, in which case we're back in "win now" mode.

If we've decided that the Dirk Nowitzki era is truly over in Dallas and it's time to rebuild completely rather than try to win another ring before Dirk retires (and I think we've all reached that consensus) then I think the only way to build a future contender is through the draft.

[Robillion]

I'm starting to believe the only chance we have to build a strong long-term team is to land another young talent that can be paired with Parsons for a long time (Jordan) + tank and get talent through the draft for a few years. Have a year or two of chemistry building, get to the WCF, then the next year we're rolling. 3-5 years from now we're back in the hunt realistically.

It would suck for Dirk to have to be around for anything like that, even just for a few years. But, it would be great to have veteran hall of fame leadership on a team filled with young studs that need development.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Robillion

I'm starting to believe the only chance we have to build a strong long-term team is to land another young talent that can be paired with Parsons for a long time (Jordan) + tank and get talent through the draft for a few years. Have a year or two of chemistry building, get to the WCF, then the next year we're rolling. 3-5 years from now we're back in the hunt realistically.

It would suck for Dirk to have to be around for anything like that, even just for a few years. But, it would be great to have veteran hall of fame leadership on a team filled with young studs that need development.

That's where I'm at. Tank for a couple of years and try to land a star or two in the draft- while making smart, cost-effective free agent signings. On the one hand I feel like the franchise owes it to Dirk not to do that and to try to at least make the playoffs in his last years, but OTOH I think that would set the franchise back more years and make the rebuilding process even more painful.

[Robillion]

Well, hell, if that plan was started this summer/next season, we may actually have a worthy team put together for Dirk for the season before he retires. But - something tells me we aren't going to do anything of the sort. Even when Dirk is gone, I think Cuban values filling up the stadium too much to ever allow this franchise to be terrible. The FO will make the necessary moves to keep us hovering in mediocrity.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I absolutely agree, but the problem for me is that Aldridge is 29, so I don't see him being much of a selling point to lure stars here in the future. I mean, he's about 75% the player Dirk was at 29, and Dirk's presence was never enough to lure a star here. Plus he's going to eat up tons of our cap room, which we'll need to rebuild the team over a 2-5 year period (even with the cap increasing, that's still significant), so I just don't see the point. The only appeal Aldridge has for me is if you somehow can manage to get major upgrades at both guard spots and put out a roster that can compete in the West, in which case we're back in "win now" mode.

If we've decided that the Dirk Nowitzki era is truly over in Dallas and it's time to rebuild completely rather than try to win another ring before Dirk retires (and I think we've all reached that consensus) then I think the only way to build a future contender is through the draft.

Completely agree! Aldridge at 26 would make sense, Aldridge at 30 (next month) doesn't.

We should be retooling with players around Parsons' age and younger so this team should go all out to get Jordan and keep Aminu. Then hopefully do well in the draft with someone like Hunter or Grant to set themselves up for a big catch the following season in free agency. Then grab all of the young potential late blooming lotto busts they can get their hands on this off-season and next and hope one sticks like Aminu and Wright did.

Jordan/Parsons/Aminu/Grant/Powell (along with Dirk) would be a nice young attractive supporting cast for a star player in 2017.

Aldridge at 31 puts us in the same boat we were in when Dirk was about the same age trying to attract star FAs which got us virtually nothing.

[mavs777]

When dirk was 31, the mavs did not have cap space.

[mavs777]

The Mavs simply cannot say no to LMA if he wants to come (which I simply doubt). Is he the best PF in the NBA? Of course not? Is he as good as prime dirk? Of course not, but he is better than his efficiency suggests and would be used differently in Dallas and help a ton. Portland had a dark horse title contender last year with batum having a awful year by his standards before the awful wes injury. He helps the players around him a lot kind of like dirk does. It will make it easier to play Dirk 28 MPG or how much ever they want to play him. They would also have other options if Monta opts out and could still keep Tyson I believe. Aminu would be hard tho.

I love Tyson and while he stayed healthy for the most part games wise, his play defensively slipped after the hip issue, he really lost some explosiveness.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I still feel like we're in the same position as every summer where the Mavs don't have a selling point to big free agents. We've got Parsons coming off a major knee surgery and Dirk who is declining. Is that going to entice guys like Aldrige or Jordan to come here? Team needs do to a lot more than that to compete in the west. The guard position has to be seriously upgraded. I just don't see a way to do all of that this summer, but I hope I'm wrong.

This is the direction the NBA is headed too. Mavs need guards. But there arent a lot of guards right now the Mavs can get

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

This is the direction the NBA is headed too. Mavs need guards. But there arent a lot of guards right now the Mavs can get

So an alternative would be to stack your other positions and wait for all the quality guards to hit the market in the next few years... Then at least you'll have a team to lure them with.

[purplefrog]

One scenario that has been clunking around in my head is to make a sizable offer ($15M) to Brandon Knight. He is a restricted free agent coming off an injury, and I question whether the Suns will be willing to pay both Bledsoe and Knight long term. Is that really a $30M backcourt? I'm not sure the Suns would be willing to go with a two PG backcourt for such a high price tag.

In this scenario, the Mavs would hopefully re-sign Tyson for around $10-12M per and Aminu for $5M. A starting five of Knight, Parsons, Aminu, Dirk and Tyson would be competitive for a playoff spot and then you pray for good fortune once you get there. It would be slim pickins for a decent bench but that would be the target for the summer of 2016 along with a more traditional SG.

I think you need a mid/top tier PG (not necessarily elite) to be competitive in the West and I just don't see many options. Knight seems like he has the potential to be a very good two-way player and has shown good/very good 3 pt accuracy. Mavs might want to take a chance here and try another "Chandler Parsons" type deal, especially if the MBT sees him as a high character guy.