Not So Quick, Nick

[Lvubun1]

Not So Quick, Nick
NVE Helps With Kids, Trades, Parties
By Wally Lynn -- DallasBasketball.com
A certain “bad boy’’ Maverick is having a busy week being good. Offering to trade himself for the betterment of the club. Encouraging literacy at a local school. Making sure he’s in Atlanta to attend Steve Nash’s Feb. 7 birthday bash.
This guy, who used to have a reputation of being a bad apple in the NBA, is now overflowing with good deeds.
Hey! Nick Van Exel! This is getting ridiculous!
"Bad guys" don't get up on the first day of their mid-season break and head to the library to read a book to kids. Nick, you are completely soiling your reputation. How dare you take time out of your own schedule to take part in the Mavs Read to Achieve Reading Timeout. And yes, I'll even mention the sponsors on this one, unlike my tendency to avoid them when mentioning college bowl games. Thanks to AT&T Broadband and Chick-fil-A for jumping in to sponsor the program.
This trend with Nick the Quick is no longer a trend. It's a way of life in Dallas Fort-Worth. I'm now convinced that Van Exel was never a bad guy. He is a good guy who made a few bad decisions while making his way through the NBA. Wore out his welcome in Denver and let it be known that he wanted out of there. Got crossways in L.A. with then-head coach Del Harris, who of course now resides on the bench in Dallas. Wouldn't even shake Harris' hand on the floor after a Mavericks-Lakers game.
My how things change.
Van Exel patched up his differences with Harris about a day after his arrival last February. He has been the consumate team player over the course of the year that he's been here. Never has made waves about coming off the bench. No blowups with the media. The closest thing to controversy hit the news this week when an agreeable Van Exel basically admitted that if he were the Mavericks GM, he'd trade himself for a low-post presence!
Now the first thing you might be saying to yourself, if you’re a cynic, is that Van Exel is just being sneaky, and his true intentions are that he has wanted a trade all along. He must feel that he needs to start and get more minutes, you might say. I might buy it if this weren't the most player-friendly team in the NBA, not to mention, the team with the best record in the league. He can't be that "fake" dumb, can he? I would like to think that no player is more concerned about personal numbers than an NBA title. That's not true either. But Van Exel is speaking the truth when he says he'd totally understand the Mavericks making a move to acquire a big man with a presence down low.
Trading Nick Van Exel in exchanged for an unnamed fantasy big man is not the answer. Remember, first, the Mavs don’t want a big guy who clogs up the offensive flow and isn’t an offensive threat. So such a trade would have to bring the RIGHT big guy. And how many of those are there?
Besides, when you trade Van Exel, you also trade a part of Steve Nash, plus you lose one of the true money players in the league at crunch time. Van Exel wants the ball with the game on the line (witness the Utah game Monday night). Nash will then be asked carry more of the load which he can't do because of his style of play. He has one frantic speed that saps his energy and the Mavericks have to rest him down the stretch. There is no question the Mavericks are still too one dimensional down low, but don't be so quick to dump yourself Nick.
It only creates new problems. And Nick, you’re no problem just the way and place you are.