2013-2014 Mavs Contract Commitments: What’s Next?

 

 

 

# - free agent for summer 2013
! - restricted free agent for summer 2013
() - amount free agent counts against the 2013-2014 cap until 
he is re-signed, renounced, or signs with another team

  Dirk Nowitzki       $22,720,000
  Shawn Marion         $9,320,000
  Brendan Haywood      $9,070,000  [amnestied, doesn't count 
                                    against cap]
  Vince Carter         $3,180,000  (if team picks up option)
  O.J. Mayo            $4,200,000  (if Mayo does not opt-out)
  Jared Cunningham     $1,243,080
  Jae Crowder            $789,000
 !Darren Collison     ($3,342,175  qualifying offer)
 !Rodrigue Beaubois   ($3,256,361  qualifying offer)
 #Chris Kaman       
 #Anthony Morrow     
 #Elton Brand    
 #Brandan Wright
 #Mike James
 #Bernard James
 #Josh Akognon     

 

 

As you can see from the contract commitments above, other than Dirk, Marion, Cunningham and Crowder (and the team is currently looking to trade Marion and get rid of that contract), the Dallas Mavericks could potentially look completely different from last year…something that has become the norm since they won the championship in 2011.

Once July 1 arrives and free agency has officially begun, Mark Cuban is going to first go after Dwight Howard and then go after Dwight Howard and finally go after Dwight Howard. (Chris Paul is going to re-sign with the Clippers…just forget about the possibility.) If things go as I expect them to, Howard will either give Lakertown another chance or, more likely, go to Houston in order to play with a rising James Harden rather than a declining Dirk.

After that happens, Cuban and General Manager Donnie Nelson MUST move forward with “PLAN B” and not “Plan Powder Dry” as they have done the past two summers. It’s time for Dirk to get another chance in the playoffs. No more one-year deals for deteriorating veterans and players that haven’t lived up to their potential. This team needs a spark—an actual NBA player that other teams would like to have on their team.

So, I see Monta Ellis and Andrew Bynum as “PLAN B.” With the market not being too interested in Ellis because of his inability to impact the game in more than one way (scoring), Mavs could snag him for three years at an affordable price. He could become a valuable scoring punch off the bench and serve a specific and necessary role. Dallas could also get Bynum on a one-year deal since every single person in the league is worried about a 7-footer coming off surgery on BOTH of his knees. Well, and his attitude is obviously a part of the gamble. But it’s a risk the Mavs can and need to take. He is potentially an 18pts-10rbs kind of guy—with healthy knees and healthy brains cells. At the right price, he’s the right move…even if J.J. Barea wouldn’t agree with me. Signing these two stars (not superstars) would allow Dallas to have the money, with the promised pay-cut from Dirk, in the summer of 2014 to sign one of the many elite players that will be available.

Andre Iguodala is also an intriguing player since he just exercised his early termination option with the Nuggets and will be an unrestricted free agent. Instead of Ellis, the Mavs could pair Iggy with Bynum for next year’s squad. Iguodala can be clumped with Shawn Marion in the group of wing players that don’t get enough credit for the impact they have on all aspects of the game. However, I see him taking less money to go play for a contender, which is something Dallas isn’t. Weird, right?

And then moving down the ladder, “PLAN C” consists of some almost-stars. The Mavs could go after Jose Calderon, Tony Allen, Brandon Jennings (restricted free agent), Nikola Pekovic, Greg Oden (stop laughing), Al Jefferson, Tyreke Evans (RFA) or Jarrett Jack. It just depends on the price and if the team picks up someone from a plan higher in the alphabet.

In the end, though, I have no idea what Cuban is going to do. During his time in the Big D, he has been known to have ideas up his sleeves no one—including the team’s beat writers and the NBA “breaking news” journalists—saw coming. He finds ways to convince players to come to town and owners to make moves that other teams’ managements wouldn’t dream of attempting.

So, let’s sit back uneasily yet again and watch this 2013 summer of free agency unfold. And hopefully, Cuban can fold up his sleeves with something big to show.

Ignite the Site!

Hawks Win With a Finish For the Ages

They started as the best team and finished as the best team. Just when it seemed as though their hot start couldn’t be topped, they finished in dramatic fashion.

The Chicago Blackhawks took down the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals to become the 2013 NHL champions. This is their second championship in the past four years.

The last few minutes of the game might have been some of the most intense and exciting hockey anyone could ask for.

Down 2-1 with only a little over a minute to go, the Hawks looked to be facing a decisive Game 7 and following suit with the NBA by taking their respective championship to the wire.

Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland had different plans.

At 1:16 left in the game, Bickell found a way to tie the game with goalie Corey Crawford out of the net. Without even giving fans a chance to catch their breath and ease their nerves, Bolland put in a deflection off the post…17 seconds later. This finish exemplifies what makes hockey so intense and engaging when you have two teams fighting to the finish…literally. This also close to guarantees that the league increased their viewership for the future.

Just as Ray Allen‘s Game 6 three-pointer completely changed the outcome of the NBA Finals, these back-to-back scores gave Chicago the championship and sent Boston fans home utterly shocked.

And just as championship teams of any sport need players to step up when the lights are shining brightest, Chicago had themselves a man that soaked up the light.

From his series-clinching hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to his two goals in their Game 5 win in this championship series, Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks what they needed when they needed it most. At only 24, he fought off his previous two regressed seasons to have an NHL playoff MVP season.

It’s only fitting that this team that set an NHL-record 24-game unbeaten streak to start the season finishes with an unbeaten streak. And right when people began to worry if Jonathan Toews‘ injury would hurt the Hawks’ chances of winning this series, he had himself a goal and assist in his final game of the season.

In a series with plenty of lead changes, injuries (I mean, how would you like to play professional hockey with a broken rib, a disk issue in your back or a dislocated shoulder?) and physical play after play, these teams embody the tough, never-give-up attitude that can do a team wonders in the NHL. It shows how the players in this league that put everything they have into their profession as they train and grind relentlessly have a good chance to make it to the top of the mountain.

The Blackhawks deserve to be on top of this mountain. Congratulations, Chicago.

Ignite the Site!