Mavs Moneyball: FanPosts

A Tale Of Three Joshes?

Mister Naxal — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:41:38 -0000

G/F Josh Childress signed a 3 year $20 million dollar deal with Greek team Olympiakos today, bolting the Atlanta Hawks for the Euroleague. Childress' deal sounds sweet...3 years, $20 million after taxes and an opt-out clause at the end of each year.

More to the point, however, I think opens up an interesting opportunity for the Mavs. The Hawks have not resigned restricted free agent Josh Smith. Word on the street is that part of Childress' reason for leaving the Hawks was his opinion of the team's management. I don't think any of us need to look too long nor too hard at the recent history of the Hawks to see that

If Josh Smith (and/or his agent(s)) have these same concerns about team management, would you offer a package headlined by Josh Howard to Atlanta for a sign and trade for Smith? I don't know if the Hawks would even think about trading Smith and I don't know if he's really interested in leaving Atlanta (or if he's waiting for the Hawks to pay him big time...my guess is he probably doesn't want to leave The ATL since he's from the area), but if there's even a slight chance, I'd want the Mavs to be in on it. Josh Smith is a phenomenal talent.

If such a possibility exists, it seems like one of those situations where both teams can get what they want: Josh Smith gets money and a spot on a team with more of an upside than the Hawks (albeit in a much tougher conference). Josh Howard gets a change of scenery. The Hawks get a couple of our bench players to beef up the eight players they currently have under contract.

I wouldn't do a Howard-Bass-Stack deal for Artest. I would do that same deal for Smith. Thoughts?

Germany roundup

coolste — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:31:30 -0000

Here are a few snippets of the media reaction in Germany.

According to german sport magazine "kicker" Dirk is a strong candidate to carry the German flag at the olympic opening ceremony. They quote the president of the geman NOC Thomas Bach: "He would be an ideal ambassador for the whole team.." (sorry for my poor translation). -> Link

Dirk Bauermann, coach of the national team, says that Nowitzki is probably in the form of his life. He says this was the best Dirk played for the national team ever, even better than at the Euro 2005 when Germany won the silver medal and he was the tournament MVP. I haven't seen much of the games in the last weeks, but 2005 Dirk was unbelievable. If ever someone comes up again with Dirk being a bad clutch performer, just get him the tapes of the knock-out games of that tournament. Awesome. When Nowitzki was subbed in the closing minutes of the finals, the whole crowd gave him standing ovations with about 90% being fans of Greece. I still get goose bumps thinking of that.

Also in the interview is said that Chris Kaman will live in a hotel in Dirk's hometown until training camp for the olympics will start. They will practice together and Dirk and his family will take care of Chris. Seeing them play so well together for the national team I wonder how good they could be together in Dallas...

Here is the link, although it's in German as well.

OT: The Dark Knight

Toddy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:50:47 -0000

So I guess early reports are, that its setting new weekend and single day records.

"The Dark Knight" took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, topping the previous best of $151.1 million for "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007 and pacing Hollywood to its biggest weekend ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight." The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said.

I saw it on the IMAX, and thought it was really good. Definitely the best Batman movie. Not to give away too much about the story or movie, but I really appreciated them going away from the "My parents died, so I need to become Batman" theme they have done in just about every Batman movie.

Ledger was awesome BTW.

So feel free to comment on it here, but without spoiling it for those who havent seen it yet.

Poll

What grade do you give the new Batman movie?

Darius Miles attempting comeback

Marie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:18:15 -0000

This might be of interest because according to SI.com's Ian Thomsen, Darius Miles has auditioned for the Mavericks in Las Vegas:

"He was much better than I thought he would be,'' a member of the Mavericks' camp said. "On a scale of 1 to 10, I was expecting him to be 6. But he was a good, solid 8.''

He also worked out for the Nets, Celtics, and Suns. Would you want him in a Mavericks uniform?

Summer league

Marie — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:55:33 -0000

The Mavericks' summer league team is going to play its first game this Friday at 7 PM PST. The schedule is as follows (all times listed as Pacific Standard Time):

Friday, July 11 @ 7 PM vs. LA Clippers

Sunday, July 13 @ 3 PM vs. Golden State Warriors

Monday, July 14 @ 7 PM vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

Wednesday, July 16 @ 3 PM vs. Sacramento Kings

Thursday, July 17 @ 1 PM vs. Detroit Pistons

All of the Dallas games will be on NBA TV. Names in the roster include Renaldas Seibutis, Reyshawn Terry and Shan Foster, and invites were sent to Keith McLeod, Aaron Miles, Derrick Low, Reggie Williams, Richie Frahm, JaJuan Smith, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Yaroslav Korolev, Charles Rhodes, James Singleton and Pape Sow, according to Mavs Courtside View. The newly-signed Gerald Green is also expected to join.

UPDATE: The official roster has now been released. You can also find scouting reports from Donnie Nelson on some of the invites, along with the schedule for the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, here.

#	NAME	P	HT	WT	DOB	FROM	YRS
33	Shan Foster	G	6-6	205	8/20/86	Vanderbilt	R
24	Richie Frahm	G	6-5	202	8/14/77	Gonzaga	4
8	Gerald Green	G/F	6-8	200	1/26/86	Gulf Shores Academy	3
43	Yaroslav Korolev	F	6-9	203	5/7/87	Russia	2
20	Keith McLeod	G	6-2	190	11/5/79	Bowling Green	4
21	Pops Mensah-Bonsu	F	6-9	240	9/7/83	George Washington	1
18	Ronnie Seibutis	G	6-5	180	12/25/85	Lithuania	R
51	James Singleton	F	6-8	230	7/20/81	Murray State	2
3	JaJuan Smith	G	6-2	195	12/24/85	Tennessee	R
9	Pape Sow	F	6-10	250	11/22/81	Cal State-Fullerton	3
7	Reyshawn Terry	F	6-8	232	4/7/84	North Carolina	R

JJB beats Dirk

coolste — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:54:15 -0000

Although the deeds of the Mavs FO probably is the main story right now, I thought I'd give you an update on how Dirk is doing right now. Currently he is preparing for the Olympic games in Bejing with the german national team. Unfortunately Germany isn't even qualified yet. They have to finish at least third in an upcoming tournament in Greece to fulfill Dirk his biggest dream (besides a Championship) of participating in the olympic games.

Last night Germany played an exhibition game against Puerto Rico with JJB (Carlos Arroyo did not play). Well, it didn't go too well for Dirk. Germany lost 83:85 with JJB being the games top scorer with 24 pts. Dirk was the top scroer for Germany with 21 pts.

The first two exhibition games were easy wins for Germany coming both against Poland and Dirk was in good form.

But the biggest news from the national team probably is that the Clippers' Chris Kaman now is German and will play for the team in the upcoming qualifying tournament.

Potential Sign & Trade for Diop in the Works

dirk41 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:13:11 -0000

According to dallasbasketball.com, the Mavs FO is trying to save the MLE for someone else (Maggette, Posey, etc.) and will instead try to obtain Diop through a sign-and-trade for assets such as expiring contracts (Eddie Jones). See, Donnie's trying to be creative.

Supposedly, the Mavs have a great deal of interest in Posey, who played a huge supporting role for the Miami and Boston championship squads.

The Mavs' summer dealings may not be done yet.

Jones picks up option...

smt83 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:00:30 -0000

Over at DMN blog Sefko reports that Eddie Jones picked up his $2 million option for this year. AND reports that we will see something happening with Devean George in the next couple days. All I have to say is UGGGGHHHHHHH...

I pretty much new that Eddie Jones was gonna pick up his option (I mean its a no-brainer...who else would pay the old man 2 mil a year?). But this is getting pretty tiring...I know its been fairly quiet with people commenting and posting on Mavsmoneyball (its the offseason and all) but is anyone else really coming to the conclusion that we need to start fresh or something?? I really wouldn't want to be Donnie Nelson right now but this is not looking ver promising...even with a new coach we have to be delusional if we think this team is a top 3-4 team in the Western Conference. I am almost starting to agree with all the pessimists out there that we should start fresh and trade either Dirk, J-Kidd, JET, J-Ho, and Damp. I really don't know what else can be done to get people excited about the Mavs right now...I for one right now am not looking forward to another disappointing Mavs season...I really think that I am starting to lose years off my life by being a fan of this team (and I am only 24!!)

Hopefully someone can change my tune here...

Here is the link to the Sefko post...

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/07/quiet-so-far.html

What to do with the MLE?

Toddy — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:04:51 -0000

Espn is reporting that the Jazz have made a qualifying offer to the Resricted Free Agent CJ Miles, meaning that if he choses, he can test the waters of the FA to get a better deal done, but that the Jazz could match any deal offered...

What that essentially means (I think) to us, is that should we go after him, we would essentially have to over pay what he is worth to get him (3 yrs, 5 mil per year, essentially using up all the MLE). I think that us using up our all the MLE to get any significant player, whether it be Diop, Miles, ect. is going to be necessary.

But as it stands, what should the MLE be used for? A center, who some Mavs sources said could actually start over the 11 million center we currently have, or be used on what has been the biggest hole in this teams rotation for the past 4 years?

Poll

If the Mavs are to use the full MLE on one significant player, should it be a center (Diop) or a shooting guard?

Vince Carter Available?

Toddy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:28:11 -0000

Via the Star-Ledger

"The Nets made big news Thursday night when they traded Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks. But before that deal was finalized, New Jersey had an offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers: Wally Szczerbiak for Vince Carter. Nets management thought long and hard about it."

As much as I would hate to do a deal again with NJ, it has to be at least looked at. Carter, 31, is the same age as Terry, but his contract would put us in a nightmare of a Salary Cap choke hold through the 2010-2011 season (which is still one season less than what Terry is signed too). Not sure though why NJ would do this deal, except that NJ would have 7 million (Stack) come of their books this next year, but would have Terry for one year longer than they would have Carter.

But from a Mavs perspective, would VC > JET and Stack?

Poll

Vince for Stack and JET

Continue the DFW draft streak...

BombDiggity — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:23:11 -0000

If you look at the recent drafts of the Cowboys (Felix Jones, Mike Jenkins) and the Rangers (Justin Smoak), both teams ended up with some players that most didn't think would still be there. Hopefully the Mavericks continue this hot streak that DFW teams have had in the draft.

Best cause scenario would be to trade up into the top of the 1st round and make a big splash, with a good chance of getting into the bottom of the 1st as an alternative. Whatever happens, I just hope, hope, hope that we don't stay pat at #51. The team needs the good PR of a big time move. (I'm not counting the Kidd trade...)

Mavs to Top 10?

jthig32 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:07:04 -0000

Interesting article from Fish about the Mavs possibly trying to trade way up in the draft. It's a real longshot, I think, but I would LOVE to get Joe Alexander in here.

We’ll frame this for now as "educated gossip’’ rather than as "sourced information,’’ but DallasBasketball.com has been offered multiple hints that the Mavs are in conversations that could give the team a top-10 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. And we can state with certainty that there are talent gurus within the organization who covet Eric Gordon and Joe Alexander as mid-top-10 values.

http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=491

Free Agency breakdown

Toddy — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:46:04 -0000

David Lord's article here is the best break down of the FA's available, and how it relates to the Mavs that I have seen yet. I seriously am hoping we have some sort of Ray Allen/Garnett/Gasol type deals up our sleeves that we can pull off over the next few weeks.

The answer is simple, and we've said it annually: they need a big two-guard, and a big man (center or PF) who can score and complement Dirk and Damp. Unfortunately, this is beginning to sound like a broken record, and the fact that we are saying it again is both an indictment of the past and a cause for concern.

Last summer they had a golden opportunity to address one need or the other, with a full MLE and a full BAE to spend, lots of solid free agents in those two areas of need, and our recommendation was that they find some way to fix ONE of those problems in a way that stayed fixed. If they could fix them both, even better - but at least get one problem area solved.

The result? They spent their BAE on Eddie Jones who showed sparks here and there but wasn't the answer, never spent a nickel of their MLE, and here we are again a year later with the same problems to address.

In the last few years, we've seen Christie, Griffin (who was a good solution for one season, then inexplicably not retained), Buckner, Ager, Jones, and Hassell all acquired to fill that need for a big two-guard. Frankly, all of them were a miserable waste of time.

NOTABLE FREE AGENTS

(RFA) = restricted free agent, (O) = an early termination option or player option exists that makes their free agency status uncertain until June 30

Big men
Josh Smith (RFA)
PJ Brown
Scot Pollard
Emeka Okafor (RFA)
Theo Ratliff
Andris Biedrins (RFA)
Patrick O'Bryant
Austin Croshere
Carl Landry (RFA)
Dikembe Mutombo
Nick Fazekas (RFA)
Elton Brand (O)
DJ Mbenga (RFA)
Ronny Turiaf (RFA)
Kwame Brown
Alonzo Mourning
Chris Richard (RFA)
Michael Doleac
Ryan Gomes (RFA)
Nenad Krstic (RFA)
DeSagana Diop
Chris Andersen
Melvin Ely (O)
Adonal Foyle
Brian Skinner
Robert Horry
Kurt Thomas
Robert Swift (RFA)
Francisco Elson

2-guards/swingmen
Josh Childress (RFA)
Eddie House
James Posey
Luol Deng (RFA)
JR Smith (RFA)
Gerald Green
Jarvis Hayes
Kelenna Azuibuike (RFA)
Monta Ellis (RFA)
Matt Barnes
Mickael Pietrus
Flip Murray
Kareem Rush
Corey Maggette (O)
Quinton Ross
Sasha Vujacic (RFA)
Ricky Davis
Bostjan Nochbar
Jannero Pargo
Bonzi Wells
Fred Jones
Keyon Dooling
Maurice Evans
Gordon Giricek
Grant Hill (O)
James Jones (O)
Ron Artest (O)
Brent Barry (O)
Michael Finley
CJ MIles (RFA)
Gilbert Arenas
Louis Williams (RFA)
Andre Igoudala (RFA)
Jose Calderon (RFA)

Happy Birthday, Dirk!

dirk41 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:39:29 -0000

The best player the Mavs have ever had, and the first European player to ever get the MVP award, turned 30 today. I know what his first wish is -- helping get Germany into the Olympics -- and I hope that dream comes true in a month in Athens. Next, I know he wants to win a championship in Dallas for all of us. He's still got many, many years left on the court (especially considering how disciplined he is, and his fitness regime with Holger in Germany) so he (we) still have time. After seeing the Celtics' quick turnaround (worst record in conference to NBA champs) you never know. He's also got a coach now in Rick Carlisle who I think will make Dirk even more successful.

Here's wishing continued good health, (more) wealth and success to No. 41!

Bill Walker

sprite — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:20:58 -0000

Buy a pick and Draft him... Or Brandon Rush.

Just Do It.

"I've been under the impression that he was going to be a first-round pick, and I knew if he was a first-round pick, he was going to stay in the draft," Martin said.

Walker's first-round status isn't guaranteed, of course. Most mock drafts list him as an early-second round pick, and the knee injury means Walker won't be able to participate in any workouts prior to the June 26 draft.

"We expect once he gets healthy, three or four teams will still consider him as a late first-round pick," Rivers told foxsports.com.

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/061708/cat_291742509.shtml

Mark Cuban the Cub's Onwer

nowinchicago — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:33:08 -0000

How do you guys feel about Mark Cuban looking to buy the cubs? I am a Chicagoan and Mark Cuban fan, so I would love to see him here. I recently launched a blog to support the venture and would love to get some feedback.

Do you feel Cuban has been a great addition to Dallas? Do you think the MLB can handle is antics? Do you have any reservations? Do you feel him owning the Cubs would take away from his duties in Dallas?

Redo the 1998 Draft class...

Toddy — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:40:21 -0000

With Paul Pierce emerging as the being the only legitimate All star from to come out of this Draft class to win a Championship, how would you re-do the top 5 in the 1998 draft? Here are some notables from that class...

1st Round

· Mike Bibby

· Antawn Jamison

· Vince Carter

· Larry Hughes

· Dirk

· Pierce

· Bonzi Wells

· Lue

· Al Harrington

· Ricky Davis

· Matt Harpring

2nd Round

· Rashard Lewis

· Rafer Alston

· Cuttino Mobley

· Greg Buckner

I'm sure there is more notables, but that would give you a good start. Here is mine...

1. Diggler

2. VC

3. Pierce

4. Lewis

5. Jamison.... MAYBE Bibby...

Poll

If you had the number 1 pick in 1998, and could repick, would you take Dirk?

How about Keyon Dooling?

Marie — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:05:04 -0000

He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. According to the Orlando Sentinel:

Dooling said earlier this week that he would love to re-sign with the Magic, but he also was clear that the business of basketball could take him elsewhere next season and beyond, depending on who wants him the most.

...

Neither Dooling nor Pelinka would speculate on potential contract offers, but there are several teams that are expected to show interest, including the Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz.

His agent describes him as a "Swiss army knife. He can do a lot of things well."

So, in the same vein as those old Animaniacs cartoons: Good idea? Bad idea?

Dirk = Weak Mind/Heart ?

afl_storm — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:46:21 -0000

Let me start this by saying Dirk is my favorite player in the NBA.

Now let's look at what I want ot say. Simple Dirk will not ever win an NBA Championship!

Why? He reminds me a David Robinson befroe Tim Duncan came along. Think back what did everyone say about him. He lacks the killer drive. The desire to stomp on the oppostion.

Well I feel the same way about Dirk. I think Wade and the Ref's stole his heart. I think that series ruined any chance our Mavs have at a Championship.

I think bringing Kidd back was a huge mistake, we need to trade both Kidd and Dirk and start over. I am sure this will not be popular with this blog but really this is only my thoughts.

Maybe I am ready to give up on my favorite player but who knows. I know Cuban would never trade Dirk so this is a silly post but just me 2 cents.

Mavsmoneyball, seems slow.

srdmad — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:21:26 -0000

i don't know about you, but mavsmoneyball seems to have less people commenting on things, so maybe this will get people to comment. My idea for the Mavericks would be to trade for O'Neal, Daniels and the Pacers first round pick using Dampier and Terry. I would then use Howard and that first round pick to get Billups, maybe add Kidd and something else from Detroit. Stucky gets to learn from Kidd and the Pistons get money to resign Rip after next season. Dallas gets a better PG and gets rid of Howard.