Apparently, Andre Iguodala was one hour away from signing with the Dallas Mavericks before the Golden State Warriors ironed out a deal to land the coveted free agent instead. According to the San Francisco Chronicle: Finally, an hour before Iguodala was to sign with the Mavericks, the Warriors made two concessions in the deal with Utah and were able to send Jefferson, Biedrins and Brandon Rush – along with two first-round picks and two seconds. http://fansided.com/2013/07/12/andre-iguodala-was-an-hour-away-from-signing-with-dallas-mavericks/ Man we were blasting the Jazz hard for this trade because we thought the Warriors were getting Dwight; never really knew the true intention behind this deal.
What happened to the Mavs? They won it all, then everything felt apart. They can't even sign second tier stars anymore. What's the cause?
People are realizing the only reason people play for the mavs and cuban is because they overpay. Dallas is not a destination.
I don't know. Honestly, every time I think of the sort of starting power forward we should have to complement Howard in the post, I'm reminded of how devestating a Howard/Nowitzki pairing would have been. With Howard in the post, and Nowitzki and shooters pulling defenders away, the Mavs could have been awesome. But, if Cuban has any love for Nowitzki, he'll trade him to a contender so he's got another shot at a title before retirement. Maybe Nowitzki for Asik and Lin?
That right there would seal us as contenders. We need someone who is unselfish and has no ego. Imagine if we had Kmart and Scolandry.
Cuban needs to admit defeat for these past two summers and just amnesty Dirk and suck, suck, suck. He's obviously not going that route; I think he's had the taste of success for so long that he can't bring himself to let the team hit rock bottom for a shot at the 2014 NBA Draft Lottery. I admire Cuban's savvy, but maybe he's stuck trying to salvage something out of Dirk's career. Is the plan to land a big free agent in 2014? What if he missed out again? Fine by me, but seems he should switch up his strategy.
They need to quit signing guys and just TANK! No one wants to come to Dallas. Draft picks have no choice.
They were confident that Deron Williams would leave Brooklyn and sign with his hometown team (Dallas). They struck out on D-Will, so they focused on Howard. They struck out on Howard, and now they're wining and dining Samuel Dalembert.
Iggy is a very good player but that has to be THE MOST LOPSIDED TRADE in NBA History. That's 3 players, 2 Firsts and 2 Seconds for a second-level star.
Probably. Their problem is they only have 1 asset at this point. Which is cap space. They kind of have a star... but he seems to be of the aging faster variety. Simmons and Ford talked about this on their last bball podcast. If you look at the Celtics when they got the Big 3, and the Rockets, they are the 2 franchises that haven't had to suck to rebuild. But they did so by basically continuing to collect assets... with no real plan how to move beyond that, just knowing that a continual collection of assets will ultimately land you something, as there will be teams out there ready to move on (Twolves/KG, Sonics/Allen, Thunder/Harden). The Mavs have nowhere near the collection of assets that the Rockets had at this time last year. The Rockets had upcoming draft picks (only one they didn't have was their 2013 first), had a number of average to above average players on solid contracts, and had a ton of upcoming cap room. It's too bad the Mavs didn't land Iggy. That'd be another lateral move and keep them more or less where they are for the next 3 to 4 years. And the Warriors wouldn't have got them. Now that they continue and continue to strike out, their path is obvious. They need to trade Dirk while he still has some value. The problem is that relationship with Cuban and the town. Dirk may at this point actually agree to a trade... BUT to where. The Mavs need young assets, future draft picks. A team like the Bobcats, or Bucks might be willing to deal. Teams that are likely to suck even with Dirk (but they probably don't realize it), but whose owners are just pushing for mediocrity. But I don't see Dirk saying sure, I won't be mad if you trade me to the Bobcats, or Bucks. he'd want to go to a team like the Clippers, Bulls, Rockets. But what can the Mavs get from those teams. The Rockets is the best fit, frankly. But that's trading him to an in state rival with little to offer in return wrt young promising assets (we're not trading Parsons) or high future draft picks (sure, give em our 2014 pick, it will be in the 20s). Well, that's a little off. Jefferson and Biedrins can barely be called players. They were bloated contracts the Warriors were happy to get rid of. Even without signing Iggy, I'm sure they were happy to unload those contracts. Rush is ok. And the picks will be late picks. Still picks, but late ones. The 2 firsts barely hold any value... they are guaranteed contracts on what are likely 20+ picks... yuck. GS had the #21 last year... assuming they stay in that spot, they would also be picking late in the 2nd round. I'm not sold on Iggy helping them a ton. I think he keeps them neutral. The Warriors will go as far as Curry takes them. Improvement from Barnes and Thompson will certainly help. But can Curry (1) stay healthy, and (2) keep up such a blistering shooting career - he's been fairly consistent, so definitely possible, but who knows.
Players want to play with other star players... they want to win. Dirk is not 25 years old anymore, and players like Howard, Anthony, Kobe.... etc all know it. The same thing happened to the Rockets after their big guns broke down. For all the complaining that Houston cannot draw free agents, etc... the fact is only 2-3 places draw players simply because of the attention the city gets. The rest will go where they think they will win. Cuban knew his group of guys would not repeat, but he really underestimated the need of having good players to attract other good players. Now, he doesn't even have the assets to get an elite player via trade.
I would not completely assume those draft picks will suck. There is no protection on them and the Warriors are a twisted ankle from Curry away from the lottery. Essentially GS wanted to get their guy NOW and not a year from now, so they were willing to give up multiple first round picks, not that smart in my opinion. I would be shocked if Bogut plays over 50-60 games next year, and their post defense without his is horrible. If they are healthy, they can run and gun to 48-50 victories, but they are at BEST entering Memphis territory.... the "we are pretty good, but not ever going to win a title" land.
Cuban never should have let go of Tyson Chandler. Can you imagine what that team may have accomplished if they just added Vince Carter and Odom the next year?
You remember when Hakeem was nearing the end of his career and how badly we wanted to hold on to him? Now imagine that with Dirk actually willing to take a huge paycut as opposed to Hakeem who wanted a bigger contract.