In sending Odom to the Clippers, the Mavs start their quest for Deron Williams June 29, 2012 By John Hollinger It's a testament to how disappointing Lamar Odom was in Dallas that the Mavericks are breathing a sigh of relief because they successfully gave him away for free. Dallas agreed to trade him to the Clippers for nothing -- absolutely, positively, nothing. Because the Mavs have cleared the $2.4 million guaranteed portion of Odom's salary off their books for the coming season, they still come out ahead on the deal. Combined with a draft-day deal that sent out Kelenna Azubuike and his guaranteed $1 million-plus (although it's baffling why Dallas guaranteed this in the first place), the Mavs head into free agency with $8.5 million in cap space. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/stor...y?id=8111613&_slug_=nba-odom-returns-clippers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Can Somone Please Post the rest of this article...
It's a testament to how disappointing Lamar Odom was in Dallas that the Mavericks are breathing a sigh of relief because they successfully gave him away for free. Dallas agreed to trade him to the Clippers for nothing -- absolutely, positively, nothing. Because the Mavs have cleared the $2.4 million guaranteed portion of Odom's salary off their books for the coming season, they still come out ahead on the deal. Combined with a draft-day deal that sent out Kelenna Azubuike and his guaranteed $1 million-plus (although it's baffling why Dallas guaranteed this in the first place), the Mavs head into free agency with $8.5 million in cap space. That number can quickly double should the Mavs need it to, which they will to lure free-agent target Deron Williams or even perhaps Plan B, Steve Nash. Dallas can exercise its amnesty rights on Brendan Haywood's contract to clear $8.3 million, waive the partially guaranteed Vince Carter to free up another $1.1 million, dump Brandan Wright to free up $1 million more, or donate youngster Dominique Jones or Rodrigue Beaubois to another franchise ($1.2 million each). A million here, a million there -- pretty soon, you're talking real money. And max-level cap space. No matter how you slice it, however, it's extremely tight for the Mavs unless they use their amnesty rights on Haywood and trade Shawn Marion for peanuts. But the big-picture math is that they can create enough space to get one max-contract free agent -- and nothing more -- if it's important enough to them. Not having to pay Odom was a crucial part of that strategy. The Clippers' end of the deal is the more interesting one because L.A. rolled the dice. In order to parlay their considerable backcourt depth into some frontcourt quality, the Clips sent Mo Williams to Utah and take in Odom. The theory is that Odom will play considerably better once he's back in Los Angeles, but one must also consider other possibilities -- that he suddenly got old or lost his passion for the game. Nonetheless, it's a one-year deal, and the Clippers can bring Odom back with Bird rights if he plays well. Given his professed love of L.A., Odom is a limited flight risk as an unrestricted free agent, something that couldn't be said of Williams. Even if Odom is the least bit rejuvenated with the Clips, having a backup big who can actually score once in a while should be a major improvement. Plus, the Clippers didn't have a lot of room for Williams with Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe both playing the same position. For L.A., then, this deal clears an item from its offseason checklist and allows the Clippers to use their exception money on wing players -- historically, a much easier area to fill with lower-salaried players. But the big winner here is Utah, which gets Williams for free. It's tough to beat that price. For that, the Jazz can thank Billy King -- who traded for a finished Mehmet Okur shortly after the lockout last year and gave Utah a $10.89 million trade exception. Williams' $8.5 million salary fits neatly into that exception, and since he's on a one-year deal, it keeps the Jazz's books pristine after this season. Utah will have just four players under contract and a jaw-dropping $40 million in cap room. For the short term, Williams is a possible upgrade on Devin Harris as a starter and a certain improvement over the Jamaal Tinsley-Earl Watson contingent that backed Harris up. Additionally, Williams can play some 2 and provides the shooting-starved Jazz with some much-needed 3-point shooting. All told, it's a decent piece of opportunism from the Clippers and a spectacular one from Utah. Nonetheless, all eyes will be on Dallas. If the Mavs get Deron Williams, this trade is a home run. If not, it's more ho-hum.
i didn't realize how well dallas has structured their player's contracts. very similar to morey's except they have those big players to build around
Deron just needs to re-sign. Stars always want to play in NY. He might not have help yet, but he will soon enough.
If I were a Dallas fan, I would prefer to keep Odom and bring in Deron. Deron needs options and Marion, Terry, and Boibois (sp?) ain't gonna cut it. I am not afraid of Dallas with Deron if they don't improve the rest of their roster. Terry can still light it up from time to time, but he is old. Kidd is ancient. Marion is up there in age although seemingly still effective. This is Dirks what, 16th season or something? They get Dwight to add to all of these veterans and they have a pretty dominant team though. Without him, they're not gonna be that scary. That's just my opinion though.
Thats just how it goes when you acquire a top tier player. You have to give up a lot to get them, can't bring in Deron without talent being gutted. Players WANT to go to contendors, but if their own presense guts the contending team anyway, it makes sense for them to go to a big market situation and start fresh. I can see why Deron is undecided. Deron and Beaubois starting with Kidd and Terry off the bench sounds like a nice backcourt to me (Vince Carter now, meh). Though yeah they could use some other help in the frontcourt if Deron went.
Deron has to be thinking long term though. Dallas' options are Dirk, Mo Williams, Carter, Marion, Dirk, all of which (besides Mo, who turns 30 in Dec) are over 30. Carter is practically useless 60% of the time, and Dirk can't play at a high level much longer. Is it worth it to go home to a team that has a rebuilding future in 1 or 2 years. That's the worst part, it's not an immediate rebuild, their window is cracked, but not yet closed. Not really sure Houston is very enticing to anyone other than a center. If I was a center I would want to play for Houston. Strong culture of dominant big man, we have the outside players and the perfect pfs to put next to them. Plus they would be regarded as heros since the center position has practically been vacant for 4 years. I don't think we have anything that Orlando would want though, so we are SOL, I suppose.
Why would Deron choose to struggle with an aging Dallas squad for two years and then struggle with a re-building Dallas franchise for 2-3 years when he can just wait one year and have DHoward join him in Broooklyn?
