Our focus this summer has to be on getting the best PG available without losing any of the following: Yao, Deke Scola, Landry, Hayes Battier T-Mac, Head Alston, Brooks Everything else is expendable IMO. Bobby Jackson, Steve Francis, Steve Novak, Mike Harris, Woods, MLE, League Minimum, draft picks. Our priority list should be: 1) Best PG possible. 2) Big backup swingman. 3) Project C (maybe with a 2nd rounder) We don't need ANYTHING at PF. Having Scola and Landry IMO is better than having one damn good player. They will both be better next season since they are rookies.
This free agency article from espn is a little old, but has a lot of good info about players available, contract status, etc: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=FreeAgents--071127 Players on the list that intrigue me (realistic signings only, so no Brand, Arenas etc.): Antwan Jamison: His scoring would be nice, but like it's already been mentioned, we're finally doing pretty well at the PF spot. And we'd only have the MLE available and he's already 32. So he'd be hard to sign because we couldn't afford him on a short term deal, and we wouldn't want to sign him to a full mle at his age. Corey Maggette: I'd love to land him. He can be that 3rd option that can really put us over the top. But he's a longshot because he'd has to opt out first, and we'd only have the MLE to offer anyway, so he'd be taking a pay cut to come here. Josh Childress: We have no chance at Josh Smith, who's a restricted free agent and will get major money from somebody, but Childress is a possibility at the full MLE. He's not a big scorer, but he's an extremely efficient shooter. And he seems like a decent defender and would probably fit right in on this team. He's a restricted free agent, but you figure that Josh Smith will get re-signed to a pretty big deal, and with Smith, Joe Johnson, and Marvin Williams at the swing positions, Childress might be the odd man out. Desanga Diop: He'll get the full MLE from somebody. At that price he'd be a luxury for us considering that he'll be fulfilling a Deke-type role as a defensive backup. Might be a bit too costly for a full MLE. But I get the sense that if we can lock up a guy like Diop longterm and re-sign Landry, we would have our frontcourt totally set for the next 4-5 years.
LOL they're expendable for a reason. nobody else wants that trash either. only through a trade will we improve any position. the MLE is going to go to landy, and what's left over will probably be spent on a backup 5. our PG rotation next season will look something like: rafer/brooks/francis/jackson it's best to look to the '09 offseason when francis, and jackson come off of the books, and mcgrady is entering his final contract season.
any reason why head and hayes are so valuable? please, put a gm cap on and take the feelings out. I do like Childress as the swing guy. Elson as the C backup.
The best addition would be a versitile player who is great on both ends of the court and can cause trouble, even more so than Shane. I want Ron Artest.in Rockets Red.
i would say elton brand so i can get yao to play 20 mins a game from now on. But in the long run, i rather go for LBJ
We could've get some draft picks out of our current 'assets', since Morey does so well on last year's draft. If he continues to get a rotation player out of late first or second round, then we would be a experienced young team next year and would have a way better chance winning the finals.
arenas under rick adelman would be gold..forget how you feel about arenas but understand he is a beast if healthy..adelman is going to get the best play out of his guards I think he might be scary good
Have more faith in Morey than that. We will get the Gilbert Arenas of TOMORROW, not the one of yesterday that will cost whoever he signs with ~14 million a year. I'm looking at Juan Carlos Navarro, but I'll be in favor of whoever Morey picks because he obviously knows something we don't.
http://www.nba.com/mavericks/news/Mavs_and_Harris_agree.html devin harris signed a 5-year-contract extension last summer. he's not a free agent.
how is antawn jamison a realistic signing? he's averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds this season. he will receive a sweet offer that we definitely will not be able to compete with.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong (but I don't think so), but its impossible for us to sign anyone in the off-season, unless they are willing to sign for the league minimum. We will be over the salary cap and subject to the luxury tax. We are barely going to resign Landry. We can thank T-Mac and his $20 million dollar salary for next year!
Okay, "somewhat" realistic then. Much moreso than guys like Arenas or Brand, who would have to opt out of a max deal in order to play for the mid-level. At least Jamison is actually a free agent, and heading into the back end of his career at 32. If he cares about competing for a title, then I could see him taking a pay cut to join a contender. Besides, I did say that he would be tough to sign, but I mentioned him just because his situation/free agency status/talent intrigues me.
sign and trade. It wouldn't make a difference if tmac was paid less anyway, since we still would be over the cap.
