Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 19, 2011 18:00:21 GMT -6
just saw this on ESPN Insider (Chad Ford):
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Key additions: Lamar Odom (trade), Vince Carter (FA), Delonte West (FA), Brandan Wright (FA)
Key subtractions: Tyson Chandler, Caron Butler, J.J. Barea, Rudy Fernandez, Corey Brewer
Fresh off winning an NBA championship, Mark Cuban stunned many when he decided not to bring back the key cog in the Mavs' championship run, Tyson Chandler. But the Mavs owner has a plan. It wasn't that the Mavs didn't want Chandler or didn't think he was valuable, it's that Cuban knew he had a small window to rebuild this team on the fly next summer. Signing Chandler to a huge, multi-year deal would have destroyed those chances. So Cuban decided to take it on the chin for the chance to land a Deron Williams or Dwight Howard down the road. Hard to fault him.
After working out a sign-and-trade for Chandler, Cuban then made another heist using the trade exception he just received in the Chandler deal to land the Lakers' disgruntled Lamar Odom -- the best player he could probably land who also happened to be in the last year of his contract. Odom isn't Chandler, but with him on the floor, the Mavs can play some seriously potent small ball. And if Vince Carter can give them anything, the Mavs will still have a shot at repeating while retaining maximum flexibility next summer.
Under the new CBA, having smart ownership and management will be a must. Cuban and GM Donnie Nelson just put on a master class for the rest of the NBA to learn from.
GRADE: A-
***********************************
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Key additions: Kawhi Leonard (draft), T.J. Ford (FA), Cory Joseph (draft), Gani Lawal (FA)
Key subtractions: George Hill
The Spurs are old. Tim Duncan is 35. Manu Ginobili is 34. Richard Jefferson, who signed an excessive four-year, $39 million deal two summers ago, is 31. Even Tony Parker turns 30 in May.
Yet it's hard to break up a team that still performs the way the Spurs do.
Spurs GM R.C. Buford has talked about blowing things up for the past few years, but he doesn't have the heart to do it. When he finally made a trade to move up in the draft and nab Kawhi Leonard, he did it by trading the team's best young player (and one of coach Gregg Popovich's favorite players) -- George Hill.
The Spurs' thinking was that the team wouldn't be able to afford to keep their core together and pay Hill this summer, so they cut bait and landed Leonard, a super-talented, high-energy combo forward instead. Leonard was a good pick, but when you factor in what they gave up for him combined with the rest of their haul this offseason, it just feels like the Spurs are still going in the wrong direction.
GRADE: C-
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Key additions: Lamar Odom (trade), Vince Carter (FA), Delonte West (FA), Brandan Wright (FA)
Key subtractions: Tyson Chandler, Caron Butler, J.J. Barea, Rudy Fernandez, Corey Brewer
Fresh off winning an NBA championship, Mark Cuban stunned many when he decided not to bring back the key cog in the Mavs' championship run, Tyson Chandler. But the Mavs owner has a plan. It wasn't that the Mavs didn't want Chandler or didn't think he was valuable, it's that Cuban knew he had a small window to rebuild this team on the fly next summer. Signing Chandler to a huge, multi-year deal would have destroyed those chances. So Cuban decided to take it on the chin for the chance to land a Deron Williams or Dwight Howard down the road. Hard to fault him.
After working out a sign-and-trade for Chandler, Cuban then made another heist using the trade exception he just received in the Chandler deal to land the Lakers' disgruntled Lamar Odom -- the best player he could probably land who also happened to be in the last year of his contract. Odom isn't Chandler, but with him on the floor, the Mavs can play some seriously potent small ball. And if Vince Carter can give them anything, the Mavs will still have a shot at repeating while retaining maximum flexibility next summer.
Under the new CBA, having smart ownership and management will be a must. Cuban and GM Donnie Nelson just put on a master class for the rest of the NBA to learn from.
GRADE: A-
***********************************
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Key additions: Kawhi Leonard (draft), T.J. Ford (FA), Cory Joseph (draft), Gani Lawal (FA)
Key subtractions: George Hill
The Spurs are old. Tim Duncan is 35. Manu Ginobili is 34. Richard Jefferson, who signed an excessive four-year, $39 million deal two summers ago, is 31. Even Tony Parker turns 30 in May.
Yet it's hard to break up a team that still performs the way the Spurs do.
Spurs GM R.C. Buford has talked about blowing things up for the past few years, but he doesn't have the heart to do it. When he finally made a trade to move up in the draft and nab Kawhi Leonard, he did it by trading the team's best young player (and one of coach Gregg Popovich's favorite players) -- George Hill.
The Spurs' thinking was that the team wouldn't be able to afford to keep their core together and pay Hill this summer, so they cut bait and landed Leonard, a super-talented, high-energy combo forward instead. Leonard was a good pick, but when you factor in what they gave up for him combined with the rest of their haul this offseason, it just feels like the Spurs are still going in the wrong direction.
GRADE: C-
