Rumor Mongering: Do the Hustle

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 5, 2010 under Rumors | 6 Comments to Read

Trade season is officially upon us! While there’s been plenty of speculation concerning what the Mavs should do with Erick Dampier and his virtually expiring contract (as well as Drew Gooden and his conveniently structured deal), there’s been little in the way of whispered rumors much less substantive trade discussions. Credit the Mavs’ record and chemistry thus far for that.

But apparently, the Mavs were still actively looking to cut ties with Shawne Williams, and were willing to part with Kris Humphries to do so. Yahoo!’s Marc Spears and Adrian Wojnarowski:

Discussions for a trade that would’ve exchanged Eduardo Najera for Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams are “on life support,” a league source said, because the New Jersey Nets have been unable to clear a roster spot to make it happen. New Jersey had hoped the Dallas Mavericks would add some money to the deal to allow them to buy out Williams’ contract, but the Nets haven’t been able to make a roster move. They tried to trade former first-round pick Josh Boone to Denver for Joey Graham and his non-guaranteed deal as a precursor to the Dallas deal, but those talks dried up, too.

Najera has fought injuries all season, but when healthy he’s certainly comparable to Humphries; Najera a bit more range, a bit less athletic, and much better defensively. But that’s hardly why the Mavs would pursue such a deal. Najera’s contract over the next to seasons is partially unguaranteed, meaning they’re likely to be on the books for less in total coin if Hump and Williams were shipped out in favor of Najera. Eddie would make his grand return to Dallas and be a free agent by summer, and Shawne Williams would likely be the Nets’ problem. But it wasn’t meant to be, and unless there’s a change in New Jersey’s roster situation, the talks are dead.

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  • http://www.bign.com/cagabel Cynthia

    Although getting rid of Williams would be good I’d hate to see Humphries go for Eddie. I used to love Najera for the hustle and energy he brought to the game, but he’s a shell of his former self and is perpetually injured. So essentially this deal (looks like to me anyway) a trade that includes a young player and one who doesn’t play for another player who doesn’t play much either. I guess down the road this could benefit (with Eddies expiring), but I don’t see how it would the MAVS right now.

  • DOH

    This is consequentially a clearing up of former GM mistakes. The same GM that gave Diop a midlevel 5yr deal picked up Shawne’s option prematurely (during the season instead of in the offseason). However, that deal would only be important to me when the freed rosterspot would be used in a blockbuster deal.

  • Phil

    blockbuster deal? dude, we’re currently ranked a more than respectable 2nd in the West…

  • DOH

    used i.e. for taking on a bad contract that comes with the blockbuster.

    As for ranked 2nd, do you like your chance for jewelry with that?

  • Kevin

    what are the specifics on the contracts? hoopshype has najera with 3 years and hump with this year and a player opt. and williams has this year and a qualifying offer. Also something to consider with this Dampier superexpiring is that other than the injuries he’s playing really well this year. Are the players that are going to be available definitely better than him? Considering we don’t have any cheap prospects to include as well. Look at the players most recently given away, Jefferson, Shaq, Marion, obviously there was the Gasol trade but I can’t see anybody better than the Redd/Brand/Hamilton group going for an expiring deal and scraps. Unless of course we can scrape together a supertrade for CP3 where we take all the bad deals.

  • DOH

    Contract specifics are best researched at shamsports.com

    Dampier’s next year is guaranteed when he hits some qualifiers that he is not going to hit/allowed to hit
    (like 3 allstar appearances or 70 games w/ 30 MPG this season)
    So, come the offseason, he is an instant expiring contract, that takes off 13,078,000$ from your cap.
    Of course, due to CBA rules, the mavs could take 125% of that in a sign and trade and offer an extra year compared to free agency offers.
    So the best prospect would be to get a free-agent that is going to leave his team regardless ( Joe J. ?) in a S-n-T.
    The original team could still offer more money and years, but if he WANTS to leave, at least they can get stuff back in a S-n-T ( expirings, cheap talent like roddy or barea )

    I wouldn’t hold my breath for the first tier of superstars [ CP3, LBJ, DW ], but there might be something from the second tier available. We’ll have to wait and see.

    There is also the option that once Damp is waived by the other team, he could sign with Dallas after 30 days. Quite possible, but please not for a deal like Diop. Erick will be 35 this summer.

    As for Najera, his next 2 years are unguaranteed [ 3 Mil $ next year], so he is an instant expiring this summer aswell.
    Humphries has a player option for next year at 3,2 Mil $, depending on the new CBA and the CAP limit, he might pick it up.
    Williams is a restricted FA, but nobody ‘cept Isiah would pay him the QO of 3+ Mil $. So he is basically expiring, too.

    Oh and Marion was not given away. He was a free agent and got paid a little over market value. He was shipped via S-n-T, though. [ extra year, which is only partially guaranteed - just like the Stackhouse Deal ]

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