Simply Look Around and View It

Posted by Rob Mahoney on July 8, 2010 under News | 3 Comments to Read

Per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, the Mavs have agreed to a six-year, $55 million deal with Brendan Haywood. Dallas held on to a legitimate starting center for a salary befitting successful players at his position. This is a good thing. The Mavs now have an actual center on the roster for next season! Huzzah!

For a bit of reading on just how important it was that the Mavs re-sign Haywood, check out a few of these recent posts:

• Comparing Brendan Haywood and Jermaine O’Neal: similar defenders, but Haywood a better fit and the safer bet.
• Believe it or not, the Mavs couldn’t afford to lose Brendan.
• Erick Dampier seems to want the full mid-level exception after his inevitable trade, which means he’s out of the Mavs’ price range. That made securing Haywood even more important.
• Even the Mavs other options — like the talented Al Jefferson — came with serious drawbacks.
• The Mavs weren’t able to lure away LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or any other big name free agent, but re-signing Brendan Haywood is crucial to the Mavs’ stability. If Dallas went into next season without a solid defending 5 to play alongside Dirk, this summer would be a failure.