Posted by Brian Rubaie on October 29, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves | 
A lot can change in five years. In 2007 Josh Howard and O.J. Mayo were both on top of the world. Howard was Dirk Nowitzki’s clear No. 2 on a team that won a team-record 67 games. Mayo was the country’s premiere high school prospect. Five years later, they are journeymen at a crossroads. Howard is still seeking employment, and though the Mavericks have had plenty of roster openings, they’ve displayed no interest in their former star. Instead, they’ve placed their hopes in the hands of the enigmatic Mayo, who arrives in Dallas with much to prove in what may be his last chance to cement a starting role. Mayo weighs in at precisely the same 220 pounds as Josh Howard but many doubt his ability to hold the same weight of responsibility that once rested on Howard’s shoulders. Can Mayo fulfill his promise and become the second option in Dallas? It’s a tall order but one that Mayo can meet.
Mayo’s career arc thus far has taken a steady decline. He arrived in the NBA after a solid but unspectacular campaign for USC. Viewed as a distant draft consolation prize behind Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, he was dumped before the dance ended, traded by the Timberwolves for Kevin Love. Things only got worse in Memphis. The 38 minutes a game he was afforded by the Grizzlies in his first two seasons transformed to 26 minutes a game and a sixth-man role behind rookie Xavier Henry. Asking whether Mayo has fulfilled expectations yields an unflinching “no.” The better question is where his ceiling currently stands; what should Mavs fans reasonably expect from Mayo?
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Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on October 15, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
After working through a majority of the 15-man rotation, it’s time to get to the cream of the crop and go over the five players who are the most important to Dallas’ success this coming season. For those jumping in late, here is your recap with back end of the rotation, players 15-10 and players 10-6:
15: Jared Cunningham
14: Bernard James
13. Dominique Jones
12. Dahntay Jones
11. Jae Crowder
10. Brandan Wright
9. Roddy Beaubois
8. Delone West
7. Vince Carter
6. Chris Kaman
Let’s go with the final five.
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Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on October 12, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
It’s time to move into ranking the top 10 Mavericks in terms of projected importance for the team this coming season. For those that missed the back end of the rotation, here is a quick recap to get you up to speed:
15: Jared Cunningham
14: Bernard James
13. Dominique Jones
12. Dahntay Jones
11. Jae Crowder
All caught up? Good. Let’s move on and rank players 10 to 6 for the Mavericks.
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Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on October 10, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
Ed. note: This post doubles as an introduction to a new member of The Two Man Game family, even if Mavs fans are undoubtedly quite familiar with his work already. Bryan Gutierrez is a contributing writer for Mavs.com, and formerly worked the Mavericks beat for Mavs Moneyball. You can follow Bryan on Twitter at @BallinWithBryan.
Ranking teams or players before the real season tips off is a chore that doesn’t really make a lot of sense but it’s great for conversation. Unless you live under a rock, you probably followed ESPN.com’s #NBARank project. We’ll put a wrinkle on it by ranking the Dallas Mavericks’ expected 15-man roster.
The experts who rated each player ranked them in terms of “the current quality of each player.” Here are the rankings for the Mavericks, alongside a notable player for comparison.
#463 – Jared Cunningham – Comparison: Mike Bibby, 472
#447 – Bernard James – Comparison: Hasheem Thabeet, 443
#381 – Dominique Jones – Comparison: Jonny Flynn, 386
#339 – Jae Crowder – Comparison: Kelenna Azubuike, 345
#301 – Dahntay Jones – Comparison: DeShawn Stevenson, 319
#212 – Brandan Wright – Comparison: Drew Gooden, 213
#204 – Roddy Beaubois – Comparison: Corey Brewer, 203
#185 – Vince Carter – Comparison: Richard Jefferson, 181
#159 – Delonte West – Comparison: Jason Kidd, 157
#113 – Chris Kaman – Comparison: Kendrick Perkins, 120
#98 – Darren Collison – Comparison: Jose Calderon, 96
#92 – Shawn Marion – Comparison: Thaddeus Young, 91
#90 – O.J. Mayo – Comparison: Jason Terry, 81
#85 – Elton Brand – Comparison: Taj Gibson, 82
#11 – Dirk Nowitzki – Comparison: Kevin Love, 7
ESPN.com’s panel views the Mavericks in a lone star way as Dirk Nowitzki is the only player ranked inside the top 50. Here at The Two Man Game, we’re down for a discussion or starting another string of debates. Over the next few days, we’ll have player capsules for each Maverick and rank them in terms of projected importance for the team this coming season. It’ll start with the back end of the roster and work our way up to Dirk, whoops, I mean the top of the roster. Here are players 15 to 10.
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Posted by Rob Mahoney on July 25, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
As we’ve come to better know and understand the basic form of this particular Dallas Mavericks roster, we’ve only become all the more familiar with its limitations. Even after acquiring Elton Brand, O.J. Mayo, Chris Kaman, Darren Collison, and Dahntay Jones, this was (and is) still a team in need — of perimeter and interior defense, of consistent ball-handling, of creative playmaking, and of dependable long-range shooting. The Mavs managed to address almost all of those issues through the re-signing of Delonte West (per Marc Stein of ESPN.com), and while Dallas is still a tier or two away from even hopeful contention, this low-cost play is a perfect use of the team’s 14th roster spot.
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Posted by Rob Mahoney on July 18, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
Dallas remains among the league leaders in consolation. Continuing in a series of moves that scored Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, Darren Collison, and Dahntay Jones on reasonable, short-term deals, Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban have — according to Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas — agreed to terms with now-former Grizzly O.J. Mayo.
The reported deal is a slight change of pace from the rest of Dallas’ rentals, but given the modest amount of cap space (~$4 million) the Mavs had at their disposal, a two-year deal with the second being a player option seems completely reasonable for a player of Mayo’s skills and age. At one time Mayo appeared to be the free agent most likely to receive a contractual overcommitment, but instead Dallas adds him to a growing rotation for sub-midlevel money without much complicating their financial outlook.
That’s a victory in itself. Ball-handling, perimeter shooting, and quality wing depth were all Maverick needs, and yet Dallas was caught between overcommitting to target players (thereby compromising their long-term goals) and settling for honorable mentions. The gap between Courtney Lee and Marco Belinelli is a wide one indeed, and fortunately, the Mavericks landed in the preferable end of that spectrum without any guaranteed salary beyond this season. That very well could be Dallas’ most impressive stunt this summer — quite an accomplishment considering that Brand, Collison, and Jones were acquired by opportunism alone.
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Posted by Rob Mahoney on July 13, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
Few teams know how to rally in the wake of a plan broken like the Dallas Mavericks; the same system of contingency that netted the Mavericks Tyson Chandler in 2010 has struck again, this time with the expected acquisition of Elton Brand for the unexpected sum of $2.1 million, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com. That’s a quality get at a staggeringly low cost, and the latest in a series of moves that has returned Dallas to, if nothing else, competitive respectability. That’s miracle work considering where this team stood just a few days ago, and a strong endorsement in a front office that’s had a bit of a tough off-season. Losing out on potentially acquiring Deron Williams could still set this franchise back a few years, but the Mavericks front office has proven themselves more than capable of handling the interim with vision, purpose, and the utmost creativity.
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Posted by Rob Mahoney on July 11, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
The Mavericks may be rolling uphill, but at least they’re rolling. After adding Chris Kaman on a one-year deal that keeps next summer’s free agent hopes in check, Dallas quickly turned in a nice sign-and-trade deal for unrestricted free agent Ian Mahinmi, as first reported by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. Mahinmi was almost certainly on his way out of Dallas, and in exchange for setting up their reserve center candidate with a four-year, $16 million deal, Dallas acquired Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones. If that isn’t enough for the something-for-nothing fetishists, I’m not sure what would be.
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Posted by Rob Mahoney on under Commentary, Roster Moves |
The Dallas Mavericks can’t invest in long-term prospects and have seen the few possible short-term fixes pass them by. It’s a sad, treadmilled existence; the level of now-mandatory prudence keeps the Mavs in fine financial shape, but that alone doesn’t mean that they’re getting anywhere. The past week has demonstrated the tremendous risk involved in leveraging cap space, and yet Dallas has little option save to keep their books clear and try again.
But in the meantime, Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson will surely clad all kinds of rentals in Maverick blue. Dallas is very much in the running for an amnestied Elton Brand, among other targets, but the first solidified get is Dirk Nowitzki’s kind-of-German national teammate, Chris Kaman, who according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, has agreed to terms on a one-year, $8 million deal. There’s not much flare to the pick-up, and not much potential; it’s a move designed solely to keep Dirk sane and the team’s head above water, and Kaman is a useful addition in both regards.
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Posted by Rob Mahoney on July 5, 2012 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
UPDATE (4:58 PM EST): Surprise: Kidd’s negotiations with the Mavs were apparently an elaborate hoax, as Marc Stein has now reported that Kidd will join the New York Knicks on a comparable deal. Those who groaned after hearing of this non-signing can now breathe free; Kidd is a Maverick no more, a development which should open the door for an amusing array of short-term ball-handling solutions. Then again, supposing Delonte West stays in Dallas, maybe the Mavs can put the ball in his hands and look to employ stopgaps elsewhere. Oy vey — I like West quite a bit, but this is going to be a miserable season of Maverick basketball.
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1:03 EST: The Dallas Mavericks are a twice-spurned and very desperate team. So desperate, in fact, that after failing to manufacture returns on their visions of the future, they’ve reluctantly returned to the status quo. Per Jeff Caplan and Marc Stein of ESPN Dallas, Kidd and the Mavs have virtually settled on a three-year, $9 million deal that flies in the face of Dallas’ long-term vision while avoiding any real damage.
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