Heard It Through the Grapevine

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 7, 2010 under The Grapevine | 6 Comments to Read

• Amadou Fall, the Mavs director of scouting, is officially leaving the team to head the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in South Africa. Congrats to Amadou, and though his talents will be missed (Marc Stein cites Fall as a major player in the decision to draft Rodrigue Beaubois), he’ll be working for a terrific cause and will undoubtedly do some fine work.
• Jason Terry on the significance of his hot shooting against the Pistons (via Tim MacMahon): “Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come.”
• Shawn Marion’s high-energy bobblehead.
• Sebastian Pruiti, my fellow TrueHooper over at NetsAreScorching, has launched a new blog entitled NBA Playbook. It’s exactly what it sounds like, and Sebastian broke down the Mavs’ “miscommunication” that led to a wide open, potentially game-tying three point attempt for Rodney Stuckey.
• Where have you gone, Calvin Booth?
• Dirk is a no-brainer for the best European player of all time, but could Pau Gasol eventually nab the honor? Dirk is two years Pau’s senior, so it could very well depend on just how long the two remain active and just how successful Pau and the Lakers can be. On an individual level, I’m not sure the two are even comparable; Dirk can simply do things on the offensive end that no other player can do, while Gasol, for all his talents, isn’t built to carry an offense in the same way. That said, if championships are part of the criteria, Gasol already has a ring on his finger and is in a good position to possibly win a few more. I’m not sure how much the ‘ships count in the context of this discussion, but that’s the one area in which Pau clearly trumps Dirk.
• Now infamous former Mavs stat guru Wayne Winston on this season’s MVP (via Henry Abbott): “Surely Dirk. He leads the whole league in two of my categories, plus/minus points and impact (plus-26 points, plus-73% impact). Luol Deng, Ray Allen and LeBron James have also been great. People forget Kobe Bryant has great teammates, so I do not think he is up there.” High praise, albeit from a guy who has made his share of dubious claims.
• On the surface, this is about a blogger who has long walked the realm of the NBA utterly team-less. But dig a little deeper, and you’ve got one of the most cogent, self-aware, and perceptive writers in the biz pinning down exactly what it means to be a fan. Lap up the praise, Moore, because this new era of your NBA fanhood has started with a bang.

Rumor Mongering: Tick-Tock, Trade Machiners

Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 19, 2009 under Rumors | 2 Comments to Read

About half an hour until the deadline, and not much out of Mavs-land.  Considering the Mavs most expendable trade asset (Jerry Stackhouse’s contract) can actually be used over the summer (the Mavs have until August to turn down the non-guaranteed portion of his deal), I don’t think they’ll be panicking.  Hell, the Blazers aren’t panicking, and that’s with Raef Lafrentz’s mammoth expiring contract.  Here’s the latest chatter from around the interwebs:

• Mark Cuban, via Eddie Sefko’s piece this morning: “‘I don’t know that there’s a whole lot more that’s going to be done,’ owner Mark Cuban said. ‘Everybody’s looking to do the same thing, save money and to save cap room [for the future]. It’s hard to do both.’”
• Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo Sports: “‘It feels like Dallas has 100 different scenarios juggling in the air,’ one Western Conference executive said Thursday.”
• Eddie Sefko, DMN Mavs Blog: “You never know when a rebound will fall in your lap. And the Mavericks are still working the trade grapevine to see if anything crazy happens in the last hour. Doesn’t seem likely, but you never know with this bunch.”
• Mike Fisher, DallasBasketball.com:  “‘How many trade offers have you had?’ Donnie [Nelson] was asked on Wednesday night. ‘Today? Seventy-five. Maybe 100. A lot,’ he responded. ‘I just got five in the 45 minutes I’ve been talking to you guys.’”

Here are the completed trades of the day:

• The Kings trade Bobby Brown and Shelden Williams to the Timberwolves for Rashad McCants and Calvin Booth.  The motivations for this deal are largely financial, although Bobby Brown showed potential in the summer league and I’m confident Rashad McCants can be a solid rotation player.  Shelden Williams may still have a few tricks up his sleeve, but Calvin Booth’s deal expires this summer.
• The Knicks trade Malik Rose and cash to the Thunder for Chris Wilcox.  I don’t get this one at all.  It’s a no-brainer from the Knicks perspective; both players have expiring deals, and their production levels aren’t even comparable.  I doubt Wilcox will re-sign with NY, but they’ll get a free look at a much better player.  If you can figure out what’s in it for OKC, please, by all means.
• The Bulls trade Larry Hughes to the Knicks for Tim Thomas, Anthony Roberson, and Jerome James.  Jerome James is likely to retire after this season, meaning most if not all of his 2009-2010 salary will be covered by insurance.  This could be the Knicks trying to consolidate their deals into one neat little package, or maybe D’Antoni seems some real value in Hughes.  Either way, if for whatever reason the Knicks do decide to play the trade market next year, Hughes’ expiring deal will be worth more to teams than Thomas’.  The Bulls can plug Thomas into Nocioni’s role, and on top of that they should save some coin if Jerome James retires as planned.  Anthony Roberson’s a freebie.
• The Bulls trade Thabo Sefolosha to the Thunder for a nondescript future first rounder.  More on this as it’s confirmed; I haven’t seen a release yet.
• The Kings waive Mikki Moore.  The Cavs and the Celtics are the early favorites to bid for his services (each has at least part of their midlevel exception remaining).
• Three-team deal: the Magic acquire Rafer Alston, the Rockets acquire Kyle Lowry and Brian Cook, and the Grizzlies acquire Orlando’s first round pick.  Rafer’s got the experience and did a surprisingly good job during that 22-game win streak last season, so why risk changing point guards with T-Mac already on the shelf?  Even if Lowry is younger and a marginal upgrade, aren’t the Rockets hinging an awful lot on the shoulders of a young point guard that has shown little to no improvement in his first NBA seasons and has looked shaky as a starter. Magic fans are in for quite the headache, and the Grizz are saving up their lunch money.
• Another three-teamer: the Raptors get Patrick O’Bryant, the Kings get Will Solomon, and the Celtics get a virtually nonexistent second round pick that’s as conditional as fine print.  No comment.

Fin.  Done.  It’s over.  These are the Mavs you’ll see for the rest of the season, folks — for better or worse.