Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 7, 2012 under Commentary | 
Jason Kidd jumped on The Ben and Skin Show on 103.3 FM ESPN Radio on Tuesday to discuss injury, age, and recovery, and ended up hitting on a familiar theme with the humble hosts:
Ben Rogers: Back in the day, everyone used to say Mark Cuban was the greatest because the players get to have a Playstation in their locker. But now, isn’t it more about — look, you guys are using cutting-edge technology to get the most out of yourselves to prolong your careers, to be fresher, to recover faster, to heal faster. Between the hyperbaric chamber and liquid nitrogen cryotherapy, are you amazed by how far things have come technology-wise from when you first got in the league?
Jason Kidd: It’s night and day. We still use ice baths and also at the game we put ice on our knees and whatever other joints are hurting, but you can see the technology of cutting-edge medicine — of being able to get in these different chambers and see your body heal, and also be able to perform at a higher level as you get older. That was a perfect example of what we did last year as an older team being able to win a championship.
Kidd’s response is all well and good, but the more interesting concept here is Rogers’ framing of medical technology and innovation as a selling point for players. If trainer proficiency has been made into a factor in recruiting and retaining free agents (as was the case with Grant Hill choosing to return to the Phoenix Suns, for example), then why can’t cryotherapy — a magical tool of rejuvenation and recovery — serve a similar function? It may not factor heavily into the decisions of young players, but as the reputation and awareness of cryotherapeutic treatments increases, these kinds of medical technologies could provide a nice cherry on top of an altogether well-run organization.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 2, 2012 under Recaps |
Box Score — Play-by-Play – Shot Chart — Game Flow
| Team | Pace | Off. Eff. | eFG% | FTR | ORR | TOR |
| Dallas | 100.0 | 86.0 | 38.1 | 29.8 | 20.0 | 13.6 |
| Oklahoma City | | 95.0 | 43.8 | 40.7 | 30.6 | 14.3 |
You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.
- Not many teams on this side of the Orlando Magic have managed to put together the kind of inescapably horrendous shooting performance that sank Dallas on Thursday. The Mavs shot just 8-for-38 in the second half, with the occasional trip to the free throw line providing the only non-JET source of reliable scoring. It would be incredibly convenient if there just one element to blame for Dallas’ offensive implosion — disrupted ball movement, a lack of effort, a mere bad shooting night, or the tilt of a team missing its star. Unfortunately, the best explanation is “all of the above.” This was a true team effort, with every possible variable ganging up on the Mavs for a perfect storm of offensive impotency. (To put things in perspective: Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, and Rodrigue Beaubois combined to shoot 28 percent from the field. Ouch.)
- A testament to how bad things have become for Nowitzki (eight points, 2-15 FG, eight rebounds): The Thunder aggressively trapped the ball handler on pick-and-rolls involving Dirk. Nowitzki is certainly trying his best to revert back to the player we all know he can be, but the impossible fadeaway jumpers are finally starting to live up to their billing. That bouncing ball has no mercy for Dirk whatsoever, and it simply refuses to cooperate with Nowitzki’s efforts to provide his scoring talents to the Mavs’ championship defense. He’s still making some smart passes, working hard on defense, and clawing for rebounds, but Nowitzki isn’t suited to be a glorified hustle player. This is one of the greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen, and if anyone out there has any idea how to help him find his way home, I’m sure Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle would be all ears.
Read more of this article »
Tags: Brandan Wright, Brendan Haywood, Dirk Nowitzki, Ian Mahinmi, Jason Terry, Kevin Durant, Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle, Rodrigue Beaubois, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Shawn Marion
Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 13, 2011 under Commentary, Roster Moves |
One good cost-cutting move apparently deserves another.
Just days after the Mavs swept up Lamar Odom up from L.A. in order to tidy up the Lakers’ books (helpful gent, that Donnie Nelson), Dallas has agreed — per Marc Stein of ESPN.com — to send Corey Brewer and Rudy Fernandez to Denver in exchange for a future second round pick. This isn’t an equitable trade, but it allows the Mavs to liquidate some depth for the sake of immediate salary savings and an extra chunk of cap space next summer.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 9, 2011 under Commentary |
Fans and analysts have done their best to read the tea leaves containing the Mavs’ off-season plans, but implicit in that process is a lot of assumption. We know that Dallas doesn’t want to sign Tyson Chandler and Caron Butler to the kinds of deals they’re able to secure elsewhere. We know that J.J. Barea was only offered a short-term, and that it wasn’t to his liking. We know that the Mavs are likely to pursue free agents on one-year contracts almost exclusively. From all of these facts — and the reports they stem from — we can try to piece together the team’s strategy, but there will always be bits of logic and nuance missing from our formulations.
Well, prepare to have the blanks filled in. On Thursday, Mark Cuban articulated Dallas’ general strategy in a must-read post by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas:
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 6, 2011 under Commentary |
In yesterday’s Bullets, Henry Abbott noted the following:
If the Mavericks are really being stingy with Tyson Chandler I suppose that could be taken as a sign the new CBA is having some effect. The Mavericks are like the Knicks and Lakers in how they have spent, historically, but they are not at all like those teams in how they earn, and have lost mighty amounts of money as a result. A stiff luxury tax could, in theory, hurt Cuban more than anyone — as he’s one of the owners already feeling the most financial pain.
It’s true — Dallas has historically been a big-spending team, but without the revenue streams that make franchises like the Lakers and Knicks so insanely profitable. Mark Cuban is likely to be one of the first influenced by the new luxury tax as a result, and we may see the implications of that deterrence sooner rather than later.
But if the Mavericks fail to re-sign Tyson Chandler this summer, it will have little to do with the tax or the new collective bargaining agreement. The Mavericks will likely pay the luxury tax this season, but at a dollar-for-dollar rate with a lower overall payroll than last season (largely due to Caron Butler’s salary being off the books), Cuban would get a bit of a financial break relative to his team’s title campaign even if he and Donnie Nelson chose to keep Chandler around. The Mavs’ defensive centerpiece could be had for a sizable financial investment and only a par-for-the-course luxury tax penalty, if only Cuban willed it so.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 1, 2011 under Commentary, Rumors |
The lockout hasn’t even reached its official end, and yet all eyes are fixed on the summer of 2012. Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and Deron Williams have dominated media outlets with their rumored gravity toward various teams and markets, and though basketball fans are likely queasy already from the trade rumor overload, the hype is legitimate. Those three superstars are hugely impactful players, and while the NBA world would be a better place without the rumor mill’s nonstop churning, to ignore teams’ awareness of next year’s free agent class would be naive. Franchises around the league are working hard to be in a position to take part in the free agent fun, and the Mavs are no exception.
In that vein, Chris Broussard and Marc Stein of ESPN.com dropped a fairly startling report yesterday:
In a surprise development on the first day that NBA teams and agents could start talking about new contracts, Tyson Chandler came away convinced that his time with the Dallas Mavericks is coming to an end.
“I really think I’m going to be on a new team come training camp,” Chandler told ESPN.com in a telephone interview Wednesday night. “I’m really taking a hard look at all of my options, trying to see what best suits me.”
…Chandler maintains that staying in Dallas has always been his first choice, but he expressed disappointment that the communication between the sides was minimal from the end of the NBA Finals in mid-June and the June 30 deadline for extensions. On Wednesday, when teams and agents were allowed to commence free-agent negotiations, NBA front office sources listed New Jersey, Golden State, Houston and Toronto as the teams chasing Chandler hardest.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on November 30, 2011 under Commentary |
With the unofficial, metaphorical ink on the tentative CBA structure beginning to dry, we’ll take to look at how the new agreement impacts the Dallas Mavericks teams of today and tomorrow.
The new collective bargaining agreement is like catnip to NBA fans, who appreciate the return of the league as a general rule, and also have an unquenchable thirst for rumored roster moves. Few things generate excitement on par with a prominent player switching teams, and the amnesty clause included in the new agreement theoretically allows for all kinds of movement involving all kinds of interesting players.
At this point, the clause itself likely needs no introduction. But for those unfamiliar, here is the provision in question, written out in this detailed memo (via SI.com) in plain English:
Each team [is] permitted to waive 1 player prior to any season of the CBA (only for contracts in place at the inception of the CBA) and have 100% of the player’s salary removed from team salary for Cap and Tax purposes.
The rumors that dance through all of our heads are two-fold: not only are there intriguing decisions regarding whether teams should cut players using the amnesty clause at all, but also the possibilities governing which released players end up signing with which teams. Dallas is not a likely landing spot for any of the top amnestied players, for the sole reason that the team lacks the cap space to participate in one of the quirkier elements of the amnesty rule itself:
A modified waiver process will be utilized for players waived pursuant to the Amnesty rule, under which teams with Room under the Cap can submit competing offers to assume some but not all of the player’s remaining contract. If a player’s contract is claimed in this manner, the remaining portion of the player’s salary will continue to be paid by the team that waived him.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on November 28, 2011 under Commentary |
With the unofficial, metaphorical ink on the tentative CBA structure beginning to dry, we’ll take to look at how the new agreement impacts the Dallas Mavericks teams of today and tomorrow.
While James Dolan’s luxury tax spending in the mid-2000s would put any other overspending owner to shame, Mark Cuban has shown an impressive tolerance for substantial tax payments so long as the Mavericks are competitive. And, in case you hadn’t heard, Dallas has been competitive for quite some time; 11-straight 50-win seasons has not only put the twinkle in Cuban’s eye, but also the dent in his wallet.
That long-term investment finally paid off with a championship this past June, but the new, more punitive luxury tax could bring hell to Cuban’s finances if he the Mavs continue on their usual spending course. Here’s an excerpt from the league’s official memo outlining the terms of the recent agreement, as release by SI.com:
Beginning in year 3, Tax rates for teams with team salary above Tax level are as follows:
| Incremental Team Salary Above Tax Level | Tax Rate |
| $0-$5M | $1.50-for-$1 |
| $5M-$10M | $1.75-for-$1 |
| $10M-$15M | $2.50-for-$1 |
| $15M-$20M | $3.25-for-$1 |
- Tax rates increase by $0.50 for each additional $5M above the Tax level (e.g., for team salary $20M-25M above the Tax level, the Tax rate is $3.75-for-$1).
- Tax rates for teams that are taxpayers in at least 4 out of any 5 seasons (starting in 2011-12) increase by $1 at each increment (e.g., for team salary $5M-$10M above the Tax level, the Tax rate for a repeat taxpayer is $2.75-for-$1 instead of $1.75-for-$1).
All of this luxury tax adjustment has been made in the hopes that the variation in spending between teams will be mitigated. Cuban himself has been a proponent of just such a position in the past; as much as out-spending the competition has been one of the Mavs’ distinct advantages, Cuban himself is naturally less than enthused about shelling out extra money for luxury tax payments. A high payroll is one thing, but a high payroll that creates further financial obligations via the tax is another one entirely.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on November 23, 2011 under Commentary |
Amid all of the lockout nonsense, yesterday actually brought some fairly good news for Maverick fans: according to ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard, Tyson Chandler, who was being pursued by the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, has opted to reject the team’s offer and remain stateside. As a free agent, Chandler was among the limited number of players who would actually be allowed – per a recent CBA ruling — to sign in China, and the fact that he turned down the offer could be seen as an initial indication that Chandler might skip out on overseas basketball altogether.
Which, given Chandler’s somewhat fragile injury history, is the greatest victory Mavs fans can claim on a day ruled by the lockout’s legal proceedings.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Rob Mahoney on November 7, 2011 under Commentary |
Every bit of optimism that has seeped into the collective bargaining negotiations has been dealt with in short order. The NBA is uncompromising, and the players’ willingness to negotiate has been coopted by hardline owners as a free avenue for player concessions. The owners have given little to nothing in return, and now yet another arbitrary deadline threatens the 2011-2012 season altogether.
On a more local level, Tyson Chandler discussed another sobering reality on the Ben & Skin show on ESPN Radio in Dallas: even if the players and owners do somehow get a deal in place to end the lockout, the likely luxury tax framework of such a deal could prevent Chandler from re-signing with the Mavs:
“With the collective bargaining agreement and some of the things that they’re trying to enforce, it would basically prohibit me from coming back. It would take it out of my hands — and the organization’s — because it would almost be pretty much impossible for me to re-sign. I just think that can be the worst thing that can happen. For years, the Lakers have been able to win championships and re-sign their players and keep them there so they can go out for another title. Now, to put that deal in place after we win ours, I don’t like it one bit.”
Chandler’s concerns are real. An actual hard cap is almost an impossibility at this point, but a soft cap with harsher penalties for taxpayers is virtually guaranteed. That could deter Dallas — a team already committed to $64.7 million in 2011-2012 salary before accounting for the potential re-signings of Chandler, Caron Butler, J.J. Barea, DeShawn Stevenson, Brian Cardinal, or Peja Stojakovic — from bringing back its second-best player. Considering that Chandler would cost more than double of what would surely be a substantial salary, no one should blame Mark Cuban for refusing to foot the bill, even with the added cost of losing out on top-tier contention.
Read more of this article »