The Dallas Mavericks have, historically, been seduced by free-agent big men.
Just last summer, they went hard after DeAndre Jordan and landed a verbal agreement, only to have him renege on his word shortly thereafter. Before that, in 2013, when Dwight Howard was a free agent, they entered the running for his services as well.
The latter owns a player option for next season and is expected to enter free agency once again this summer. He seems like the perfect candidate to draw interest from the Mavericks, who still won’t have an everyday center in place, unless they’re content with bringing back the tricycle of David Lee, JaVale McGee and Zaza Pachulia.
As it turns out, though, Dallas won’t, apparently, be devoting much or any attention to the Houston Rockets big man, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News (via HoopsHype):
Question: What is the likelihood the Mavs sign Dwight Howard, Al Horford or Hassan Whiteside in the off-season?
Eddie Sefko: I can assure you it won’t be Dwight Howard. Hassan Whiteside has off-court issues, according to many people. Al Horford is a personal favorite for a long time. I’d love to see him as a Maverick. I think he would fit great with Dirk and Parsons. But then again, how many Gators can you have on one team?
Is this a rumor or opinion?
It doesn’t matter.
Howard is on the wrong end of 30 and could command more annually in his next contract than the $23.3 million he’s slated to make in 2016-17. The Mavericks have enough injury question marks in Chandler Parsons and Wesley Matthews, and there’s no sense investing in another aging big when you already have Dirk Nowitzki.
Now, the Mavericks will have cap space and should be able to enter the running for almost any big name they choose. But in today’s versatility-obsessed NBA, targeting a stylistic chameleon like Al Horford over Hassan Whiteside and Howard makes the most sense.
