Not even 48 hours after falling to the San Antonio Spurs and being ousted from the NBA playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks are thinking big.
Really big.
The goal has been to keep Dirk Nowitzki’s championship window open for as long as possible. He’s a free agent this summer and is expected to accept a rather enormous pay cut—otherwise known as the not-so-Kobe-Bryant deal. Depending on how much less he takes, and how things shake out with other free agents like Vince Carter, Shawn Marion, DeJuan Blair and Devin Harris, the Mavs could be looking at some serious cap flexibility.
ShamSports has them booked for under $32 million in player salaries. But that’s a rough, rough number that doesn’t include cap holds and what it will take to re-sign whomever they wish to keep. Even so, that’s not going to stop them from dreaming big.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Mavs intend to make a play for free-agent-to-be Carmelo Anthony:
When it comes to Melo, meanwhile, what you hear is that the Mavs are quietly optimistic they will be on that short list of teams granted a face-to-face visit with the New York Knicks’ scoring machine, just as they were with Dwight Howard last summer. The sense in Big D is that Melo will give them a legit look.
It’s another ground ball that the Mavs are obligated to run out because Nowitzki is still their best player, which is something team officials acknowledge is too much to ask of the future Hall of Famer after 16 seasons. So the Mavs are bound to pursue Melo until they’re told they have no shot, because players of that caliber are rarely available and are hard to get when they are.
Before moving on, let it be known that Anthony isn’t the only New York Knicks star Dallas has eyes for:
The most interesting whisper, at this early stage, is that the Mavs intend to be at the front of the line to try to reacquire Tyson Chandler should the Knicks make their defensive anchor available via trade.
Reacquiring Chandler would be a no-brainer. He was an integral part of that championship team in 2011 and would be an instant upgrade over both Samuel Dalembert and Brandan Wright. Until the Knicks hire a head coach and figure out what the hell is going on with Anthony, though, it’s unclear if Chandler would become available. It’s also unclear what the Mavs can offer to make any deal worthwhile for New York.
The Anthony thing is interesting. Admittedly, it’s a long shot. Is Dallas a big enough market for Anthony? If we were talking football, yes. But we’re not.
Pairing him with Nowitzki would also feel awkward. Both players can thrive as spot-up shooters, but when you toss Monta Ellis into the fray, that may be one too many players who “prefer” to operate with the ball in their hands.
On the flip side, the Mavericks don’t pose any more risk than a team like the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets. The Bulls house an injury-prone Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and would have to obliterate some of their depth to land Anthony. The Rockets have another ball-dominator in Harden, who is not a deft spot-up shooter.
Put in that context, the Mavericks, from a basketball standpoint—and coaching standpoint, since Rick Carlisle is amazing—might be the best of Anthony’s realistic options. Or he could commit to Phil Jackson and the Knicks. We don’t really know what he’ll do. I say he re-signs with the Knicks, while others think I’m hopped up on J.R. Smith’s favorite elixir. That’s the way it goes this early in the “offseason.”
In a few weeks time, when we’re actually in the offseason, we’ll know for sure.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
