Post by BTriggs on Aug 24, 2003 21:43:22 GMT -5
Scott Howard-Cooper: Despite big trade, Mavs look like same soft bunch
By Scott Howard-Cooper -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Sunday, August 24, 2003
Those unconventional Dallas Mavericks -- Don Nelson as coach/mad professor, the prospect of Dirk Nowitzki at point power forward, etc. -- just traded their best available commodity and didn't answer The Pressing Need and still talked about the move being critical to championship hopes. You just couldn't hear them over the celebrations in Los Angeles, San Antonio and Sacramento.
The Mavericks gave up Nick Van Exel to get Antawn Jamison from the Golden State Warriors. Seven others were involved to shift salaries, and the rest of the Western Conference offered to spring for the moving expenses. The Kings wondered why the deal couldn't have happened 3 1/2 months earlier, before Van Exel sent them singed from the second round of the playoffs, but were glad to hold the door in August anyway.
Van Exel, the available Maverick since Nowitzki was an untouchable and Steve Nash and Michael Finley were only slightly more visible with binoculars, was out, and no powerful inside presence was in. Dallas received a scoring small forward, an upgrade after a season of frustration with Adrian Griffin, Eduardo Najera and Raja Bell. But the Mavs still made their bold move for the offseason without addressing the major weakness: being weak.
The Spurs, the defending champions, produced in the summer, replacing the retired David Robinson with Rasho Nesterovic and adding depth on the perimeter.
The Lakers responded to problem areas, signing Karl Malone for power forward a season after Samaki Walker led the team in starts there and signing Gary Payton to give coach Phil Jackson the big backcourt he covets. The Kings had to sacrifice a big part of the bench but also converted the most tradeable piece, Hedo Turkoglu, into an answer for the most pressing issue, getting Brad Miller in place to succeed Vlade Divac.
It's not just that everyone else on Park Place found potential solutions. Try the fact that the Mavericks won't win a title until they get better inside ... and the Spurs and Kings just added centers and the Lakers a power forward with the strength and guile to defend centers. The Minnesota Timberwolves, making a big push by trading for Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell, signed a center with potential, Michael Olowokandi.
And it's not only the West. The New Jersey Nets got Alonzo Mourning, the Mavericks' primary target to fill the void. The New Orleans Hornets retained an elite defensive power forward, P.J. Brown. The Detroit Pistons obtained a new center-power forward by a fluke, landing Darko Milicic in the draft after the ping-pong balls bounced right. But the Pistons also signed Elden Campbell to play behind Ben Wallace and Milicic. The Orlando Magic acquired Juwan Howard.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, are left with their sprint relay team. Jamison will make them better. He can score from the post or the perimeter and, to help one Dallas problem area, averaged seven rebounds last season, especially commendable considering the Warriors had several others crashing the boards. But the Mavericks also just had to sign Travis Best to replace Van Exel as the backup point guard in a major comedown and, oh, yeah, Jamison can't handle the physical power forwards and doesn't play center.
Then again, neither can Raef LaFrentz or Shawn Bradley, and that hasn't stopped the Mavericks from using them. Something about no other choice, then and now, even deep into a summer as everyone else steered battleships around them. Small ball, continued.
Golden oldies
One of the best young teams isn't anymore. Not that the former identity was all that worth protecting. But the problem is that the new direction in Oakland comes months after the best finish in nine years, with trades for a 31-year-old point guard, Van Exel, and a 36-year-old reserve forward, Clifford Robinson, and the unrealistic signal that the future is now.
In true Warriors fashion, it never had to be this way. They had a roster that scored and rebounded and only needed to mature and become better defensively, hardly an unusual learning curve for young teams. But they also had salary-cap problems and a lead-footed management that couldn't find a resolution with a year's head start. So, Gilbert Arenas, off a season when he showed star quality at the point, could not be re-signed as a restricted free agent, and the focus shifted dramatically.
Needing a point guard, they signed Speedy Claxton, who made a key contribution in the Finals for San Antonio but little else beyond that. Needing a proven point guard, they went for Van Exel and continued chipping away at the core -- gone from the 2002-03 success were the two leading scorers (Jamison and Arenas) and the bench sparkplug (Earl Boykins, to the Denver Nuggets as a free agent).
If the salary complications had been addressed sooner, none of it had to happen.
The Warriors were trashed by fans and the media the moment the Mavericks deal leaked, days before it became official. Maybe it was just a natural reaction after all the previous moves, although at least there was proof the Bay Area cared about the NBA. The truth, meanwhile, was far better for them than most realized.
Making moves to clean up your own mess never is a good thing, but it beats the alternative of standing on pride. Golden State not only responded at point guard, with Van Exel as the starter and Claxton the backup, but finally, about a year and a half late, cleared the bad salary of Danny Fortson. The Warriors also got away from Jamison's max deal, which wasn't so pressing for the moment but will serve them well down the line. Except that wasn't as critical as the overlooked impact: putting Mike Dunleavy in the starting lineup at small forward.
With the revised lineup -- Van Exel, Jason Richardson, Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Erick Dampier -- comes the chance for a team still building to better assess Richardson in a contract year, a critical aspect after overpaying Jamison, and gauge Dunleavy's progress. Dunleavy, a 2002 lottery pick, already showed a rookie's upswing, from 36.7 percent shooting in the first half of the season to 42.9 percent in the second, and he can handle the ball.
If only Robinson from Detroit for Bobby Sura made as much sense. Robinson will make a bigger contribution before his string of reaching the playoffs every year ends, but not enough to make it worthwhile to deal a player who would have come off the salary cap after another season, the very reason the Pistons wanted Sura. Robinson, while still one of the most versatile frontcourt defenders, has two years left on his deal.
And one
The move from Detroit to Denver is another step backward in the standings for Jon Barry. But the likely tradeoffs are a better role and being a perfect emotional fit for a team that always played hard even while tying for the worst record in the league last season. He is good enough to be the No. 1 shooting guard ahead of Rodney White, a disappointment of a lottery pick from 2001. But the Nuggets specifically want Barry's energy and shooting off the bench and plan to add a starter soon, probably free agent Voshon Lenard. Barry had already gone from Sacramento to Detroit in a downturn of title chances and now moves to a team coming off a 17-65 season. But his once-solid spot in the Pistons' rotation had become frustratingly inconsistent.
* Keon Clark stopped wanting to be a King only about the minute he was traded to the Jazz, in some coincidence, slamming the door behind him upon arriving in Utah. He tweaked former teammates by telling the Deseret News that "in my mind, the chances of a championship weren't there last year. You've got to have a championship mentality," and specifically coach Rick Adelman for playing Turkoglu at power forward in the playoffs after Chris Webber was injured.
"I knew it was politics when Hedo went in," Clark told the Salt Lake Tribune. "He hadn't played all year. It had to be politics. It turns into business. They didn't want to do well without Chris. That's my opinion."
That came six weeks after he chose to stay in Sacramento rather than become a free agent and said he never wanted to be anywhere else.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Writer
---------------------------
The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard-cooper@sacbee.com. Information obtained from writers in other cities was used in this report.
By Scott Howard-Cooper -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Sunday, August 24, 2003
Those unconventional Dallas Mavericks -- Don Nelson as coach/mad professor, the prospect of Dirk Nowitzki at point power forward, etc. -- just traded their best available commodity and didn't answer The Pressing Need and still talked about the move being critical to championship hopes. You just couldn't hear them over the celebrations in Los Angeles, San Antonio and Sacramento.
The Mavericks gave up Nick Van Exel to get Antawn Jamison from the Golden State Warriors. Seven others were involved to shift salaries, and the rest of the Western Conference offered to spring for the moving expenses. The Kings wondered why the deal couldn't have happened 3 1/2 months earlier, before Van Exel sent them singed from the second round of the playoffs, but were glad to hold the door in August anyway.
Van Exel, the available Maverick since Nowitzki was an untouchable and Steve Nash and Michael Finley were only slightly more visible with binoculars, was out, and no powerful inside presence was in. Dallas received a scoring small forward, an upgrade after a season of frustration with Adrian Griffin, Eduardo Najera and Raja Bell. But the Mavs still made their bold move for the offseason without addressing the major weakness: being weak.
The Spurs, the defending champions, produced in the summer, replacing the retired David Robinson with Rasho Nesterovic and adding depth on the perimeter.
The Lakers responded to problem areas, signing Karl Malone for power forward a season after Samaki Walker led the team in starts there and signing Gary Payton to give coach Phil Jackson the big backcourt he covets. The Kings had to sacrifice a big part of the bench but also converted the most tradeable piece, Hedo Turkoglu, into an answer for the most pressing issue, getting Brad Miller in place to succeed Vlade Divac.
It's not just that everyone else on Park Place found potential solutions. Try the fact that the Mavericks won't win a title until they get better inside ... and the Spurs and Kings just added centers and the Lakers a power forward with the strength and guile to defend centers. The Minnesota Timberwolves, making a big push by trading for Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell, signed a center with potential, Michael Olowokandi.
And it's not only the West. The New Jersey Nets got Alonzo Mourning, the Mavericks' primary target to fill the void. The New Orleans Hornets retained an elite defensive power forward, P.J. Brown. The Detroit Pistons obtained a new center-power forward by a fluke, landing Darko Milicic in the draft after the ping-pong balls bounced right. But the Pistons also signed Elden Campbell to play behind Ben Wallace and Milicic. The Orlando Magic acquired Juwan Howard.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, are left with their sprint relay team. Jamison will make them better. He can score from the post or the perimeter and, to help one Dallas problem area, averaged seven rebounds last season, especially commendable considering the Warriors had several others crashing the boards. But the Mavericks also just had to sign Travis Best to replace Van Exel as the backup point guard in a major comedown and, oh, yeah, Jamison can't handle the physical power forwards and doesn't play center.
Then again, neither can Raef LaFrentz or Shawn Bradley, and that hasn't stopped the Mavericks from using them. Something about no other choice, then and now, even deep into a summer as everyone else steered battleships around them. Small ball, continued.
Golden oldies
One of the best young teams isn't anymore. Not that the former identity was all that worth protecting. But the problem is that the new direction in Oakland comes months after the best finish in nine years, with trades for a 31-year-old point guard, Van Exel, and a 36-year-old reserve forward, Clifford Robinson, and the unrealistic signal that the future is now.
In true Warriors fashion, it never had to be this way. They had a roster that scored and rebounded and only needed to mature and become better defensively, hardly an unusual learning curve for young teams. But they also had salary-cap problems and a lead-footed management that couldn't find a resolution with a year's head start. So, Gilbert Arenas, off a season when he showed star quality at the point, could not be re-signed as a restricted free agent, and the focus shifted dramatically.
Needing a point guard, they signed Speedy Claxton, who made a key contribution in the Finals for San Antonio but little else beyond that. Needing a proven point guard, they went for Van Exel and continued chipping away at the core -- gone from the 2002-03 success were the two leading scorers (Jamison and Arenas) and the bench sparkplug (Earl Boykins, to the Denver Nuggets as a free agent).
If the salary complications had been addressed sooner, none of it had to happen.
The Warriors were trashed by fans and the media the moment the Mavericks deal leaked, days before it became official. Maybe it was just a natural reaction after all the previous moves, although at least there was proof the Bay Area cared about the NBA. The truth, meanwhile, was far better for them than most realized.
Making moves to clean up your own mess never is a good thing, but it beats the alternative of standing on pride. Golden State not only responded at point guard, with Van Exel as the starter and Claxton the backup, but finally, about a year and a half late, cleared the bad salary of Danny Fortson. The Warriors also got away from Jamison's max deal, which wasn't so pressing for the moment but will serve them well down the line. Except that wasn't as critical as the overlooked impact: putting Mike Dunleavy in the starting lineup at small forward.
With the revised lineup -- Van Exel, Jason Richardson, Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Erick Dampier -- comes the chance for a team still building to better assess Richardson in a contract year, a critical aspect after overpaying Jamison, and gauge Dunleavy's progress. Dunleavy, a 2002 lottery pick, already showed a rookie's upswing, from 36.7 percent shooting in the first half of the season to 42.9 percent in the second, and he can handle the ball.
If only Robinson from Detroit for Bobby Sura made as much sense. Robinson will make a bigger contribution before his string of reaching the playoffs every year ends, but not enough to make it worthwhile to deal a player who would have come off the salary cap after another season, the very reason the Pistons wanted Sura. Robinson, while still one of the most versatile frontcourt defenders, has two years left on his deal.
And one
The move from Detroit to Denver is another step backward in the standings for Jon Barry. But the likely tradeoffs are a better role and being a perfect emotional fit for a team that always played hard even while tying for the worst record in the league last season. He is good enough to be the No. 1 shooting guard ahead of Rodney White, a disappointment of a lottery pick from 2001. But the Nuggets specifically want Barry's energy and shooting off the bench and plan to add a starter soon, probably free agent Voshon Lenard. Barry had already gone from Sacramento to Detroit in a downturn of title chances and now moves to a team coming off a 17-65 season. But his once-solid spot in the Pistons' rotation had become frustratingly inconsistent.
* Keon Clark stopped wanting to be a King only about the minute he was traded to the Jazz, in some coincidence, slamming the door behind him upon arriving in Utah. He tweaked former teammates by telling the Deseret News that "in my mind, the chances of a championship weren't there last year. You've got to have a championship mentality," and specifically coach Rick Adelman for playing Turkoglu at power forward in the playoffs after Chris Webber was injured.
"I knew it was politics when Hedo went in," Clark told the Salt Lake Tribune. "He hadn't played all year. It had to be politics. It turns into business. They didn't want to do well without Chris. That's my opinion."
That came six weeks after he chose to stay in Sacramento rather than become a free agent and said he never wanted to be anywhere else.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Writer
---------------------------
The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard-cooper@sacbee.com. Information obtained from writers in other cities was used in this report.
