At least Hassan Whiteside made it quick this year. Unlike last summer when the Mavericks thought they were getting DeAndre Jordan for an entire week before he changed his mind and stayed with the Clippers, Whiteside gave Dallas a speedy, if harsh, decision.
Only a matter of hours passed between the time The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski declared Dallas to be the frontrunner to sign Whiteside and the Miami center’s announcement on social media this morning. The Heat kept the league’s top shot blocker, although it cost them a maximum contract that they reportedly preferred not to give, and Dallas was left disappointed again.
But that wasn’t the only gut punch for the Mavericks in the early hours of free agency. Small forward Nicolas Batum, another player the Mavericks thought they had a good shot to land, agreed to re-sign with the Hornets for $120MM over five years.
Dallas is still scheduled to meet today with Memphis point guard Mike Conley, but a new rumor suggests that he has talked to Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons about teaming up with the Grizzlies. The Mavericks are reportedly unwilling to meet Parsons’ demand for a maximum deal and he already has a max offer from the Blazers, so there appears to be little chance that he re-signs in Dallas.
That brings us to our question for today: With Parsons seemingly gone and the Mavericks’ top choices at center and small forward already off the board, what should Mark Cuban’s next step be? Should he offer Conley a max deal? Should he chase another big name big man like Dwight Howard or Al Horford? Or should he avoid max players and try to rebuild with a collection of under-the-radar free agents? Cuban wants to give Dirk Nowitzki a chance at another ring before he retires, but the Mavericks will have to act quickly after a disastrous start to this offseason.
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
Bring back DJ Mbenga and Jon Steffanson!!!!
No!! Radisav Curcic and Wang ZhiZhi!
Pavel Podkolzin and Satnam Singh! Twin Towers!!! (and Rigadeaux, but that’s obvious)
Mind blown! Now I actually want to see this frontline in action. But I’m a sadist, so there’s that….
Biyombo?
Beg Parsons to accept the max from the Mavs
That’s not the issue at all. The Mavs don’t want to offer him a max deal, and rightfully so in my opinion.
I mean they already gave one to Wes Matthews
The worst place you can be in today’s NBA is in the middle of the standings. Mavs know they can’t compete with the elite, but don’t feel like they can nosedive without losing Dirk. Although Dwight Powell, Justin Anderson and Salah Mehri are decent young complimentary players, that’s the only future the Mavs can sell. Conley and Wade aren’t going to go for that. They’re just using Dallas to drive their price up for their original teams. Best thing Mavs can do is target role players with upside that they can pitch having more featured roles (Evan Turner, Crabbe, Tyler Johnson). If things go well, you’re well established with a core to build around ala Boston. If they don’t pan out, you tell Dirk you tried, enjoy your season in the bottom of the standings and snag a premium draft prospect or two to rebuild the franchise around with aforementioned players now sliding back to role players.
I think after 5 years of chasing Max Deal guys and whiffing everytime, its time to completely blow it up! I don’t see another option bc it seems No Max Guys want to come to Dallas for one reason or another! Build your team through the draft like the consistently successful teams do! Might need a new scouting and/or Player Operations department also
I 100% agree on scouting and player development. Mavs drafts have been horrid for the past 20 years with the exception of the Dirk for Tractor trade and some short lived success with Josh Howard. It’s going to be tempting for the Mavs to reboot with vets again on short term deals (Felton, D-Will), but that is delaying the inevitable and not fixing anything.
As much as it sucks that Whiteside chose to stay with the heat, at least like the article says, he made a quick decision. There’s still plenty of guys available and those under the radar signings after we struck out in recent years have hit ( Monta, Zaza, Aminu ) so all hope is not lost.
The bigger concern here is why no star player wants to sign here? This is a top 5 city, there are no state taxes, top 5 market, theres not a lot of pressure from the media! I just dont understand it..
And as far as Parsons goes, good riddance! He contributed absolutely nothing in playoff time the last 2 years ( literally nothing ) but since the cap sky rocketed, he has leverage cause teams are desperate enough.
Texas is not for everyone my friend.
All I have to say is Dirk go get your ring in Golden State. Love the man and want nothing but the best for him. Dallas will piece a team together and not make playoffs. Mavs fan for life but also can see it’s going to take a couple of years to be relevant.
Dirk is old. Have no other star players. Dirk is gonna retire in two years. Start the rebuild now and give him the option to go to a contender. If they’re nice when a playoff team fires their coach they’ll trade Rick Carlisle to them so he’s not stuck coaching a rebuilding team. Try to get him back when they’re contenders again.
That’s not gonna happen Carlisle just signed an extension this past year. No sense in that you need Carlisle to develop the young group of guys that you plan to rebuild on. Let dirk walk and chase another title I know the rivalry is strong in Texas between Spurs and Mavs but just like finely I wouldn’t mind him going there and winning one for atleast another Texas team! This incoming draft class looks to be way more stronger with a few guys who are all worthy of being a number 1 pick. Now not saying the Mavs are going to get that but in the NBA your either on top or on bottom but with the ability to rebuild your franchise with a star player which is what is seriously lacking in Dallas. No sense in being a fringe playoff team only to get bounced in playoffs year in year out, which leaves you with middle of the road prospects to average role players in the draft. Time to rebuild Mark!
No one is giving away two first round picks for dirk. With how much FA cost now draft pick are more valuable than ever. He would have to be in a sign and trade deal for them to get anything back.
It’s time to end the dream of another Dirk title in Dallas. I would love to see Dirk play his entire career in Dallas, but I also want him to win another championship. I’d love for Donny and Co to it Dirk down and say “It’s over big fella, do you want to play with Lebron or Steph?” Not sure how the NBA trade process works so this may not actually be possible. Sign Dirk to a team friendly deal – trade him to his choice for that teams next 2 first round draft picks and possibly a younger bench player (James McAdoo/Jordon McRae types). Then turnaround and trade Wes Matthews to whoever wants him for a 1st and 2nd round pick. Stock pile draft picks and rebuild this thing. Also stop treating the draft as a place to do comedic bits. Especially the 2nd round. Plenty of good 2nd round talent – DeAndre Jordan/Hassan Whiteside Mote Ellis/Chandler Parsons/Draymond Green/Danny Green just to name a few. The Celtics appear to have turned it around in about 2 years. So we can too.
Dirk is an unrestricted free agent, but Dallas could do a sign and trade for a cap crunched team in order to get assets back. With the cap increase, though, that seriously limits options. When a player signs as a free agent, you also can’t trade him away for a certain length of time if it isn’t part of sign and trade.