Cuban Criticized For Romo Gesture
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is taking some heat for his plan to honor Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo by letting him fill a roster spot for the team’s final home game. Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle calls the proposed move a “pitiful little circus” and says NBA Commissioner Adam Silver should block it. However, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told The Dallas Morning News that he is looking forward to hosting Romo, who frequently sits behind the bench at Mavs games.
Tony Romo To Be ‘Maverick For A Day’
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has suggested multiple times this week that his team needs to add a “pass-first” point guard, but his solution probably isn’t what most fans had in mind. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Mavs intend to honor longtime Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo at their home finale on Tuesday night by making Romo a “Maverick for a day.”
Romo, who recently retired from the NFL and landed a broadcasting job with CBS, will sit on Dallas’ bench during its last home game of the season. Having not played competitive basketball since high school, Romo isn’t expected to get on the court, but the Mavs intend to treat him like an actual player, according to Stein.
ESPN’s report doesn’t mention anything about whether or not Romo will technically sign a player contract with the Mavs, but I’d assume that will be part of becoming a Mav for a day. While it would be odd to see Romo’s name on Dallas’ end-of-season salary cap breakdown, the team does have an open spot on its 15-man roster, and a two-day minimum salary contract to close the season would represent a drop in the bucket.
So is Romo the “pass-first” point guard that Cuban has been hinting at this week? Stein’s contacts within the organization suggest that it very well could be. Still, I’ll point out that Cuban’s initial comments about adding a pass-first point guard included his suggestion that the Mavs will explore the draft and free agency. As such, it sounds like it will be a legit offseason priority for the team, rather than just a wink toward honoring Romo.
Stein adds, unsurprisingly, that the Mavericks would not have considered honoring Romo in this fashion if the club had still been in playoff contention.
Austin Kent contributed to this post.
Mavs May Add Point Guard Before Wednesday
The Mavs could look to add a veteran pass-first point guard prior to the end of the season, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. Team owner Mark Cuban hinted at as much after Friday’s contest.
[RELATED: Cuban: Mavs to target pass-first point guards in offseason]
Though there would be little benefit to bolstering the roster for the final five days of the regular season, the lottery-bound Mavs would at least have an option of keeping whoever they pick up through the summer to gauge if he’ll fit in the future.
Neither Cuban nor president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson gave any indication of who the late-season add might be but a cursory look at the available free agents that fit the specific niche reveal a few possibilities that the club could pursue.
Mario Chalmers, Jarrett Jack and Rodney Stuckey are among the number of available options that the Mavs could kick the tires on. Chalmers and Jack, of course, actively pursued a comeback this season while Stuckey was a member of the Pacers up until his release late last month.
Currently the Mavs roster sits at 14 after the club opted not to re-sign 10-day contract signee Manny Harris to a longer-term deal.
Potential 2017 RFAs Whose Qualifying Offers Will Be Impacted By Starter Criteria
The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will go into effect on July 1, 2017, includes a number of changes to the free agent process, including some that apply specifically to restricted free agents. However, one aspect of restricted free agency unaffected by the new CBA is what’s referred to as the “starter criteria,” which can affect how much an RFA’s qualifying offer will be worth.
Here’s how the starter criteria works: A player who is eligible for restricted free agency is considered to have met the starter criteria if he plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency. A player can also meet the criteria if he averages either of those marks in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency. For instance, if a player started 50 games in 2015/16 and 35 in 2016/17, he’d meet the starter criteria, since his average number of starts over the last two seasons exceeds 41.
A player’s ability or inability to meet the starter criteria can affect the value of the qualifying offer he receives as a restricted free agent, as follows:
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 15th overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the ninth overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 21st overall pick would receive if he signed for 100% of the rookie scale.
- For all other RFAs, the standard criteria determine the amounts of their qualifying offers.
Extending a qualifying offer to a player ensures that a team has the right of first refusal if he signs an offer sheet, and gives the player the option of signing that one-year QO. Generally, the value of a restricted free agent’s qualifying offer isn’t hugely important, since very few RFAs accept those offers outright. Still, those QOs can have an impact on a team’s salary cap outlook during July’s free agent period, so it’s worth checking in to see which potential RFAs will be eligible for higher or lower qualifying offers this summer.
Listed below are the top-14 picks on track for restricted free agency who have not met the starter criteria. These players will be eligible for qualifying offers worth $4,187,598.
- Alex Len (Suns)
- Nerlens Noel (Mavericks)
- Trey Burke (Wizards)
- Michael Carter-Williams (Bulls)
- Kelly Olynyk (Celtics)
- Shabazz Muhammad (Timberwolves)
Len and Noel had the worst QO luck this season. As the fifth and sixth overall picks in 2013, they would have been in line for qualifying offers worth about $6.4MM and $5.85MM, respectively. Instead, their QOs will be worth less than $4.2MM. Both players were very close to meeting the starter criteria too — they’ve started 77 games apiece in the past two years, so they’ll fall just short of the 82 required.
The players listed below are non-lottery first-round picks who will meet the starter criteria. That will make each of them eligible for a qualifying offer worth $4,588,840.
- Tony Snell (Bucks)
- Mason Plumlee (Nuggets)
- Tim Hardaway (Hawks)
- Andre Roberson (Thunder)
All four of these players were selected in the 20-26 range in the 2013 draft, and their QOs would’ve ranged from about $3.39MM to $3.22MM if they hadn’t met the starter criteria.
Here are the rest of the RFAs whose qualifying offers won’t necessarily be determined by the standard criteria:
- Undrafted power forward JaMychal Green (Grizzlies) has met the starter criteria, putting him in line for a QO worth $2,820,497 instead of the more modest amount he would’ve received as a minimum-salary player.
- Two players – Joe Ingles (Jazz) and Ben McLemore (Kings) – still have a chance to meet the starter criteria depending on how the season’s last four days play out. Ingles has played 1,848 minutes this season, meaning he would have to average about 38 MPG in Utah’s last four contests to reach 2,000, which is a tall order. McLemore may fall just short as well, as he currently sits at 79 starts over the last two seasons. He’ll need to start three of the Kings’ last four games in order to average 41 starts per year, but he has only been in Sacramento’s starting lineup twice since the start of March. (End-of-season update: Neither Ingles nor McLemore met the starter criteria.)
Nowitzki Embraces Mentoring Role
- Dirk Nowitzki realizes the Mavericks are probably a few years away from being a serous contender again but he’s enjoying his mentoring role, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. The team holds a $25MM option on Nowitzki’s contract for next season and he looks forward to playing with an increasingly younger group at least one more year, MacMahon adds. “To turn this around, to be a franchise that plays for the championship, is going to probably take a few years again,” Nowitzki told MacMahon. “I’ve got to do what I can to keep this thing going and get the young guys to improve and see where we can take this next year.”
Mavericks Appear Likely To Draft PG
- It would be shocking if the Mavericks don’t select a point guard in the upcoming draft, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News writes. Dallas currently owns the ninth spot in our Reverse Standings and there should be several point guard prospects worthy of being selected at the top of the draft.
Dirk Nowitzki A Game-Time Decision On Wednesday
- Dirk Nowitzki has a chance to return to the lineup for the Mavericks on Wednesday night, per head coach Rick Carlisle. Nowitzki will be a game-time decision after having sat out the team’s last game with Achilles soreness, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com.
Mavericks To Target Pass-First PGs In Offseason
The Mavericks have an interesting collection of players at the point guard spot, with Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell enjoying breakout seasons while veterans like Devin Harris and J.J. Barea continue to contribute as well. Still, team owner Mark Cuban recognizes that the Mavs will need to address the point guard spot this summer, particularly since the team is lacking a pass-first player at the position.
“We got to get better at point, there’s no question,” Cuban said, per Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “If we can’t do it in the draft, we’ll look at free agency and see what we can do. Yogi is going to get better. Seth will continue to get better. I’d love to see Nico [Brussino] play some point forward and see how that works. He’s probably one of our best passers.
“We’ll have depth, but we have to get that one pass-first point guard. That’s what we don’t have.”
For the last several years, the Mavericks have been making an effort to identify a long-term solution at both the point guard and center positions. The club may have struck gold with trade deadline acquisition Nerlens Noel, who will be a restricted free agent this summer but is expected to stick with Dallas. With a potential long-term center in place, the Mavs will make it a priority to find a point guard, and they should have a few options.
This year’s draft is considered a strong one for point guards, though Dallas likely won’t pick high enough to land one of the very best prospects, such as Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the team could snag one of the second-tier options, like Dennis Smith Jr., De’Aaron Fox, or Frank Ntilikina. In Chad Ford’s latest mock draft at ESPN.com, he has the Mavs grabbing Ntilikina at No. 9, noting that the club would be “stoked” to draft the 18-year-old.
If the Mavs don’t use their lottery pick on a point guard, there will be plenty of alternatives in free agency, though once again the very best options may be out of reach. Top free agent point guards like Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, and Kyle Lowry are considered likely to remain with their current teams. Still, there are several other free agents who could potentially be had, including George Hill, Jeff Teague, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick Rose. Pass-first vets like Ricky Rubio and Rajon Rondo could also be available via trade.
In an ideal scenario, the Mavs would be able to land a point guard who could complement Harrison Barnes as one of the franchise’s core pieces going forward, writes Sefko. Cuban points to Minnesota, a Western Conference rival with several promising young pieces on its roster, as the sort of club the Mavs have to catch up to in terms of top talent.
“We don’t have Minnesota’s star power,” Cuban said. “We still need to add. It would be great if we made Harrison our second-best player. But that’s not easy to do. We’ll see what happens. We’re going to keep on trying to get better. Instead of just hoping guys come back healthy, we have guys who are going to get better.”
Curry Nurse's Shoulder Injury; Harris Fined
- Veteran Mavs guard Devin Harris was fined $25K for “aggresively pursuing a game official” last week, the league reports via a press release relayed by ESPN’s Justin Verrier.
- A left shoulder issue has limited Seth Curry over the course of the past several weeks, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas News. “Rest and a couple rehab exercises hopefully will get it right,” the Mavs guard said. “I rested it for a day last week and it helped. I may just have to take a little time to get it right. It’s frustrating that it keeps happening. We got to figure it out.”
Southwest Notes: Harden, Anderson, Pelicans, Dirk
With the Rockets locked into the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com wonders if it’s time for the team to shut down James Harden for a few games. Houston’s star guard is making a push for the MVP award, but has been battling a jammed left wrist, and could probably use a little rest to prepare for the postseason.
“It’s pretty tough, man, I’m not going to lie,” Harden said, admitting that his wrist issue has been bothersome. “I don’t like to feel sorry for myself at all, but just the shot is short and frustrating when you can’t really follow through and whatnot.”
Harden, who hasn’t missed a game this season, suggested earlier this month that he doesn’t believe in resting when healthy, but if there was ever a time for it, it would be now. The Rockets seem unlikely to shut down Harden for several games, but it’ll be interesting to see if the team plays it safe and dials back his playing time down the stretch.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Ryan Anderson, another key Rockets player who is dealing with an injury, is expected to return from his ankle injury before the end of the regular season, as Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
- The fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game against Dallas showed the good, bad, and ugly of the Pelicans‘ new-look roster, writes Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. Still, as Verrier observes in a separate piece, the Pelicans are getting a better sense of what does and doesn’t work with DeMarcus Cousins in the mix, which will serve the team well next season.
- Speaking to David Aldridge of NBA.com, Dirk Nowitzki answered several questions about his lengthy career with the Mavericks, calling it a “crazy ride” and adding that he’s “enjoyed every minute of it.”
- In a chat with readers, Matt Mosley of SportsDayDFW.com discussed potential Mavericks draft targets, reasons for optimism, and the respective futures of Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle.