I know I haven’t posted much on anything besides football, and more specifically the Cowboys, but since football is winding down for the year, I have started gearing up for basketball. I haven’t gotten into it as much this year, as I have in the past few years, for a couple of reasons. The main reason is, obviously, the great season the Cowboys had. It’s just hard for me to focus on anything else when they are having a good season.
The second reason it has taken me longer to get into Mavs basketball is because I got a little burned by the tremendous collapses they have had the past few years. Two years ago, Dallas should have won the NBA title. They had it in their hands…and let it go. They were up 2-0 in the championship series vs. the Miami Heat and in the 3rd game, with about 6 minutes to go in the game, Dallas was up 13 points. The game was in Miami and, at that point, you could see Miami fans leaving the arena basically giving up on their team. I think the Mavs saw that and thought they had the series, and the championship, won. They lost their intensity and went on to lose that game but rumors swirled that they partied it up down on South Beach anyway. The Mavs then went on to lose the next 2 games in Miami. Miami at that point was up 3-2 in the series with the final 2 games to be played in Dallas. Everyone, including myself thought Dallas would win game 6, thereby forcing a game 7, and win the championship. However, the Mavs lost game 6 and the championship on their home floor and had to watch Miami hoist the trophy that, only a couple of weeks earlier, everyone thought they would be hoisting. It was painful to watch and still is baffling to remember.
Last year, the Mavs seemed bound and determined to bounce back from, arguably, the biggest collapse in NBA finals history and get back to the championship game. The team focused on winning every game they could during the season and wound up with a 67-15 record and the #1 seed in the West. The scene was set for another trip to the NBA finals. Dallas’ first round opponent was the Golden State Warriors who had to win their final 5 games just to qualify for the playoffs. Most of the “experts” (writers, commentators, talk show hosts, etc.) as well as fans had Dallas winning the series in 6 games and moving on to play the winner of the Houston – Utah series. However, the basketball gods chose not to grant the Mavs, and their fans, a return trip to the NBA finals. Dallas lost the series in 6 games and 3 of the 4 loses they suffered to Golden State were by double digits. In fact, the Mavs became the first #1 seed to lose in the 1st round of the playoffs since the NBA went to a best of 7 series in the first round (The #8 Denver Nuggets beat the #1 Seattle Sonics back in the mid 90’s…but that was a best of 5 series). My wife’s question “How can the Mavs lose to this team…aren’t they better than this?” still rings in my ears. So, with the Cowboys’ season finally over, the Mavs playoff hangover I had from last season is finally wearing off. However, after the massive finals collapse two years ago and a 67 win season last year ending with such an abrupt thud, most fans don’t care what Dallas does in the regular season…they just want to see a deep playoff run.
It seems the Mavs are involved in trades and trade rumors every year, usually just before the trade deadline. This year is no different as the latest rumor has the Mavs involved in a 3 team trade with the New Jersey Nets and Portland Trailblazers. The trade is outlined like this: Dallas would get Jason Kidd from the Nets; Dallas would send Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George to the Nets; Dallas would send Devin Harris to the Trailblazers; the Trailblazers would send a player to be named to the Nets. Make sense? In NBA trades, all the salaries being traded have to equal out and since Jason Kidd earns $19 million this season and $21 million next season, that is the reason for getting Portland involved.
If Dallas makes this trade they are saying 2 things: 1) That Devin Harris is not the player they envisioned him being when they took him with the 5th overall pick a four years ago and 2) since Kidd is in his later 30’s, the future is NOW and the window for Dallas winning a championship is this year and/or next year, at most. Because of his age, I don’t think you can really count on Jason Kidd beyond that. So, the dilemma for Dallas is do they gamble by putting everything they have into winning a title in the next two years with Kidd or do they stick with a young, productive and improving player in Harris in hopes he can get his game to the next level?
I’ve gone back and forth in my head about which way I think the Mavs should go. On one hand with Kidd, you get solid veteran leadership and a premier point guard who is averaging 10.4 assists per game (Harris is averaging half that amount). On the other hand, Harris has steadily improved from year to year and is still pretty young so he could be part of a solid core to build around in the future (plus, Harris plays his best when he is playing the Suns and the Spurs). However the Western conference, which has been ridiculously good the past several years, has only gotten better this year and the gap between the Mavs/Suns/Spurs and the rest of the conference has shortened, thereby shortening the window the big 3 of the west have to win a title.
Taking all this into account (and if the deal DOES NOT include Josh Howard in ANY way), I think I would make that trade. After experiencing the success the Mavs have had over the last 7-8 years and seeing their recent failures, simply being competitive is not enough. When Dallas was a terrible team in the late 90’s, simply making the playoffs was the goal. Now that the Mavs have reached, and eclipsed, that level, they must attain the final level and that is a championship. If Kidd can get them there, I say you make that happen. I do not dislike Devin Harris (he is actually my wife’s favorite Mav’s player) and I think he has loads of potential…but that is all it is right now, potential. Much like my opinion regarding the Cowboys trading Marion Barber (below post), Jason Kidd is a known commodity. And while the Mavs think Devin Harris may become an elite point guard, he still has a ways to go to get there…and he may not ever get to that level.
Dallas should do whatever it takes, short of trading Dirk or Josh Howard, to win a title. And if that means moving Harris on to another team, then they really should swallow hard and move on with it.
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