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The Dallas Mavericks were eliminated once again in the first round of the playoffs and have a lot of questions that are still unanswered going into the off-season.
With only four players under contract going into the off-season it’s safe to say we will not see the same Mavericks team we saw in 2014-2015.
The Mavs will have plenty of cap space to work with and they’ll need to utilize it wisely as they have in the past couple years to put themselves in position to land a superstar.
Even if the attempts to get superstars like Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, and Carmelo Anthony you cannot doubt Mavs owner Mark Cuban.
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The Rajon Rondo trade certainly was a failure losing draft picks and two young pieces in Jae Crowder and Brandan Wright, and that’s a trade 9 times out of 10 you make.
It gives your team a championship caliber point guard, but sometimes pieces like Rondo need the right fit and it’s clear Dallas was not the right place for Rondo.
I think Rondo was on a different agenda thinking ahead to his future with a franchise of his choice.
The Mavericks need a replacement at the Point Guard position the free agent market for point guards in the off-season will not be very good, but I can see a couple names that will improve the Mavericks.
With all restricted free agents Brandon Knight, Reggie Jackson, and Patrick Beverley they’re already limited in a weak market for point guards. A player I’d like to see Dallas go after is Austin Rivers he’s improved in each game he’s been involved in for The Clippers. The Clippers have quite a few contracts to worry about themselves and a big decision to make with free agent to be DeAndre Jordan.
The Mavericks could make an offer to any of the restricted free agent Point Guards, but that would involve overpaying to get any of those players.
Rivers would provide a youth movement at the point guard position, but the one thing Rivers has to weigh is if he should stay and develop under Doc Rivers wing or go elsewhere for a starting opportunity.
Austin Rivers would be a good fit for Rick Carlisle because he’s not a one dimensional coach he will make sure any player on the roster fits into his system.
At shooting guard The Mavs have a free agent of their own in Monta Ellis. A player that besides Dirk was the most dependable scoring option, and he’s played some of his best basketball on both ends of the floor with The Mavericks. Ellis has histhat he will reportedly opt out of.
Ellis is at the age of 30 and feels this will be his last large contract and the salary cap will be rising next season.
Another Mavericks free agent Al-Farouq Aminu signed a one year deal last season and progressed nicely displaying good perimeter defense and the ability to rebound well. Aminu is a player I’d like the Mavericks to keep, but with Chandler Parsons in that starting spot I wouldn’t be surprised to see Aminu leave for a starting opportunity elsewhere.
The Mavericks will certainly need to add depth behind Parsons I’d like to see them get Jae Crowder back, but Crowder was a valuable piece for The Celtics and I’d doubt they let him go.
Tyson Chandler was acquired by The Mavericks last year which brought back some toughness in the paint. Chandler averaging 10 ppg and 11 rebounds at the age of 32 was productive and Dallas could opt to keep him since he’s familiar with the organization and could be cheaper at his age.
The Mavericks have a few free agents they should look into like Marc Gasol (Unrestricted) Greg Monroe (Unrestricted), Brook Lopez (Player Option), and DeAndre Jordan (Unrestricted) they are all game changers that should be able to play along side Dirk Nowitzki.
DeAndre Jordan reportedly has interest in joining the Mavericks. Jordan a Houston native has certainly improved his game over the past couple years, but is a liability at the free throw line which is his biggest weakness and any head coaches nightmare.
The Mavericks best move is to hopefully sign a DeAndre Jordan adding a young and athletic defender to the roster who can defend the paint.
The Mavs also have to figure out what to do with back up point guard J.J. Barea who played a big role in the past for the Mavs and the one victory in the playoffs this year. Barea wants to remain with Dallas, but some things are easier said than done with the possibility Barea could make more money elsewhere.
If The Mavericks throw out a lineup of Rivers, Ellis, Parsons, Nowitzki, and Jordan or Lopez I’m confident they’ll be back in the playoffs next season.
The tough part is to make that many moves in one off-season two years in a row would be pretty difficult.
One player I can also see Mark Cuban going after for The Mavs is LaMarcus Aldridge. Do I see any chance of him signing there? No. Cuban wants a star caliber player though and it’s not a secret that Aldridge may want out of Portland.
With these moves Dallas should be able to make it happen and may need to be very strict with the payroll so they don’t overpay since they have a whole roster to fill practically.
Dallas needs to take into consideration Dirk Nowitzki’s age and he’s not getting any younger so you build a younger roster that has talent around him. This way the Mavs can prepare for life after Dirk, and don’t have to worry about a huge rebuild project when Nowitzki does retire in a couple years.
There’s no doubt The Mavericks have their work cut out for them, but they always seem to get the right pieces in the off-season to get back to the playoffs.
