Dallas Mavericks trades & transactions 14/15 in review

[Texas Chuck]

So we are deep enough into the year and past the deadline so I'd like to review the moves the Mavericks made having seen some of the results.

1. Conveying our 1st round pick to OKC-- this was a plus then, and a plus now. Clears a debt, whomever we picked there would not be factor this year, and enabled a big move made in-season.

2. The return of the Beast-- liked it then, love it now. Chandler is having his best year and is giving us exactly what we need/want. Don't look now, but the Dallas defense is becoming quite fierce and it all starts here. Gave up nothing and got the ideal big for our team.

3. The Dirk extension-- bargain price. Dirk and Cuban have total loyalty to each other. Loved it then. Love it now.

4. The Parson deal -- knew it was an overpay then, but still really liked it. Thought his skills fit nicely on the team. I still like it, but less so now. Need more consistency out of him.

5. The Devin deal -- wasn't really in love with this at the time. Its cheap enough, but long and I've not been a big fan. But he's been key in some big spots. Still think I will hate the end of this deal, but solid signing.

6. The Merry Minimums:

The good: Aminu, JJB, Jefferson, Amare
The meh: Charlie V, James(both times), Smith

7. Rondo Rondo Rondo. Was totally stoked about this deal. Didn't mind the price we paid and thought he was really going to help. And he has. And he hasn't. The offense is obviously worse with him. From historically good to borderline top 10. The defense tho is now really really good. As in one of the best in the league with Rondo. He, Chandler, and Aminu are all elite defenders who are having a big impact. If we could solve rebounding, we are interesting. But their are some chemistry concerns with Parsons and the coach and probably others. Still like this move, but not as much. And concerned now what we do if he's not back next year.

8. the cuts -- Ledo and Mekel. Another sign of how poorly this franchise evaluates young players. Great job with vets, but can't seem to add young talent ever.


So overall, I loved our off-season and loved the Rondo deal. I would have given us an A to an A+(slightly homer? yeah probably, but deal with it) considering our limited assets. Now I'd downgrade it to a B+/A- with the Rondo uncertainty hanging around and Parsons being slightly worse than expected.


Thoughts? Agreements/disagreements?

[loserX]

It's an A- just because of Barea, isn't it.

(Good idea for threads btw, will probably do one for Utah.)

Generally agreeing with everything you posted. Thought the Chandler deal was great when it happened, it turned out even better. Obviously can't fault the Dirk extension at all (I remember hearing that now that Rondo's on the team, Dirk is their lowest-paid starter). Agree with your Parsons assessment.

The Chandler trade meant you had to go get a PG, and ironically getting Rondo then meant you had to go get another C, but obviously Dallas came out of that just fine. Dallas did a nice job of keeping the ship afloat without any real long-term damage.

[Texas Chuck]

It's an A- just because of Barea, isn't it.

Barea made it an A+--some other moves brought the average down.

[bondom34]

I like it, if I get around to it may try OKC, unless someone else does. I'd agree with the grade, Rondo is an enigma at this point. And thanks for the pick, McGary is playing great!

[Smitty731]

I agree with everything you said. Parsons definitely needs to do more to live up to that deal. A bunch of times this year I've wondered if he is hurt or something. Something seems off with him and I can't really put my finger on it.

Curious to see what happens with Rondo now. That argument was kind of ugly. I have to wonder if he's viewing this as a short term situation now, as opposed to somewhere he wants to be for a while.

[Knosh]

What about the Jameer Nelson signing though?

Mostly agree with your take.

Devin: Liked the signing when it happened. Feel like he underperformed a little in the first half of the season, but it looks like the ASB did him good.

JJB: Didn't like it when it happened, because they waived Mekel who is still going to be on the cap next season for him. But he really surprised me and it looks like a great move now.

Ledo: I think I was arguing that he has (minor) value here on the board 5 minutes befoe he got waived.... Not sure what to make of it anymore, but if Ledo was actually progressing the way the FO expected as Donnie continues to claim, maybe stop drafting 2 year project players if you can't afford to use a roster spot on him for 2 years?

Rondo: To me this worked out as good as you could have hoped for to this point. He actually plays really good defense, which wasn't a given based on his last years in Boston. Offense is an issue, but it's not like Rondo is underperforming or anything. He just doesn't fit with the way Dallas wants to play right now, as expected. Either he becomes a beter shooter or Carlisle changes the offense in a major way. None of that is going to happen midseason. Hopefully there will be some minor improvements just by developing some more chemistry, but overall I think that's how the offense will look with Rondo - at least for this season.

[HartfordWhalers]

Thoughts? Agreements/disagreements?

For comparison, here was your take 3 months ago --

So we are roughly a quarter of the way through the year and I thought it might be interesting to look back at the off-season moves and see what we think now that we have seen teams play 20 games or so.

Mavericks (15-5)

Trades:

The rights to Tadija Dragicevic(total non-prospect) for Greg Smith.
Smith has been a disappointment completely unable to crack the rotation. Bigger and stronger than James who held the role of useless 3rd center previously. Will need him at some point. Don't feel good about it.
Grade: D

Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, Shane Larkin, Sam Dalembert, Picks #34 and #51 in the 2014 draft for Ray Felton and Tyson Chandler.
This was a home run for Dallas. The upgrade from Dalembert to Chandler cannot be overstated. Chandler is at worst a top 5 center this year and with Howard missing so much time, he might be top 3. He is having an incredible year for Dallas. Gotten nothing from Felton yet, but its hard to see him carving out much of a rotation role anyway. Only downside for me in this deal is the loss of Calderon whom we miss. I know I'm pretty much the only Mav fan who didn't want to run him out of town, but honestly I would have rather added a 1st and not made the Calderon/Felton swap. Still--absolutely worth it for Chandler.
Grade: A

Free Agent Signings:

Richard Jefferson 1/vet minimum --- Grade C- I don't mind having a veteran like this on the roster, but he hasn't contributed anything and is taking minutes away from some younger players.

Charlie Villanueva 1/Vet minimum ---- Grade D Nothing wrong with having a veteran shooter like this at the end of the bench, but we had to waive a gtd contract for him and he's done nothing. If Lewis gets healthy enough to play I imagine he takes CV's roster spot.

Al-Farouq Aminu 2/vet minimum, PO on year 2 --- Grade A Still can't believe this guy was available that late and for a min contract. He's not a great player, but he's long and athletic, can really rebound and defend. Great signing for the minimum

JJ Barea 1/ vet minimum ---- Grade B+ Only reason this isn't an A is because Dallas had to waive a 2 year gtd contract to sign him. But he's been a tremendous offensive spark off the bench. A/T ratio of like 6:1. Still great at running PNR. Plus he's JJ freaking Barea.

Jameer Nelson 2/ BAE PO on year 2 --- Grade C- Really been underwhelmed by his play. Expected more out of him. Value isn't bad for a top 50 PG, but the problem is we need him to be a top 30 PG and he's not. Rarely in the closing lineup and he's the guy in danger of losing minutes to Felton, not Devin or JJ imo.

Devin Harris 4/$16M -- Grade C Devin has played about how we expected him to. He is still a very solid backup PG in the Association. Been our best PG this year. I know we felt like we owed him something after his contract last year got voided and he played for the minimum, but I felt better about Calderon's 4 year deal than I do Devin's.

Chandler Parsons 3/$46M PO on year 3 --- Grade C- He hasn't shot the ball well yet and he hasn't been the playmaker he was last year in Houston. Part of that is his role is different here tho. Been better about using that pump-fake and attacking the rim as of late, but he has not been finishing well or drawing fouls. Still I expect him only to get better.

Dirk 3/$25M PO on year 3 -- Grade A+ He's Dirk and he's playing for <$8M. What else needs to be said?

Mid-Season Moves Needed:

1. Find a starting caliber PG. This is our biggest need, but I just don't see us being able to solve it this year. We just don't have the assets to get any of the guys who might become available.

2. A back-up center. Wright has done well in this role, but we need another big body. If Chandler misses a game we are in real trouble.

3. A guard with some size who can defend. Monta tries hard on defense but he can get overmatched and we play PG's at 2 when he sits. Maybe Crowder still can be this guy, but it doesn't look like Rick has a lot of confidence in him.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1358721