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Dallas Mavericks will need to get creative in off-season

02:53 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com

On his way out the door, Avery Johnson hit on the most important point regarding the Dallas Mavericks' future.

Asked what attributes his successor would have in a perfect world, Johnson said the new coach would need a strong grip on reality.

"I think there's a lot of work to be done," Johnson said. "Mark and Donnie realize that there's some holes that are going to be have to be filled."

If history holds, owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson will not be shy about trying to fill those holes. But it won't be easy. In fact, it may be a multiyear process.

Creativity is going to be needed to revamp the Mavericks' roster next season. Seven players, all of whom were in Johnson's rotation, are under contract for next season, with an eighth, Eddie Jones, able to exercise his player option for a guaranteed year. Those veterans put the Mavericks over the salary cap

I just see our situation being a very difficult task to improve. Both Mark and Donnie really need to be right about the future because we have little room for mistakes.

TRADES!

there better be changes

I hope we learned from last offseason and stay away from the veterans that need to retire. The last thing we need to do is continue that path and even our opponents make the mistake every year. It's time to focus on some size and youth that we can continue a solid foundation around for the future.

Corey Maggette, Sacramento's Ron Artest and Charlotte's Gerald Wallace or Jason Richardson.

This reminds me of the past two offseasons. It's the same names and yet they continue to come up. I fully support added Corey Maggette and Ron Artest.

Ron Artest can be counted out if Rick Carlisle is named coach. From everything I heard, that wouldnt be a good thing to reunite them two. Gerald Wallace would cost us Howard, and with his injury concerns, I dont know if that's a good trade off. Does J-Richardson make us better?

Pointguard01 wrote:Ron Artest can be counted out if Rick Carlisle is named coach. From everything I heard, that wouldnt be a good thing to reunite them two. Gerald Wallace would cost us Howard, and with his injury concerns, I dont know if that's a good trade off. Does J-Richardson make us better?

Yes, but Charlotte is not going to trade him for J-Ho, especially after one year. I heard Jordan is very fond of J-Rich.