| Lottery Summit: Dallas Mavericks Authored by Andrew Perna & The RGM Mavs Forum - June 17, 2008 - 10:10 am
Last month I posted a series of Lottery Summits for each of the league’s fourteen non-playoff teams. I posed a set of questions, almost exactly the same as the ones asked in the first series of Pre-Draft Summits, to each of the NBA’s playoff team forums as we continue our up-to-the-minute, expert 2008 Draft coverage. The following responses were compiled from our Dallas forum, the people who know the Mavericks better than some of the players themselves.
The Dallas Mavericks:
2007-08 Record: 51-31
Difference From 2006-07: Sixteen Fewer Wins
Playoff Result: Lost In Five To New Orleans (First Round)
Restricted Free Agents: Jose Juan Barea
Unrestricted Free Agents: Malik Allen, Devean George, Eddie Jones (P), Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, Jamaal Magloire, Antoine Wright
The Verdicts
1. What could the team have done differently to advance in the playoffs?
dirkforpres: If we didn’t let Avery Johnson coach the team.
jwa1107: If we played to Jason Kidd's style – don't trade for a point guard and then stifle him by forcing him into the system. Jerry Stackhouse and Josh Howard had horrid series against New Orleans as well.
C Dogg: Just let Kidd run the offense, and run!
Henry Turner: If we had a better offseason by trying to get a second superstar or at least a real shooting guard.
cmavswin: By not trading all our depth for Kidd. Keeping DeSagana Diop and/or Trenton Hassell would have made a huge difference.
Darren: If we complimented the players with our coach.
2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?
dirkforpres: Dirk Nowitzki.
jwa1107: Dirk.
C Dogg: Dirk.
Henry Turner: Dirk.
cmavswin: The offense of Dirk and Brandon Bass.
Darren: Manipulating mismatches one-on-one, versatility and our deep bench.
3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?
dirkforpres: Bass in the second half.
jwa1107: Bass, and Erick Dampier to some degree, played better with Kidd than with Devin Harris.
C Dogg: Bass impressed me. He is a young and skilled.
Henry Turner: Bass, but in the first half it was Harris.
cmavswin: Bass on the offensive end and Dampier’s effectiveness around the basket with Kidd in town.
Darren: Harris and Diop early, but Bass later on.
4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?
dirkforpres: Howard.
jwa1107: Howard had an alright season, as did Jason Terry, but I'd have liked to see more from both. Also, Eddie Jones was awful and Devean George was too streaky.
C Dogg: Everyone has to stop blaming Howard. He had a good season; he scored more and grabbed more rebounds than last year. For me this "award" goes to Jones and George.
Henry Turner: Howard.
cmavswin: Terry's first half shooting slump, Howard's second half mental slump and Johnson's playoff coaching mistakes.
Darren: Stackhouse and Jones.
5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?
dirkforpres: I’m pretty confident. I think Cuban will help the team out somehow.
jwa1107: I’m about a six out of ten. I fear they won't be willing to trade Howard.
C Dogg: Very confident, even though I doubt they will trade Stackhouse.
Henry Turner: No confidence at all. Donnie Nelson is one of the worst general managers in the league.
cmavswin: Very confident that Donnie will come up with another gem.
Darren: I'm confident with Nelson. He's a nose for young talents.
6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
dirkforpres: Anything. We just need young players.
jwa1107: Assuming that Cuban and Donnie plan to retool around Dirk and Kidd, we need to upgrade all around.
C Dogg: I don’t care since we only have a second rounder
Henry Turner: We have just a second round pick, so no expectations.
cmavswin: The best player available at this point.
Darren: A two-way swingman, assuming we re-sign Diop.
7. Who would you like your team to select?
dirkforpres: I think we should trade up into the lottery.
jwa1107: With no first round pick, I expect they'll grab someone in the second round and stash them in Europe.
C Dogg: I don’t care. We still have connections with Pops Mensah Bonsu and Reyshawn Terry.
cmavswin: I’d love to see the Mavs get impossibly lucky with an athletic swingman that can run the floor and defend like Bruce Bowen.
Darren: O.J. Mayo (3-5 pick), Nicolas Batum (13-15) or Brandon Rush (16-20) if we can trade up. I like a center like JaVale McGee (16-20) as well. Bring him on and re-sign his fellow schoolmate Nick Fazekas and we'd be fine at the five.
The Draft Summit Archive:
The Atlanta Hawks:Draft Summit
The Philadelphia 76ers:Draft Summit
The Toronto Raptors:Draft Summit
The Washington Wizards:Draft Summit
The Cleveland Cavaliers:Draft Summit
The Denver Nuggets:Draft Summit
The Lottery Summit Archive:
The Miami Heat:Lottery Summit
The Seattle Supersonics:Lottery Summit
The Minnesota Timberwolves:Lottery Summit
The Memphis Grizzles:Lottery Summit
The New York Knicks:Lottery Summit
The Los Angeles Clippers:Lottery Summit
The Milwaukee Bucks:Lottery Summit
The Charlotte Bobcats:Lottery Summit
The Chicago Bulls:Lottery Summit
The New Jersey Nets:Lottery Summit
The Indiana Pacers:Lottery Summit
The Sacramento Kings:Lottery Summit
The Portland Trail Blazers:Lottery Summit
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM. If you’re a fan of one of the many teams that we have yet to feature, surf over to our forums and weigh in on what is happening within the organization. If you’d like to contact Andrew, shoot him an e-mail at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
