Fare Thee Well, J-Ho
What a fantastic trade for the Dallas Mavericks.
There's really no other way to describe it. The Mavericks traded Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton to Washington for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and Deshawn Stevenson.
Fantastic trade. Donnie Nelson fleeced the reeling Wizards, who are looking to cut costs and start completely over in the wake of Gilbert Arenas' gun controversy.
First, let's look at the Mav's season so far. This team started the season playing fantastic ball. Dirk was playing out of his mind in his "She's not really pregnant! Oh my God, she's not really pregnant!" mode (I like to think that about every five minutes, this goes through Dirk's mind), Shawn Marion was adding a defensive presence the Mavs haven't seen since the 80's, if ever, and Dirk and Terry's 4th quarter dominance meant that the Mavs were winning lots of close games, some of which they really shouldn't be winning.
Unfortunately, as Kevin McHale once said, "Water seeks its own level", and teams eventually figured the Mavs out. Stick a good defender on Terry and he can't create a shot other than a contested jumper. Marion can score on breaks or when someone gets him the ball in a good place, but can't create his own shot. Kidd can only score when his feet are perfectly set for a three at this point. Drew Gooden and even Damp at times were playing well, but neither are 4th quarter scoring threats. This left Dirk as the only person on the Mavs capable of creating his own shot, so teams figured out in the 4th to double or triple him and dare another Mav to beat them.
In other words, it was Josh Howard's time to step up, prove the Mav's extraordinary patience in him was worth it, and tap into the talent that made him an All Star and 20pts a game scorer a few years ago. The ankle is healthy, he's the player with the talent to put the ball on the floor and create his own shot, and he's the player other than Dirk who's paid to do so. This was Howard's chance to take the reins and reestablish his reputation.
To say he failed miserably would be an insult to people who have failed miserably. The Mavs have been playing .500 ball for over a month after earning the second best record in the West, and the team has become so disgusted with Howard's disinterested, insipid play that Terry openly campaigned to be back in the starting lineup, and the normally quiet Dirk all but publicly demanded something be done with Howard. Not only was Howard's play hurting the Mavs, but his attitude was finally becoming a detriment not just to the organization's reputation, but to team cohesiveness as well. He had to go, even if it was simply addition by subtraction.
Kudos to Donnie for pulling off addition by subtraction and addition. Let's look at this trade piece by piece:
* Howard v Butler: Howard was averaging a paltry 12.5pts, 3.6rebs, and 1.4asts while shooting 40% from the field. These numbers were only going to go down as Carlisle--never patient with lack of effort--had already moved him out of the starting lineup and was playing him less and less, which meant that Howard would continue to do what he always does when he's pouting: only jack up bad jump shots, and commit stupid fouls on D so you don't actually have to play D. We're getting one of the better all around players in the league, a guy who is averaging 16.7pts, 6.7rebs, and 2.3asts while shooting 42% from the field. These numbers are while being the only option on a bad Wizards team as Jamison has been out for most of the year, and Arenas was either ineffective at the beginning of the year and then suspended once he decided that guns were good toys to play practical jokes with. So not only are your stats immediately improving, but you're moving a pouting player for a player that was stuck in a bad situation and now finds himself quite literally competing for an NBA championship.
* Haywood v Gooden: While Gooden has been an unexpected bright spot for the Mavs this season, Haywood is a huge upgrade. The Mavericks finally have the 7 footer who can score a little, rebound, and block shots on a nightly basis (that's the catch Damp, you have to show up to play ever night, you asshole). Simply put, Haywood is playing the best ball of his career, averaging 9.8pts, 10.3rebs, and 2.1blks while shooting a robust 56% from the field. Dwight Howard recently called him the third best defensive player in the NBA (a stretch, but still nice to hear).
* Stevenson v Ross/Singleton: This is the throw in/contract fodder part of the trade. That being said, I even give the Mavs a thumbs up here. Stevenson was the starting two guard for the Wizards in the playoffs two years ago, and is a nice piece to have as a 10th guy for the Mavs. Ross has never really panned out for the Mav's this season, and while Singleton was a nice little bench player, he was hardly a key factor.
So what does this mean to the team? This gives the Mavs a fantastic starting lineup of Haywood/Dirk/Marion/Butler/Kidd, a great defensive lineup that is tall (everyone in that lineup is at least 6'6", and it includes two 7 footers) and long. While Dirk and Kidd will never be mistaken for great defenders, they now don't have to be with a legit shot blocker behind them and the ability to guard the other team's lesser offensive talents instead of their best. Terry now comes off the bench as a super sub again, which allows Carlisle to play with cycling Dirk/Marion/Butler in the 3 and 4 spots and take advantage of matchups there. JJ Barea is finally able to be used where he is best--as a change of pace backup to Kidd--instead of where he is really overmatched, which is a part time starter when Howard has essentially decided to take the night off. If Beaubois and Thomas give you anything at all, that's just more icing on the cake.
Finally, that leaves us with the other great part of this trade, Erica Dampier. I can't believe that his expiring contract wasn't included somehow; to me, that is the downfall of this trade from the Wizard's perspective, that they weren't able to get this from the Mavs. He leaves the Mavs with two good options: A) keep him for the season, leaving the Mavs with a legit backup that will be nice in the playoffs as the Mavs face the Spurs, Lakers, and Nuggets. This then allows you to either deal his contract in the offseason or cut him (the team has the option), giving you cap space to go after the plethora of talent available this season. B) Move him by Thursday to another team desperate for an expiring for more good talent. Either way, the Mavs are in the drivers seat with positive options plentiful.
So where do the Mavs stand in the West? I think they are now unquestionably the second best team in the West. Butler is a legitimate scoring threat who can create his own shot either off the dribble or has a great jumper; the Mavs finally have the second scorer they so desperately need. He's also another good perimeter defender who can guard a good SG/SF that will allow Marion more flexibility to stick the other team's best player, somewhat regardless of position. Terry and Barea are now bringing firepower off the bench for more potent, consistent scoring there. Dirk now only gets double teamed instead of triple teamed in the fourth and can go back to being the fourth quarter assassin he started the year as being.
As for the rest of the elite in the West, the Mavs now stack up even better against them. Assuming the Spurs do manage to get it together with Jefferson, this takes away the advantage as we now have a good SG/SF to match against him and Ginobili. Dirk now guards Okur and Haywood sticks Boozer in Utah, which is a great matchup. We now have another good body to throw against both the Nuggets bigs and another good SG/SF to throw against Melo. And while the Lakers are still the most talented team in the West, if Kobe keeps insisting on playing in fairly meaningless games despite his ankle/finger woes, there is a slimmer of hope there.
Bottom line, when I see the Mavs in second place in the West, I don't think, "Wow, they are really overachieving" as I did at the start of the season. Now I think, "Yep, that's exactly where they belong."
Go Mavs!
There's really no other way to describe it. The Mavericks traded Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton to Washington for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and Deshawn Stevenson.
Fantastic trade. Donnie Nelson fleeced the reeling Wizards, who are looking to cut costs and start completely over in the wake of Gilbert Arenas' gun controversy.
First, let's look at the Mav's season so far. This team started the season playing fantastic ball. Dirk was playing out of his mind in his "She's not really pregnant! Oh my God, she's not really pregnant!" mode (I like to think that about every five minutes, this goes through Dirk's mind), Shawn Marion was adding a defensive presence the Mavs haven't seen since the 80's, if ever, and Dirk and Terry's 4th quarter dominance meant that the Mavs were winning lots of close games, some of which they really shouldn't be winning.
Unfortunately, as Kevin McHale once said, "Water seeks its own level", and teams eventually figured the Mavs out. Stick a good defender on Terry and he can't create a shot other than a contested jumper. Marion can score on breaks or when someone gets him the ball in a good place, but can't create his own shot. Kidd can only score when his feet are perfectly set for a three at this point. Drew Gooden and even Damp at times were playing well, but neither are 4th quarter scoring threats. This left Dirk as the only person on the Mavs capable of creating his own shot, so teams figured out in the 4th to double or triple him and dare another Mav to beat them.
In other words, it was Josh Howard's time to step up, prove the Mav's extraordinary patience in him was worth it, and tap into the talent that made him an All Star and 20pts a game scorer a few years ago. The ankle is healthy, he's the player with the talent to put the ball on the floor and create his own shot, and he's the player other than Dirk who's paid to do so. This was Howard's chance to take the reins and reestablish his reputation.
To say he failed miserably would be an insult to people who have failed miserably. The Mavs have been playing .500 ball for over a month after earning the second best record in the West, and the team has become so disgusted with Howard's disinterested, insipid play that Terry openly campaigned to be back in the starting lineup, and the normally quiet Dirk all but publicly demanded something be done with Howard. Not only was Howard's play hurting the Mavs, but his attitude was finally becoming a detriment not just to the organization's reputation, but to team cohesiveness as well. He had to go, even if it was simply addition by subtraction.
Kudos to Donnie for pulling off addition by subtraction and addition. Let's look at this trade piece by piece:
* Howard v Butler: Howard was averaging a paltry 12.5pts, 3.6rebs, and 1.4asts while shooting 40% from the field. These numbers were only going to go down as Carlisle--never patient with lack of effort--had already moved him out of the starting lineup and was playing him less and less, which meant that Howard would continue to do what he always does when he's pouting: only jack up bad jump shots, and commit stupid fouls on D so you don't actually have to play D. We're getting one of the better all around players in the league, a guy who is averaging 16.7pts, 6.7rebs, and 2.3asts while shooting 42% from the field. These numbers are while being the only option on a bad Wizards team as Jamison has been out for most of the year, and Arenas was either ineffective at the beginning of the year and then suspended once he decided that guns were good toys to play practical jokes with. So not only are your stats immediately improving, but you're moving a pouting player for a player that was stuck in a bad situation and now finds himself quite literally competing for an NBA championship.
* Haywood v Gooden: While Gooden has been an unexpected bright spot for the Mavs this season, Haywood is a huge upgrade. The Mavericks finally have the 7 footer who can score a little, rebound, and block shots on a nightly basis (that's the catch Damp, you have to show up to play ever night, you asshole). Simply put, Haywood is playing the best ball of his career, averaging 9.8pts, 10.3rebs, and 2.1blks while shooting a robust 56% from the field. Dwight Howard recently called him the third best defensive player in the NBA (a stretch, but still nice to hear).
* Stevenson v Ross/Singleton: This is the throw in/contract fodder part of the trade. That being said, I even give the Mavs a thumbs up here. Stevenson was the starting two guard for the Wizards in the playoffs two years ago, and is a nice piece to have as a 10th guy for the Mavs. Ross has never really panned out for the Mav's this season, and while Singleton was a nice little bench player, he was hardly a key factor.
So what does this mean to the team? This gives the Mavs a fantastic starting lineup of Haywood/Dirk/Marion/Butler/Kidd, a great defensive lineup that is tall (everyone in that lineup is at least 6'6", and it includes two 7 footers) and long. While Dirk and Kidd will never be mistaken for great defenders, they now don't have to be with a legit shot blocker behind them and the ability to guard the other team's lesser offensive talents instead of their best. Terry now comes off the bench as a super sub again, which allows Carlisle to play with cycling Dirk/Marion/Butler in the 3 and 4 spots and take advantage of matchups there. JJ Barea is finally able to be used where he is best--as a change of pace backup to Kidd--instead of where he is really overmatched, which is a part time starter when Howard has essentially decided to take the night off. If Beaubois and Thomas give you anything at all, that's just more icing on the cake.
Finally, that leaves us with the other great part of this trade, Erica Dampier. I can't believe that his expiring contract wasn't included somehow; to me, that is the downfall of this trade from the Wizard's perspective, that they weren't able to get this from the Mavs. He leaves the Mavs with two good options: A) keep him for the season, leaving the Mavs with a legit backup that will be nice in the playoffs as the Mavs face the Spurs, Lakers, and Nuggets. This then allows you to either deal his contract in the offseason or cut him (the team has the option), giving you cap space to go after the plethora of talent available this season. B) Move him by Thursday to another team desperate for an expiring for more good talent. Either way, the Mavs are in the drivers seat with positive options plentiful.
So where do the Mavs stand in the West? I think they are now unquestionably the second best team in the West. Butler is a legitimate scoring threat who can create his own shot either off the dribble or has a great jumper; the Mavs finally have the second scorer they so desperately need. He's also another good perimeter defender who can guard a good SG/SF that will allow Marion more flexibility to stick the other team's best player, somewhat regardless of position. Terry and Barea are now bringing firepower off the bench for more potent, consistent scoring there. Dirk now only gets double teamed instead of triple teamed in the fourth and can go back to being the fourth quarter assassin he started the year as being.
As for the rest of the elite in the West, the Mavs now stack up even better against them. Assuming the Spurs do manage to get it together with Jefferson, this takes away the advantage as we now have a good SG/SF to match against him and Ginobili. Dirk now guards Okur and Haywood sticks Boozer in Utah, which is a great matchup. We now have another good body to throw against both the Nuggets bigs and another good SG/SF to throw against Melo. And while the Lakers are still the most talented team in the West, if Kobe keeps insisting on playing in fairly meaningless games despite his ankle/finger woes, there is a slimmer of hope there.
Bottom line, when I see the Mavs in second place in the West, I don't think, "Wow, they are really overachieving" as I did at the start of the season. Now I think, "Yep, that's exactly where they belong."
Go Mavs!
Labels: NBA
posted by Michael Pondrom at 11:10 PM
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