The 5-step wheeling and dealing process to Glory

“THE WHEELING AND DEALING DAYS: THE FIVE-STEP DEVELOPMENT OF A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM”

By: Landry Locker

Remember when Cuban 1^st bought the team and the Mavs were the most active team in the world on draft and trade deadline days?

In the spirit of what appears to be a quiet time for the Mavs lets go back and briefly remember when the Mavs used to wheel and deal…

STEP 1: PRE CUBAN WHEELING AND DEALING

It all started during the Christmas break of 1996…

Chris Arnold appeared on the TV screen to announce Jason Kidd, Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer have been traded for Michael Finley, Sam Cassell and A.C. Green.

The entire city of Dallas looks on shocked and confused…

Sure, Finley ended up being a good player, but from that point on the Mavs seemed like a team that just made trades for the sake of making trades.

Who could forget the 65-player deal between the Mavs and Nets in which the Mavs landed the likes of Shawn Bradley, Ed O’Bannon, Khalid Reeves and company?

It wasn’t until 1998 that the Mavs made a trade that really mattered and turned around the fate of the franchise.

The Mavs upset and shocked their fan base when they traded their 6^th pick Robert Traylor to Milwaukee in exchange for a man by the name of Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity (19th pick). They later traded Garrity to Phoenix for Steve Nash.

Then a metro sexual billionaire and the only man that wears shirt smaller than Matt Mosley brought excitement to the franchise and the Mavericks began wheeling and dealing with a purpose.

***The Dirk trade combined with Cuban’s purchase is when the Mavs stopped trading just to trade and began trading with a purpose***

STEP 2: CUBAN BUYS THE TEAM AND THINGS GET FUN, DEALS GET MADE WITH A PURPOSE

The year 2000: Who could forget the Courtney Alexander, Etan Thomas, Eddie Najera, Donnell Harvey draft bonanza?!

February 2001: The Juwan Howard trade, which resulted in the Mavs upsetting Utah in the 1^st round of the playoffs after falling down 2-0 in a Best of 5.

One year later in February of 2002 the Howard trade was flipped…

February 2002: The Mavs trade Howard in what was originally known as the Raef Lafrentz trade, but would later be known as the Nick Van Exel trade.

That trade resulted in the Mavs taking the San Antonio Spurs six games in the western conference Finals behind Van Exel’s swagger and the continued development of Nash, Finley and Dirk.

STEP 3: THE MAVS GET CUTE AND TAKE A STEP BACK

2003: Van Exel gets traded for Antawn Jamison and Raef Lafrentz gets traded for Antoine Walker.

The Mavs get bounced in the playoffs and a league-wide soft reputation begins to develop about the Dallas Mavericks.

STEP 4: THE WHEELING AND DEALING CONTINUES AND THE TEAM GETS A TASTE OF CHAMPIONSHIP FAILURE

With Dirk as the centerpiece the Mavs continue to mold a champion.

Summer of 2004: The Mavs make the tough decision to let Steve Nash walk. The Mavs then send Antoine Walker to the Hawks in exchange for Jason Terry.

The Mavericks continued their wheeling and dealing in 2004 by trading Antawn Jamison to the Washington Wizards in exchange for the No. 5 pick (Devin Harris) and Jerry Stackhouse.

Then the Mavs traded for Erick Dampier and the great Dan Dickau in exchange for Evan Eschmeyer, Steve Logan, Najera, Christian Laetner and 2 1^st round picks.

The Mavs were humiliated by Nash in the 2^nd round of the playoffs, but the next season they made the finals, but blew a 2-0 lead to Miami.

STEP 5: AFTER FLOPPING IN THE 2006 FINALS AND THE 1^ST ROUND THE NEXT SEASON THE DEALING CONTINUED AND WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMED HELPLESS A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM WAS FINALLY MOLDED

Three of the four seasons after choking in Finals the Mavs were eliminated in the 1^st round. Everything seemed helpless, but during the course of that time the Mavs developed a championship team.

February 2008: Devin Harris was packaged for Jason Kidd.

July 2009: Jerry Stackhouse was sent away in a four-team deal that brought Shawn Marion to Dallas.

February 2010: Josh Howard is dealt to Washington in exchange for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and Deshawn Stevenson.

July 2010: Erick Dampier’s expiring contract was traded for Tyson Chandler.

THE END

July 18: Rangers fans still have Mickey Mouse mindset

The Rangers haven’t won a championship. However, don’t tell that to the clowns around here that celebrate World Series appearances like world championships.

Despite having the most talented roster in baseball the last two, now three, seasons the Rangers don’t have a WS ring to show for it. That’s a disappointment.

At least it would be in Boston or New York, where they treat their ball clubs like big boy franchises and hold them to a higher standard.

In places like Pittsburgh, San Diego, Kansas City and unfortunately, Texas, just making it to the big game is enough.

Where they were at one point under different ownership is irrelevant. The exact second they pulled the trigger and traded for Cliff Lee they became a big boy franchise or at least they should’ve.

July 8: The perfect trade scenario for Dirk

I’m not the biggest fan of trade hypotheticals, but after sitting in bed sick yesterday I came up with a deal that I think makes perfect sense.

Sorry… This isn’t one of the Skin-Mike Fisher packages that bring in an All Star for Roddy B, this is actually realistic.

It would involve Dirk playing for the Mavs’ biggest rival, but the trade makes sense for many reasons.

1.) It would have to be a team Dirk would agree to…

2.) Dirk could potentially put San Antonio over-the-top so it makes sense for them as well.

3.) It allows the Mavs to fill a roster without spending money.

4.) You’re not going to get elite talent or fair value for a 34-year-old.

5.) This trade allows you to put a somewhat competitive team out there and increase your financial flexibility even more after next season.

6.) Furthermore, running Dirk out there with what the Mavs are going to run out there next season is unfair to him.

Here it is….

SPURS GET:

Dirk Nowitzki

Shawn Marion

Dominique Jones

MAVS GET:

Manu Ginobili (Contract Expiring)

Stephen Jackson (Contract Expiring)

Kawhi Leonard (Still in rookie deal)

DeJuan Blair (Contract Expiring)

2 First Round Draft Picks and T.J. Ford’s trade exception

Why it makes sense for Mavs

1.) Ian has said it 100 times along with many others… There’s nothing worse than being mediocre in the NBA. You either want to be really bad or really good. Mediocre is No Man’s Land.

2.) You get three expiring contracts and a young talent along with picks.

3.) You're not going anywhere with what you're running out there next year so it improves the future.

June 14: Batter Up

Should there be a penalty when Josh Hamilton, who has lost control of his bat 17 times early in the season, throws his bat into the stands or the field of play?

Mosley and Randy discuss on GAC.

June 13: QH Finals, throwing of the bat, Rangers and more

Galloway got quite worked up about the Mavs lightning in a bottle reality, but hopefully we can move past that…

Got a lot going on in the wide world of sports and a lot of angles that can be tackled…

In the words on Ian… Here we go…

RANGERS PICK UP A GAME ON THE ANGELS

Lead now back to 3.5 games…

Bats come alive…

Colby pitches a gem…

Did I leave out anything?

NICE OUTING FOR COLBY: IS HE THE NEXT TYSON CHANDLER???

By most accounts it’s very likely that this could very well be the last season Colby Lewis pitches for the Rangers.

Would that be a mistake?

He has been the best all around pitcher on this staff for a few years now when you factor in postseason.

How much would the Rangers miss Colby Lewis. I’m sure they wont value him as much as a lot of teams on the open market. He is 32…

How much do you think Colby is worth to this team?

WHAT’S UP WITH OSWALT?

Rehab starts can be confusing, but in three starts the unofficial stats are…

9 1/3 innings. 14 hits and 8 runs.

Maybe he’s working on his stuff, but from the outside looking in that doesn’t appear great.

HAMILTON CONTINUES TO PUT FANS AT RISK EVERYTIME HE TAKES THE PLATE

I’m glad everyone at the ballpark is so amused by Josh Hamilton’s throwing of the bat. One of these days that isn’t going to be so funny. We are always talking about safety, etc. There should be consequences for this act. 

Monday I heard Galloway say, “Every league all the way from Little League has the rule of the DH. Why doesn’t the national league?” Well…. In Little League it’s an out when you throw your bat and at LEAST it should be an out in the Bigs.

However, with Josh we are talking about fan safety as well because the bat is going into the stands.

NBA players get tossed when they throw sweatband in stands for fan safety. Accident or not if a bat's thrown in stands it should be same, an automatic ejection.

NBA FINALS GAME 1 QUICK HITTERS

OKC’S ROAD TO TITLE OVERRATED

Lets not act like they ran through some sort of Gauntlet to get here…

OKC's road to Finals not Muder's Row: Mavs weren't good, Lakers got swept last year and Spurs have won 3 playoff series the last 4 years.

In fairness, the East Picture was completely skewed with the Bulls injuries… Philly and Boston both went one round too long because of that… Boston and Indiana hung with Miami because of the absence of Bosh.

LEBRON WASN’T GREAT, BUT DAMN BOSH AND WADE SUCKED

Lebron a so-so night.. 11-24 from the field for 30 points

Wade and Bosh a combined 11-30 for 29 combined points.

SEFOLOSHA THE DIFFERENCE, AGAIN…

Just like the San Antonio series the Swiss Swingman was the difference.

Sefolosha was the difference in the game.

Only played 8 minutes in the 1st half when they were outscored by seven.

Played 20 minutes in the 2nd half when they outscored the Heat by 18.

A huge spark.

HOWEVER, BOTH OF THESE COACHES SUCK

Worst coaching matchup in NBA Finals history.  Not even a close second.

Even after Miami wins this series they should fire Spoelstra at the parade…

CAN WE PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE CUT THE WESTBROOK CRAP????

Still gets bashed throughout the game when he doesn’t pass it to Durant every time down or shoots a jumper.

The guy plays how he plays and it isn’t going to change. FURTHERMORE, it shouldn’t.

This team is three games away from a championship and they wouldn’t be where they are without his play. Period.

You live with it, you die with it, but there aren’t a lot of point guards in this league I would rather have.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR MOVING FORWARD….

Where does Harden fit in this series?: Clearly they were better with Sefolosha on the floor and his inability to defend might make him meaningless and when he is called upon it will be interesting to see how he reacts with what should be a decreased role in the series.

Will Bosh continue to think he’s Ray Allen?: A great jump shooter, but he’s way too talented to just spot up at the three point line and jack up threes. If he doesn’t get more aggressive this could be a short series for the Heat.

Bench: Spoelstra handed Cole a DNP, Anthony barely played and Mike Miller’s action was limited. These aren’t great options, but Lebron and Wade are going to need rest at some point.

Will LBJ guard KD in crunch time?: I don’t know who makes this call whether it’s coach or player, but to not have the game’s best defender on KD in crunch time is a joke. I don’t get that at all.

June 12: QH Mavs title birthday, Game 1 of Finals and more

TODAY MARKS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE MAVS 1^ST AND ONLY TITLE

The celebration lasted longer than any celebration in NBA history and even went into the season with Jason Terry’s gold shoes and Dirk’s punch drunk attitude.

The fans held onto it all season and justified anything and everything that went on during the season by acting like championship runs were the identity of this franchise, but lets be honest….

As great as last season was it was a borderline FLUKE……..

Or “lightning in a bottle” as Carlisle and many others have put it.

I’m not trying to take anything away from it and it was awesome to see and I’m happy for everyone involved, but just look at how people acted. We celebrated the damn thing for almost a year…

IF CARON BUTLER DOESN’T GET HURT MAVS DON’T WIN THE TITLE IN 2011

Regardless of how good he was playing when he got hurt I believe with 100 million% certainty the Mavs don’t win it all if Butler doesn’t go down.

Butler deserves credit for being an inspiration for last year’s run and the best part about the injury is the Mavs were able to benefit from his INTANGIBLES without having a black hole on the offensive end of the court.

If Butler doesn’t go down…

He doesn’t rehab. Many Mavs said they were motivated by his rehab efforts.

Matrix doesn’t have the opportunity to step up like he did.

Stevenson doesn’t make the impact he made…

There’s no Peja…

The ball doesn’t move as well on offense…

JJ Barea likely doesn’t get moved into the starting lineup (Assuming they even make the Finals)

All the role players minutes go down.

The ball just doesn’t move as well on offense…

AGAIN… The Mavs were able to benefit from Butler’s intangibles through his rehab efforts. It goes without saying that he wouldn’t have rehabbed if he hasn’t gotten hurt.

LAST YEAR WAS ABOUT LEBRON COMING UP SHORT, NOT MAVS WINNING IT

Outside of the DFW that’s the perception…

A lot of people will take that personal and get defensive….

However, those are the same people that label Lebron a choker and talk about his disappearing act in last year’s finals after a great showing in the East Finals in which he shut down Derrick Rose.

The Mavs didn’t do anything special to take Lebron out of the game last year, he just didn’t get it done and outside of the Metroplex that’s how the 2011 NBA Finals will be remembered.

ALLOW ME TO COME CLEAN

Outside of Vince Young in 2005 and Dirk last season I have never wanted someone to win a championship more than I do Lebron this season.

In fact, it might even be more for Lebron than Dirk… It is disgusting how much hate this guy has to take for how good he is.

Lebron makes everyone basketball ignorant when they talk about him.

I will make no secret that I’m rooting for this guy BIG TIME and I’m pretty confident he’s going to come through.

RANGERS BEGIN A SERIES AT THE BALLPARK TONIGHT AGAINST ARIZONA

What to watch for during this stretch…

-       What does this Bullpen look like during an extended span without Ogando and possibly Ross?

-       Can the Rangers take advantage of the Friedo Span?

o   Friedo laid out the span of Rangers weak opponents and Angels tough opponents. As we sit right now the lead over the Angels is only 2.5. If it stays around 2.5 until the All Star break things aren’t looking well for the celebrated back-to-back 1^st losers.

-       Is this starting pitching going to get better or worse?

o   Can Yu get back on track?

o   What the hell will Holland do when he comes back?

o   It’s not realistic to think Harrison keeps this up.

o   Can Oswalt make an impact?

5 RANGERS POISED TO START IN THE WORST ALL STAR GAME IN SPORTS

I don’t care about the game itself…

As soon as an All Star exhibition becomes something that decides home field advantage it automatically become the worst All Star game in sports even behind the Pro Bowl.

At least when the Pro Bowl suffered bad PR they considered ending it rather than making it for some sort of home field advantage.

The MLB All Star game is a JOKE and the worst All Star game in sports.

HEAT-THUNDER GAME 1 TONIGHT

After weeks of people being blinded by OKC hate people are now being blinded by Miami hate and picking the Thunder to win this thing.

O.T.A. TALK

It's amusing that you can feel that the majority of the local media is getting suckered into the notion that this team has talent and isn’t far off. Happens every season.

OCHOCINCO FINDS THE CAMERAS

Will now be on Hard Knocks with the Miami Dolphins. He will likely get the 2^nd most air time behind Lauren Tannehill.

June 11: NBA Finals QH and Seven reasons why Miami wins the series

SEVEN REASONS WHY MIAMI WINS THE SERIES

No. 1: Miami struggles against teams that can muck-it-up and make the game slow and ugly. See: Indiana and Boston. Miami often looks Godly when they get in the open court and run.

No. 2: Chris Bosh is healthy and will force Ibaka out of the paint, not allowing him to roam freely and block shots.

No. 3: Miami is a small team. However, OKC doesn’t have personnel to make them suffer for going small. Perkins is a non-factor offensively and quite frankly, OKC likes to go small as well at times.

No. 4: I’m Russ Westbrook’s biggest fan, but this series will be when he tries to do too much. With the Miami Big 3 on the other side is when Westbrook will try to prove he belongs in that same category.

No. 5: Biggest mistake the Heat made last season was not putting Lebron on Dirk in crunch time. Lebron is going to guard Durant in crunch time and regardless of how much you hate LBJ there’s no denying he is the best defender in the game.

No. 6: Miami has been playing for this moment all season. All season they’ve had to hear about losing to the Mavs, they’ve had to see the video of their pep rally hundreds of times. They are going to unleash fury on OKC.

No. 7: Lebron… Best player on the court. Period. The same reason OKC beat San Antonio.

Prediction: Heat in 6, 5 wouldn’t surprise me. 

Quick Hitters

WHY THE MIAMI HEAT ARE A BIG BOY FRANCHISE AND THE RANGERS AREN’T: THE DOUBLE STANDARD

People all around the DFW will be pulling for the Oklahoma City Thunder for the next week-plus.

If the Heat lose back-to-back championships it wont be celebrated and they’ll be looked at as complete failures because they’re a BIG BOY franchise.

I hope and pray that one day the Rangers can be looked at locally as a BIG BOY franchis as well.

Until then… Lets all hold hands, put the claw up and wear our American League Champions T-shirts with pride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MIAMI THE UNDERDOG????

9 of the 14 ESPN Basketball experts pick OKC to win the series.

Last season 15 of the 22 NBA experts picked the Heat over the Mavs.

Side note: 3 of the 7 that picked the Mavs last season were Tim MacMahon, Marc Stein and Jeff Caplan.

Experts refers to ESPN.com writers and analysts.

A DFW FLIP-FLOP: OKC SUDDENLY UNBEATABLE

Not too many people giving Miami a chance to win this thing…

Remember when OKC was the team the Mavs wanted to see?

Remember when some people even went far enough to pick the sorry Mavs to beat OKC?

Remember when the Thunder just didn’t play good enough team basketball to beat the mighty Spurs?

Remember when OKC went down 2-0 in San Antonio and people were crowning the Spurs champions?

Suddenly the Thunder are unbeatable and Miami is the team that can’t hang with them.

QUESTION: IS THIS HEAT HATE OR HAVE PEOPLE HONESTLY CHANGED THE WAY THEY VIEW THE THUNDER?????