Peja "With the signing of Peja, the Mavs are a lock to win the 2004 NBA Finals".
Another Tweet from Jamey Newberg asked how giving away Alex Ajinca was a good move.
In other words, who really thinks this is a good idea?
All of this is panic. Hasty decisions made by the Mavericks' brass in light of their recent woes and loss of Caron Butler.
They think they need to win a championship now.
They're not wrong. However, they're potentially setting this franchise back substantially once Dirk Nowitzki begins to fade or eventually retires.
Stojakovic was placed on waivers by the Toronto Raptors after playing in just two games for them. Stojakovic, himself, has been hampered by injuries. He's played in just eight games all year between Toronto and New Orleans.
In return for Stojakovic, the Mavs would not only send Ajinca, but also a second-round pick and cash.
Do not get me wrong here. Ajinca is probably, at best, an 11th man. Second-round picks hardly pan out, especially if you're the Dallas Mavericks. And cash is cash.
Still, Ajinca is a 22-year-old, 7-0 former first-round pick, who can shoot. Second-round finds are possible.
Basically, the Mavericks are saying, "Fuck it. We've got three prime years of Dirk left. Let's go all in."
Stojakovic is 33 years old. And he looks it. He's 6-10, which is surprising to me as I would have guessed 6-7 or so. His numbers have dropped off the last two years. He hasn't played more than 80 games since 2003-04, perpetually battling injuries.
At one time, he was probably my most feared shooter in the league. I hated playing the Sacramento Kings back in the day because it seemed that Mike Bibby and Peja hit big shot after big shot.
No longer.
I don't know who is writing headlines for The Dallas Morning News anymore, but they had a doozy on Eddie Sefko's column:
Why Peja Stojakovic won’t automatically make Mavs title contenders again.
What planet are people on? Did anyone think the Mavs were legit title contenders before? The perception of this franchise is really no longer the fault of Mark Cuban or Donnie Nelson. It's the fanbase and media.
We've seen this show before. It's the same rodeo that rolls into town. Yes, it's still entertaining. Yet, if you think it's going to end any differently, then I have to strongly question you're ability to separate illusion from reality.
I can name you a half dozen different pockmarks on the Mavericks' roster and scheme. This isn't a team that's beating San Antonio or Los Angeles, with or without Caron Butler. And any inkling that Peja flippin' Stojakovic is the answer is reason enough to institutionalize someone.
I understand the panic. But I don't condone it. It's unnecessary. Stojakovic isn't putting this team anywhere near the edge, more or less putting them over it. There's still a lot of Nowitzki left in the tank and there's time in the next several years to truly go after a title with youth.
Now's not the time to panic. Yet, everyone's piling into the lifeboats.
