Strike while the iron's hot Again, they farted around Saturday night and almost blew a win against the Houston Rockets, 106-102, after piling on a double-digit lead.
I truly do not believe this is a team seriously contending for the Western Conference Championship more or less the NBA title. It doesn't just have holes. It has large gaps.
As currently constructed, it'll never get to that point and, frankly, Dirk Nowitzki is no spring chicken and if you want to move forward in getting him a ring, then you need to do something drastic.
I think the Dallas Mavericks should concede 2010-11 for whatever it is (my prediction: A first-round exit) and look to truly go for it in 2011-12 and 2012-13 -- Nowitzki's probable two final peak years.
This means trading Tyson Chandler.
Do not get me wrong, this sounds pretty ridiculous. Well, only if you consider the Mavericks title contenders this season. If you do, then you are watching a completely different team than I or you are blinded by regular season wins against Memphis or Charlotte.
Chandler is playing fantastic. I always thought they ought to somehow get him. When they did, I was excited. He fits well. Plays good defense and is a perfect end piece to Nowitzki. He's athletic, tough and everything I've wanted for this franchise.
He's also putting up career numbers in certain stat categories in a contract year. His $12 million is coming off the books along with Caron Butler's $10 million.
My point is that Chandler is not a sure-fire bet to come back to the Mavericks. He's 28 and there aren't many more opportunities for him to get a big contract. The very fact that he's have such a great year and it being a contract year are not coincidences. I sincerely believe he'll test the market and go to the highest bidder. Who'd blame him? Certainly not me.
So, what if he leaves? You're stuck with last year's big hiccup: Brendan Haywood, who will be making $10 million in 2014-15. It gives you an 800-year-old Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion as a seventh man, Jason Terry's contract as a sixth man, the youngsters Dom Jones and Roddy
Beaubois.
Again, should Chandler and Butler leave or even should they stay, the Mavericks are not built for an NBA title.
I say, trade Chandler. Find a contender in need of size and athleticism and get the youngest, most NBA-ready talent they have on the roster. I'd avoid draft picks. The Mavericks are shitty at drafting players. If anything, use draft picks in another trade for actual talent.
Stock up on young talent. Force a team that think they're a player away to give up the farm to get Chandler. Take that talent and build them around Nowitzki, Kidd, Terry, Marion and Beaubois for the next two seasons.
After Kidd and Terry leave (hopefully ... Donnie Nelson might give them each five-year deals) after next season (both contracts are up), you have a nice foundation for our post-Nowitzki years.
Otherwise, the alternative is terrifying. After Chandler and Butler, the Mavericks have zero trade chips outside of Roddy Beaubois (who, frankly, is as unproven as they come). By next season, Kidd and Terry might be tradeable with their expiring deals.
If Chandler is traded (and possibly Butler's expiring deal) for cheaper, younger talent, it conceivable gives the Mavericks the leeway to have a lot of cash to play with in the off-season.
Now is not the time to be a hero or to be loyal for the sake of loyalty. I love Chandler as much as anyone and I prayed they didn't throw a big, long deal at Haywood last year. That handcuffs them more than anything because they are stuck with that dude holding down the far end of the bench down.
Desperate times cause for desperate measures. Let's wheel and deal here.
