It’s come to this Mavs fans: DeAndre or Debacle.
After a whirlwind first day of NBA free agency in which only seven players signed with new teams but teams handed out over $1 billion in contracts, your Mavericks lost players and – more importantly – wiggle room.
Mavs’ management knows what it’s doing. Over the last 15 years owner Mark Cuban and general manager Donnie Nelson have constructed rosters that have been to 14 playoffs and two Finals and won a championship. But at this stage, I don’t blame fans for not only squirming, but screaming.
Why? Because Wednesday was woeful.
The Mavs reportedly impressed DeAndre Jordan in separate meetings in Los Angeles, and the game-changing center remains their Plan A. This could still all work for Dallas.
But, otherwise, the Mavs lost, lost and lost some more. Al-Farouq Aminu to the Blazers. J.J. Barea apparently on the verge of going to the Heat. Monta Ellis flirting with the Pacers and Kings. And, most surprising and debilitating of all, Tyson Chandler to the Suns.
Disrespected and back-burnered by the Mavs for the second time in four summers, the best center in franchise history didn’t wait around to be Dallas’ sloppy seconds if it failed to land Jordan. At 33, he signed a four-year, $52 million in Phoenix, and then immediately began recruiting another Mavs’ target – LaMarcus Aldridge.
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Double ouch.
The Mavs are reportedly out of the Aldridge sweepstakes. They totally shunned leading scorer Ellis’ moodiness when other teams are lining up for a chance to add his playmaking production. And with Chandler’s departure, they have no Plan B. No safety net. Zero wiggle room.
If they whiff on Jordan, their starting center in 2016 will be … Robin Lopez? Roy Hibbert? Dirk Nowitzki?
Without Jordan – who might, in turn, help them land free-agent swingman Wesley Matthews – the Mavs will have a declining Dirk, no first-round pick in 2016 (thanks to the disastrous Rajon Rondo trade) and, let’s face it, a bleak future.
DeAndre. Or Debacle.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
