The Mavs don’t have to blow up their team and start over, because chicken-blank DeAndre Jordan did it for them.
DeAndre or Debacle indeed.
The Mavs deteriorated from their biggest free agent signing ever, to a Lottery-bound franchise left in shambles because of an 11th-hour change of heart from a spineless coward.
Welcome to Mavageddon. It isn’t the End of Days, but it sure feels like the End of an Era:
*The more I think about this, the more it stinks like Jordan merely used the Mavs to make the Clippers jealous. He never intended to sign with Dallas. Just got an $80 million commitment from the Mavs, then dangled it in front of his ex-team to see if they really cared.
*Jordan is not a man of his word. No matter what happens to him or the Clippers, he has to deal with that every time he looks in the mirror. He made a commitment, then slinked out of it. His flawed character was exposed during this whole scenario. Mavs owner Mark Cuban said this morning that Jordan totally ignored his calls and texts last night. What kind of despicable human being doesn’t even have the courtesy to say “No” face-to-face? Or at least break up via text?
*And don’t tell me it was about the money. Jordan will be paid $3.8 million more by the Clippers, but because of California state taxes he’ll take home about $1.7 million less than he would’ve in Dallas.
*From Johnny Football to DeAndre DeLiar, that A&M “Code of Honor” is really getting diluted these days. Aggies.
*Caitlyn Jenner is more of a man than DeAndre Jordan.
*Wednesday will go down as one of the darkest days in Mavs’ history. Not sure they’ve ever been so victimized by a player. And I fully remember Kiki Vandeweghe refusing to play in Dallas when drafted, Roy Tarpley’s multiple drug suspensions, Lamar Odom’s sabotage season, Derek Fisher’s fake retirement and Rajon Rondo quitting during last Spring’s playoffs. Even for a tortured franchise, this is cruel and unusual punishment.
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*Not blaming the Clippers in all this. Jordan called them to profess his cold feet with the Mavs marriage. What L.A. did wasn’t illegal, but certainly unethical. I will, from this day forth however, refer to them as the Flippers.
*Cuban now lays claim to being the only owner in NBA history to be fined for talking about an acquisition that he ultimately didn’t acquire. Wait, now should the NBA fine itself for a premature fine?
*The negative ramifications to the Mavs are staggering. In the wake of thinking he had Jordan signed, Cuban admitted a swing and miss on the free-agent center would’ve prompted him to “take a step back” and have “our David Robinson season.” In other words, tank the season. Don’t lose games purposefully. But refuse to throw money into the roster, and put on the court a team that would finish with one of the worst records in the league, guaranteeing missing the playoffs and a high draft pick in 2016. For a proud franchise that has made the playoffs 14 of the last 15 years, that’s now a stark, bitter reality.
*The Mavs have $20 million to spend, and no one available worthy of $20.
*If they’re going to be bad, they need to be really bad. I'm talking 15-win bad. Because of the disastrous Rajon Rondo trade, the Mavs keep their 2016 1st-round draft pick only if it’s in the Top 7. To guarantee that, they need to finish with one of the league’s four-worst records. Ouch.
*Because Jordan was Plan A, the Mavs last Friday scrapped Plan B. With Jordan defected and Tyson Chandler in Phoenix, the Mavs have no center. They only have a Plan C: Tanking. And you know what? The NBA deserves this. It’s the only major sports league that has a ridiculous moratorium. Why can’t the NBA — as do the NFL and NHL — calculate its salary cap before free agency. That simple alteration would stop this embarrassing and maddening nonsense.
*Where are the Mavs? Left with no starter signed beyond 2016 other than Wes Matthews, who is recovering from a torn Achilles. Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons and head coach Rick Carlisle all have their contracts ending after next season. I love Dirk. Favorite DFW athlete of all-time. But at this point I’d be OK with trading him to a contender. After all his effort and compromise, he deserves better than this mess.
*Emojis will never again be funny.
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.
