DALLAS — The Mavericks closed up shop six weeks earlier this spring than last, ample time to study for that 10th pick the club has an 80% chance of retaining. Beyond that, GM Nico Harrison offered some parting thoughts earlier this week including this:
“To fans that are frustrated, they should be frustrated. This year is not acceptable. Nobody can be harder on myself than I am.”
Well … let’s give it a try.
As a general manager, Harrison largely skates on his mistakes due to the assumption that Mark Cuban’s handprints are all over each decision that matters. Harrison was not here for Kristaps Porzingis’ arrival, but he was GM for the departure trade that brought Spencer Dinwiddie to Dallas and he was here for the botched Jalen Brunson negotiations and he was very much here for the deal that sent Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith to Brooklyn to enjoy the playoffs in exchange for Kyrie Irving.
I have to believe that Harrison’s role at least gives him more GM clout than, say, Gersson Rosas had in his ever-so-brief time as Mavs GM in 2013. So let’s at least hold Harrison accountable for what he himself said is not acceptable. The Mavericks were in fourth place in the Western Conference standings shortly before the trade deadline. Thinking they had acquired a superstar that would inspire another deep playoff run in a wide open West, they managed to finish 11th. The team was 5-11 in games in which both Luka Doncic and Irving played — a collapse that included consecutive losses to Charlotte — and yet Cuban and Harrison say they love this combination so much they are committed to bringing Irving back this fall.
Both were careful not to mention contract numbers and Cuban, who began his time as Mavericks owner saying the team would never get outbid for players it wants, said “I guess there’s always too high a price.” Giving the two a benefit of the doubt they haven’t exactly earned, let’s assume both men know that the only way to salvage a move that was a terrible idea the day it happened is to ship Irving elsewhere through a sign-and-trade deal.
I don’t want to read or hear any more about what good behavior Irving exhibited for two months. What kind of curve are we using to grade a 31-year-old man making a salary of $39 million, one who asked to be traded out of Brooklyn and got his wish? He said nice things while being an integral part of a team’s downfall? He didn’t say anything horribly offensive to Jews as he did in Brooklyn — an act that got him suspended from the team earlier this season — so now let’s sign him to a max contract of five years at about $270 million?
Could anyone seriously think that’s a smart basketball move?
Thus, we come to the sign-and-trade pot of gold at the end of this dark rainbow. Let’s start with the ideal. The Lakers’ Anthony Davis has been rumored to be interested in playing with Luka for at least a year now. Watch what LA does in the playoffs, and if the club disappears against Memphis, consider anything possible. Does Davis for Irving make sense from the Dallas end? Oh, hell yes. Always take the 6-11 scorer who misses lots of games over the 6-2 scorer who misses lots of games.
From the Lakers’ end? Makes sense only if LeBron James is in charge, but who’s to say he isn’t?
Irving’s salary just happens to pair nicely with Davis (right below him at 12th on the list of highest paid NBA players) and the next name on that list, fascinatingly, is Rudy Gobert’s. This one would be funnier. The Mavericks are forever in search of help on defense and at center, so what if the answer was the guy who’s always right at the top of blocks and rebounds?
Hey, never mind the fact that it was the Mavericks who exposed Gobert’s weaknesses in the playoffs (coach Quin Snyder had to sit him for long stretches because of his inability to defend on the perimeter). And maybe disregard the fact that Gobert hit a teammate in Minnesota and got suspended for the Lakers’ play-in game. It was just an awkward punch to the chest, nothing devastating like Draymond Green might deliver to a teammate.
Beyond that, keep an eye on the Clippers-Suns series. Those teams have championship aspirations because of their superstar investments, and one of them is going out in the first round. Both showed interest in Irving back in February when the Mavericks got him. Maybe it’s time for Playoff P (that’s Paul George) to return to the Southwest Division. He can even bring a Morris twin with him, giving Dallas a matching set.
There’s another player with a salary near Irving’s level who averaged 23 points, 8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks this year. He can defend the paint a little and he spaces the floor nicely at the offensive end.
Who’s ready for the Irving for Porzingis sign-and-trade?
It’s more likely the Mavericks will receive an offer of a collection of players rather than a straight 1-for-1 deal. Perhaps that’s what Doncic needs more than that second superstar. I mean how far did last year’s team go again? It’s hard to remember back to when Jason Kidd was a good defensive coach and Luka and role players were exposing Utah and Phoenix weaknesses like Swiss cheese.
People thought the mix was flawed because the Mavericks lost to Golden State in five. Hey, an entire wing of the Basketball Hall of Fame will one day be filled with players that lost big playoff series to the Warriors over the last decade.
Hope of sustaining 2022 success sailed out the window when Brunson took off for the Knicks. Everyone can enjoy watching him or Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith in the playoffs the next two weeks.
The Mavs aren’t so busy. I don’t know which options will be presented to Nico and Mark this summer. Neither is going to say it, but I have to think both know the Irving sign and trade is the only way to put a bow on the mess they made in February.
