Dallas' first pre-season game is tonight!!!  Popeye Jones is questionable
due to a sprain right ankle.

As expected, Dallas re-signed Eduardo Najera.  Najera signed September 28 to
a reported 6 year, $24 million contract with a player opt-out after the 5th
year.

On September 30, Dallas signed defensive specialist guard Raja Bell to a 1
year partially minimum guaranteed contract.  Half of the contract is
guaranteed.

Training camp fodder: Dallas signed Derek Hood and Kipp Christianson on
September 27 and Adam Harrington on September 30 to 1 year, non-guaranteed
contracts.  Christianson has already been released - Dallas released him
following the Blue-White scrimmage on Sunday.  Hood and Harrington are
_very_ long shots to make the team.  Harrington, an undrafted rookie who
left school a year early, has been getting some praise though.

On October 1, Dallas signed restricted free agent Michael Redd to a 3 or 4
year (I've heard both years reported with the same dollar amount), $12 
million offer sheet.  Milwaukee has 15 days to match the offer sheet - 
until October 16.  Talent-wise, it is a no brainer for Milwaukee to match, 
but Milwaukee is watching their money and may not match as they are in 
luxury tax territory and would have to pay dollar-for-dollar for Redd's 
salary to the tax.  Redd is a young (only 23 years old), talented shooting 
guard.  He shot 48.3% FG and 44.4% 3-pointers last season.

Dallas felt the other side of that coin in that the LA Clippers signed
restricted free agent Wang Zhizhi to a reported 3 years, $6 million offer
sheet.  Dallas did not officially receive notice of the offer sheet until
October 2, so Dallas has until October 17 to match.  Reports are that Dallas
will not decide whether or not to match until the Redd situation has been
resolved.  To me it is a no brainer to match Wang at that salary amount.

The Mavs will be hosting a free, open practice October 16 (Wednesday) from 
12-2 at the AAC.  It is part of their Select-a-seat day that runs from 10 
am to 8 pm for any one looking to get season tickets.  There is free 
parking on the north side of the building in lot F for the event/practice. 

Congratulations to Tariq Abdul-Wahad on the birth of his new son on 
Sunday! 

The Mavs held their annual open practice/scrimmage on Sunday [and I made the
6 hour drive from Arkansas (where I was for the weekend) to get back in time
for the scrimmage].  The Blue Team consisted of Steve Nash, Eduardo Najera,
Adrian Griffin, Raja Bell, Raef LaFrentz, Evan Eschmeyer, and Avery Johnson.
The White team consisted of Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Bradley,
Popeye Jones, Nick Van Exel, Derek Hood, Adam Harrington, and Kipp
Christianson.  Tariq Abdul-Wahad had an excused absence due to the birth of
his child.  While the players were shooting around warming up, Finley would
toss the ball into the stands and have the fan pass the ball back to him for
him to shot.  Nash took the mike and introduced the teams, starting out with
the Blue Team and telling the fans to go ahead and boo them.  He then started 
with Bradley and the fans followed Nash's instructions and boo'ed, which 
prompted Nash to reverse his instructions for the fans not to boo.  The White 
team came out shooting hot and the Blue team was cold.  None of the defense 
that was being talked about was present in the game.  The White team held a 
strong lead most of the game.  Finley tried to carry his team back in the 4th
quarter with his hot shooting, but it was too late, especially with the 
running clock (including through free throws; I guessed as the game was 
running longer than expected).  The White team won 78-67.

For the Blue Team: Nash came out full of energy and had 16 points and 7 
assists, despite sitting out for good chunks of times.  Najera also had his 
usual energy and was looking to shoot more than he usually does.  He 
finished with 14 points.  Najera showed a veteran move by grabbing Popeye's 
hand down low to prevent Popeye from getting to a lobbed-in pass.  Eschmeyer 
was everywhere and showed more range than usual - out to 18-feet - and had a
double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Bell was a speed demon and 
had 11 points.  LaFrentz did not look good and only had 7 points on 3-14 FG, 
but did have 9 rebounds.  He also continued to be foul prone with 5 fouls.  
Johnson (2 points) and Griffin didn't leave much of an impression from this 
scrimmage.

For the White Team: Finley played great and was hitting some tough shots.
He had 24 points including 9-13 FG.  Nowitzki was awful and couldn't find 
the buck while shooting only 4-20 FG.  He had 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Popeye sprained his ankle early in the 3rd quarter and went to the locker
room and did not return.  Bradley was inconsistent during the game.  He
showed some promise and also did some of his usual stuff.  He had 8 points
and 9 rebounds.  He did stay after the game and tossed his shoes to the
fans.  Van Exel seemed disinterested and had 4 points and 6 assists.  Derek
Hood (3 points) and Kipp Christianson (1 point) looked like training camp
fodder.  Adam Harrington showed a nice shooting touch and had 8 points
including 2 3-pointers.  I still doubt he makes the team, which is probably
good for him as he needs to be somewhere where he'd actually play.


patricia