The rumored trade finally came down late on Monday.  Dallas traded Nick Van
Exel, Avery Johnson, Evan Eschmeyer, a re-signed Popeye Jones, and Antoine
Rigaudeau to Golden State for Antawn Jamison, Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch,
and Chris Mills.

Wow.  I started drooling when I first heard about this trade.  We get
Jamison and only have to give up Nick and junk???  I'd have done this in a
heartbeat.  I hate losing Nick [and I never would have though I'd have said
that a year ago], but we all knew that if Dallas was going to make a major
addition to the team, Nick was the price to pay [I'm fully against trading
any of the big 3].  And in Jamison, Dallas finally has a solid small forward
so that everyone can play their best position.  As much coverage Dallas has
received about their problems at center, the small forward hole has been
almost as big.  Dallas started Adrian Griffin, Raja Bell, or Eduardo Najera 
at small forward during the season and playoffs and the small combo of Steve
Nash, Van Exel, and Michael Finley often played most of the 4th quarters
during tight games.  With Jamison, Finley can remain in his better position
as a shooting guard and small ball is out the window.  Jamison is a 6-9
forward.  He can - and has - play both small and power forward, but small
seems to be his better position.  Since he has played power forward,
including a lot in college, he does have a good (if different) inside game,
which should nicely compliment Dirk Nowitkzi's game.  And even better, he
can rebound, especially offensive rebounds.  He averaged 22.2 points on 47%
FG (only 31.1% 3-pointers and, like too many big men, he likes to float
outside, which is not his strength) and 7 rebounds including 2.4 offensive
last season.  Almost as big of a weakness as defense has been for Dallas has
been offensive rebounding.  No Mav last season averaged 2 per game - 
Nowitzki is almost purely a defensive rebounder as he averaged 1 offensive 
rebound per game despite averaging 9.9 rebounds overall.  As for defense, 
Jamison isn't known for it, which makes him no different from the other 
Mavs.  But just having a taller lineup of Jamison instead of Van Exel (also 
not known for defense) should help a tad defensively.  Another plus is that 
Jamison just turned 27, the prime of his career.  If things work out with 
Jamison, not only is the present strong, but so is the future.  Finley is 
30, Nash is 29, and Nowitzki is just 25.  He's also a good person and 
received the NBA Community Assist Award for July for his off the court work.

And to those who have commented about there not being enough balls to go
around with all the shooters on the team, the same thing was said when Van
Exel was acquired (and to a lesser extent, when Juwan Howard was acquired).
Dallas may have 3 all-stars in Finley, Nash, and Nowitzki, but none are
really a "me" player and are unselfish, sometimes to a fault.  It will be an
adjustment for Jamison in that he's no longer the #1 player on the team, but
it's also the first time he's been put in a winning situation at the NBA
level.

In addition to losing Van Exel, Danny Fortson was the price of this trade,
much like Tariq Abdul-Wahad was in the LaFrentz-Van Exel trade.  Fortson has
a large contract and Golden State was thrilled to get rid of it.  In
addition, he's been a problem child the last 2 seasons and was really deep
into the coach's doghouse and racked up a ton of DNP-CDs last season.  Due
to those DNP-CDs and missing a number of games due to deaths in the family,
Fortson only played 17 games last season.  But on the positive side, he can
rebound like crazy.  In 01-02, he averaged 11.7 rebounds including 3.8
offensive in 28.8 minutes.  He also shot just 42.8% FG, which is pathetic
for a big man.  He's one-dimensional - rebounding is all he does well.  The
Mavs can hope his bad attitude was just a result of being stuck in a losing
situation for so long and that coming to Dallas will rejuvenate him.  If
that is the case, look for Fortson to see some playing time at the power
forward position when Dallas moves Nowitzki to center for stretches.  If he
remains a headcase, look for him to get buried deep into Nelson's doghouse.

Jiri Welsch was a rookie last season and didn't see much court time.  I
really don't know much about him.  He's a guard and it sounds like Dallas
will try to play him at point some, but he hasn't shown much point skills.
I'd say he's a development project and probably won't see much court time
here either this season - but maybe next season with some off court work.
Being a European player, the Nelsons, as usual, are high on him.  He was a
1st round pick and, thus, is signed to a 4 year rookie contract.

Chris Mills is cap filler to make the trade work.  He's in the last year of
his contract and will make $6.6 million for 03-04.  Which makes him really,
really desirable for a future team looking to trade away a contract.  I'd be
very surprised if he was still with Dallas by the trading deadline.  He may
even by gone by the time the season starts.  Dallas can't include him in a
multi-player trade for 2 months, but he can be traded now for a single
player.  I don't expect him to see a minute of court time for Dallas.


As for what Dallas lost, Nick Van Exel will definitely be missed.  His 
performances and leadership during the playoffs were stellar.  But he was
backup at a position where Dallas already had an all-star.  Even when he
played shooting guard, he moved Finley to small forward, where Finley is
undersized and not getting rebounding numbers that you want from the small
forward position.  I feel sorry for Nick and hope his stay in Golden State
won't be long.  He came in and was the best that Dallas could have hoped he
would have been.  No mental problems, no internal problems, no complaints
about minutes, accepted his role, and even motivated the team when they 
needed to hear it.  He's been through a rebuilding process before with 
Denver and got frustrated there with the losing and lack of progress and 
forced a trade.  I don't expect his stint with Golden State to be much 
different.  Golden State is going to lose a lot this season and if there is
a promising future for them (which is very much in question), then it's many
years down the road.  Van Exel does have trade value and, if Golden State is
halfway smart (again in question), they'll move him on within a year for
value.

I don't mean to insult the other now-former Mavs by calling them junk,
besides Rigaudeau, but none had a viable on the court future with Dallas.
Rigaudeau was simply going to cost Dallas $660,000 in luxury tax money -
he's already reportedly made a deal with a Spanish team and Dallas wouldn't
have been paying his salary, but it would count against the cap and, thus,
the luxury tax.  Popeye wasn't going to be re-signed.  AJ didn't see much
court time last season and wouldn't have again this season, though he is a
wonderful lockerroom presence.  And, though a nice guy, Esch just isn't much
of a player and was given a ridiculous contract length-wise.


As for why Dallas did this trade (besides being stupid not to), it was an
upgrade in talent, height, and youth and filled a hole that the team had.
This trade would not have happened without Mark Cuban's willingness to take 
on a lot of contract money.  Kudos to Mark for improving the team despite
the deep hit to the pocketbook.  Dallas now does have a major weakness at 
backup point guard.  Right now, the team just has a rookie free agent
learning the point position (Marquis Daniels) and a 2nd year player who
didn't see much court time last season (just 37 games and 234 minutes, Jiri
Welsch) to play backup point.  Look for that need to be filled with a free 
agent signing (from a glance at the list Travis Best is probably the best
available; stay _far_, _far_ away from Rod Strickland) or minor trade 
(using Mills' expiring contract as bait).  

Golden State did this trade purely for money.  That they got a good player
in Van Exel as part of the deal was a bonus for them.  The money they will
save is long term, not this coming season.  They got rid of 2 long and
expensive contracts in Jamison and Fortson.  Golden State stupidly (as I
said at the time) gave Jamison a maximum contract extension 2 years ago -
the same amount and length that we gave Dirk Nowitzki 2 years ago.
Jamison is a good, solid player, but not a maximum player.  Jamison has 
5 years worth $79.3 million left on his contract - he can opt-out after 3
more seasons, but don't expect him to do so.  It's a big bloated contract,
but at least he's a near all-star where as Fortson just has a big bloated
contract.  Fortson has 4 years worth $24.05 million left on his contract.
He can opt-out in the summer of 2005, but don't expect him to do so.  Welsch
has 2 years worth $2.7 million left on his contract with a team option for
another year.  And Mills has 1 year worth $6.6 million left.  As for what
Golden State gained contract-wise, Van Exel has 3 years, $38.5 million left
on his contract (with a player opt-out after this season, but don't expect
him to do so); Eschmeyer has 4 years, $13 million left (with a player
opt-out for the final season, but don't expect him to do so); AJ has 1 year,
$5,445,600 left; and Popeye likely signed a 1 year, minimum contract [only
costs Golden State $688,679].  Rigaudeau wants to play in Europe and will
void the $660,000 left on his contract, so that doesn't cost Golden State
anything (counts against their cap, but they aren't in luxury tax
territory).  So, Golden State saves around $55 million long term with this
deal, which makes their tightwad owner very happy.

Golden State also frees up the logjam at small forward and gives Jamison's
minutes to youngster and high draft pick Mike Dunleavy.


It's the 3rd time in the last 4 years that Dallas has made a trade where
they've received a team's best player without giving up one of their best
3 players.

Interesting tidbit: Dallas is the sole reason that Golden State made the
draft day trade with Toronto of #4 for #5 plus money in 1998.  Golden
State wanted Jamison all along.  As part of his smoke screen for his real
intentions, Don Nelson floated rumors that Dallas wanted Jamison and was
going to try to trade up to get him.  Golden State made the trade with
Toronto to prevent Dallas from trading with Toronto.  Of course, Dallas
only had eyes for Nowitzki and would have taken him no matter what pick
they ended up with (Nelson has said that they had Nowitzki ranked #1 and
Pierce #2 in their wants from the 1998 draft).

Interesting tidbit #2: Danny Fortson and Howard Eisley both got their
over-paid and over-long contracts as sign-and-trades as part of a 4 team
trade involving Golden State, Dallas, Boston, and Utah in August of 2000.
Fortson signed a 7 year, $48 million contract and went from Boston to 
Golden State.  Eisley got a 7 year, $41 million contract and went from 
Utah to Dallas.


Dallas has a press conference scheduled for 4:30 today to introduce 
Jamison, Welsch, and Fortson [really glad to hear he's making the trip].

Some quotes from the papers and a Donn Nelson radio interview:

Antawn Jamison: "It's hard to put into words what this means to me.  To go
from a situation when you win 25-30 games a year to having a chance to win
a championship with the best owner in the league and one of the best
coaches ever, it's unbelievable.  I couldn't get any sleep at first.  Plus,
you've got all-stars in Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley.
That's a pretty scary combination."

Jamison: "Scoring points and getting shots is the least of my worries.  I'm
trying to win.  I've been on a team for 5 years and I've been the guy.  You
get the points and you don't win.  I wasn't happy.  I don't have a problem 
taking a different role, whatever it takes to win."

Jamison: "My rebounding numbers will definitely go up on this team.
They'll allow me to go to the boards a lot more.  People think I can't
play defense, but that's something I take a lot of pride in."

Jamison: "Imagine Steve running the floor with me on one wing and Dirk
on another and Mike trailing.  It's going to be crazy.  And in the
halfcourt, it's pick your poison."

Jamison on Fortson: "Danny is a bruiser, a rebounder, and he gives you
that toughness you need for a playoff run.  He just needs to be revived.
I think coming to a new situation will do that."


Donn Nelson: "The way we play is a good fit for Antawn.  There is no one
like Nellie when it comes to taking advantage of mismatches.  Antawn has
the ability to post up small forwards and is quick enough to go around
power forwards.  We now go 6-9 with Antawn, 7 feet with Dirk, and 6-11
with Raef on the front line.  By committee we're taller, better, and
tougher."

Nelson: "This is a real nice move for our franchise.  It makes sense for
us in the short term and long term."

Nelson on Jamison: "The thing we like about it is is he's in his prime."

Nelson on Fortson: We're going to have a looksy in training camp at him.
Last year was a very tough season for him.  ...  We felt that he was
something that could help our front line."

Nelson on Fortson: "I think he has to come in with the right frame of
mind and in shape."

Nelson: "It was extremely difficult to part with Nick.  We understand
the caliber of player he is, and his presence in the locker room is
something we can't replicate.  But in order to get something in this
league, you have to give."

Nelson on Welsch: "We wouldn't have done the deal without him."

Nelson on Welsch: "He's a guy we liked in the draft last year."

Nelson on Welsch: "He's a guy that we're real excited about it and we
think he'll have a good future."


Garry St. Jean: "In the short term, we have added talented players to
our roster, while also providing an opportunity for some of our younger
players to step up and play larger roles in our overall development.
In the long term, this trade will provide us with some flexibility that
we may not otherwise have had."



Older Mavs news:
Adrian Griffin signed a 2 year, minimum contract with Houston on August 7.
I really liked Griff and his blue-collar work and hate to see him leave.
[And if anyone tries to shove +/- in my face regarding Griff's value, I'll 
toss back Calvin Booth and Evan Eschmeyer as to why there are lies, damn 
lies, and statistics.]


patricia