The NBA held the draft on Thursday.  Dallas came in to the draft with just
the #50 pick, but, as usual, did not stay with that.  With there not being
a player at #50 that Dallas really wanted, the Mavs traded away the pick
to Toronto for a 2013 2nd round pick and cash - as GM Donnie Nelson
described it, the move gave Dallas another asset (2013 2nd round pick) for
potential trades this summer.  The Mavs hope to be active in the free
agent market via sign-and-trades or even straight up trades with teams
looking to save money.  Dallas' big trading asset is Erick Dampier, whose
10-11 $13 million salary is not guaranteed (meaning a team that trades for
Dampier can then cut him and save $13 million).  But the Mavs do have a
little bit of concern as Dirk Nowitzki is expected to opt-out of his
contract and become a free agent.  Most believe that Nowitzki will re-sign
with Dallas (with a new contract, he can get 1 more year on it than if he
simply signed an extension and is also eligible to have a rare no-trade
clause (has the right to approve any trade he would be involved in)).  The
free agency market opens July 1, but trades and (non-rookie) signings can
not actually occur until the July Moratorium ends July 8.

Back to the draft, the #50 pick was a minor move, but Dallas did make a
major move in taking advantage of one of those teams looking to save money
(the 1st 2 years of a 1st round pick are guaranteed) and make some money.
Mark Cuban stepped up to the plate and dished out $3 million to Memphis
for the #25 pick, with which Dallas had Memphis select Dominique Jones.
The trade was pure pick-for-cash and Dallas was very proud to have made
the move without touching any of their assets, including future 1st round
picks.  Jones is a 6-4 shooting guard from the University of South
Florida, having just finished his junior year.   As would be expected,
both Nelson and Rick Carlisle had plenty of nice things to say about Jones
and felt that he fell lower than they thought he would go - Carlisle said
that they were actually trying to get a higher pick so that they could
select Jones and that the Mavs had him rated as the 3rd best 2-guard in
the draft.  Both described Jones as a tough player and credited his
ability to get to the free throw line (he averaged 8.5 FTA as a junior).
He has a nice inside game, including a variety of floaters, and Carlisle
said that he "has a pro ability to create his own shot."  Jones compares
himself to Rodney Stuckey and Dwayne Wade.  For what Jones needs to work
on, Nelson said that Jones needs to extend his shooting range out to the
NBA 3-point line.  During Jones' media phone interview draft night, twice
Jones mentioned being excited to play with and learn from Jason Kidd -
sounding like he expects to play both the 2-guard and point guard
positions.  He mentioned that he loves creating contact and needs to work
on his spot-up shooting.  When asked about Dallas spending $3 million to
get him [which is actually more than the 2 years guaranteed of his
contract], Jones said it makes him want to work harder and have higher
expectations and not wanting to let people down.  In being a later draft
pick, Jones said, "Success isn't in the beginning.  Nobody has reached
success.  Not [#1 pick] John Wall, nobody.  Success comes with how you
finish."

Both Jones and Roddy Beaubois are expected to play on Dallas' summer
league team in Las Vegas.

Summer League schedule:
  Friday,   July 9   vs Denver      3:00 pm 
  Saturday, July 10  vs Houston     9:00 pm 
  Monday,   July 12  vs Milwaukee   7:00 pm 
  Thursday, July 15  vs Washington  7:00 pm 
  Sunday,   July 18  vs Sacramento  7:00 pm 


Dominique Jones' South Florida stats
Year    GP-GS     MIN  AVG  FGM-FGA     PCT  3PM-3PA    PCT  FTM-FTA    PCT
07-08   31-31    1085 35.0  177-385   0.460   54-153  0.353  123-162  0.759
08-09   31-30    1161 37.5  193-461   0.419   54-175  0.309  121-171  0.708
09-10   33-33    1224 37.1  222-493   0.450   52-167  0.311  209-282  0.741
Total   95-94    3470 36.5  592-1339  0.442  160-495  0.323  453-615  0.737

        | Rebounds |
Year   OFF  DEF   TOT  AVG  AST  AVG   PF-D   STL   TO  BLK   PTS  AVG HI
07-08   44   99   143  4.6   86  2.8   73-3    47   70    8   531 17.1 31
08-09   61  112   173  5.6  122  3.9   79-2    41   82   12   561 18.1 36
09-10   37  164   201  6.1  120  3.6   93-1    56   97   19   705 21.4 46
Total  142  375   517  5.4  328  3.5  245-6   144  249   39  1797 18.9 46


patricia