On the last day for trades (last Thursday) the Mavs had worked a trade 
deal with Utah for Derek Harper [Harp for Jamie Watson, Greg Foster, and a
draft pick], but Harp nixed it and said that he didn't want to go to Utah.

Congrats to George McCloud who went from hell to heaven.  McCloud was
traded Thursday by New Jersey to the LA Lakers for Joe Kleine, a 1st round
draft pick, and a conditional 2nd round pick.  McCloud will be filling in
for the injured Robert Horry.

The Paul Schauffer award goes to the Mavs music man for playing New 
Attitude prior to the tip off for the Milwaukee and Toronto games.

Here's how the Mavs' salary structure looks
Player                96-97  Last year of contract   Amount in that year
Erick Strickland    $247,500      96-97  signed to 10-day
Greg Dreiling       $247,500      96-97
Sasha Danilovic   $1,892,000     opt-out this year

Michael Finley      $723,000      97-98               $816,000
Kurt Thomas       $1,238,000      97-98             $1,390,000
Ed O'Bannon       $1,303,000      97-98             $1,470,000
Derek Harper      $1,300,000      97-98             $1,560,000

Martin Muursepp     $401,000      98-99               $765,000
Samaki Walker     $1,246,000      98-99             $1,619,000
Khalid Reeves     $1,752,000      98-99             $2,000,000
A.C. Green        $4,315,000      98-99             $5,125,000

Robert Pack       $2,700,000      00-01 *           $4,320,000

Shawn Bradley     $5,130,000      01-02 **          $8,370,000

*Pack as opt-out after 98-99 season tied to minutes and games played
*Bradley has opt-out after 98-99 if he statistically ranks among the top 
 3 centers in the league

Michael Finley has been performing magnificently since the trade and
enjoying his starting role.  And the thing I love the most is that when
interviewed after the Phoenix victory, he wasn't that happy with his
performance saying that the key 3-pointer near the end of the game was one
of the few things he did that night.  When reminded that he had 20 points 
[and also had 5 assists], he shrugged and said that he was his own worst 
critic and is never totally happy with his performance.  In the 5 games 
since the trade (all starts at small forward), Finley has averaged 22.4 
points on 48.9% (43-88) FG, 10-21 3-pointers, and 16-19 FT, 5.2 rebounds,
and 4.8 assists in 42.8 minutes.

Sasha Danilovic sprained his left ankle at the end of the Toronto game and
will be out 7 to 10 days.