Philadelphia signed unrestricted free agent Greg Buckner to a 6 year, $18 million contract. He'll earn $2.4 million in 02-03. Apparently Dallas decided that Buck was expendable as they didn't even approach Buckner about the possibility of re-signing him, even though they had full Bird rights with him and were not restricted by the salary cap and did not have to use a valuable exception to re-sign him. In Buck, a good guy by all accounts and very popular in the locker room (with a very unique laugh), Dallas lost their best defender and one of their hustle players. He along with Adrian Griffin and Johnny Newman helped limit Kobe Bryant to just 26 points including 9-32 FG in the last 2 Dal-LAL games. He was also the team's best at following a driving Nash to the basket to receive the easy dish and basket. The loss of Buck does leave somewhat of a hole at small forward, so look for Dallas to pick up a small forward (either backup or starter) during the summer. And Dallas is pipe dreaming if they think that Tariq Abdul-Wahad is going to return from the dead and that Adrian Griffin will be healthy all season. But pipe dreams every once in a blue moon come true, which is why ... Dallas brought unrestricted free agent Rashard Lewis for a visit on Thursday. Lewis is unhappy with the slow and low-ball negotiations that have been going on with Seattle, who hold full Bird rights for Lewis. Lewis had hoped for a maximum contract (7 years, $96.9 million [25% of the salary cap]), but after no formal offer from Seattle and rumors that their offer would be just 7 years, $50 million [the Sonics denied that rumor, but it was out there] and the Sonics re-signing another free agent (Jerome James), Lewis felt slighted and that Seattle was not focusing their attention on retaining Lewis like the top priority that they claimed he was. Thus he decided to visit other teams and Dallas was thrilled to jump on board and roll out the red carpet as his first visit. And when word of Lewis' visit to Dallas came out, Seattle put a formal offer out of 7 years and somewhere between $60 and $70 million, but reportedly laden with incentives to reach that amount. Now, since the max Dallas can offer Lewis (unless a sign-and-trade is arranged) is just $14.7 million for 3 years, it really sounds like a pipe dream. But after 3 years, Dallas would have full Bird rights with Lewis and could re-sign him to a maximum contract of 7 years, 30% of the salary cap [note that is under the rules of the current CBA, which expires after 04-05, and that there could be different rules/limits with the new CBA]. If the salary cap only increases by $3.23 million from this year to 05-06 (which seems very conservative), that would be a maximum of 7 years, $125,125,000; and take the 3 year, $14.7 mill and add it to the 1st 4 years of that hypothetical maximum contract and it would be a 7 year, $76.45 million contract - which is comparable to what Seattle could offer. So maybe it's not such a pipe dream. Granted there is a big if there and it would be a gamble for a player to walk away from a guaranteed 7 year contract to only 3 years guaranteed at much lower money and the hopes that no injury hits and your play is worthy of a maximum contract. Dallas has shown a willingness to give out maximum contracts as seen with Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki. On the other hand, Gary Trent signed his 2nd contract with Dallas for less than he could have gotten on the open market, but was let go after 2 unproductive and injury plagued seasons. [Washington also has no state income tax, so no advantage in that sense.] Rashard Lewis is a 6-10, 215 small forward who turns just 23 years old in August. He came into the league fresh from high school (and all who watched the draft will remember the extreme disappointment he felt in not being drafted in the 1st round). Last season was his 4th in the league and he averaged 16.8 points and 7 rebounds in 71 games. He also had career highs of 36 points and 19 rebounds in 54 minutes of Seattle's 123-119 2OT win over Orlando on 11/5/01. In prepartion for Lewis' visit to Dallas, the Mavs announced his flight and arrival time to encouraged fans to come out to greet him. Don Nelson also flew in from his vacation in Maui to be here to visit with him. About 300 people where at the airport to welcome Lewis to Dallas (yes, some were Mavs employees, but most were fans). The Mavs pulled out all the bells and whistles in wooing Lewis - limos drove he, his mom, a friend, and his agents around; given a full tour of the Mavs' facilities and team plane; Mavs jerseys made up with Lewis' name and #43 (high school number); a group of kids from the Boys and Girls Club were brought to the American Airlines Center to greet him (and he signed autographs) while radio play-by-play played on the speakers of a game where Nowitzki passes to Lewis for the game winning shot against the Lakers; interviews with local media; and dinner with Mark Cuban. Since Lewis didn't do the college interview circuit (only visited one college), Lewis was very impressed with all the love Dallas showed him and Dallas' facilities. I'm sure the Mavs pointed out some of the numbers that I described above (but not promising anything on a future contract - that's illegal), stressed how Dallas is a title contender right now and Lewis would fit in perfectly with something this team needs, and Dallas is near to his friends and family in Houston (where he's from and lives in the off season). When asked about the Rockets, Lewis said that he felt that Dallas has the better organization than the Rockets. Lewis is going to talk and maybe visit with other teams. He is not in a rush to make his decision. Rashard Lewis on his visit to Dallas: "My welcome was one of the best I've ever had. I'm from this area, my family and friends will be able to see me play a lot more often." Lewis: "The way they go about things is really surprising. Makes me put a smile on my face. The main thing is me being comfortable and wanting to go out there and be with the team. They're making me feel at home right now, so it's a good thing. Something I've wanted to do is go out and visit other teams, see what other organizations are like and see what they have to offer." Mark Cuban: "We just want him to know that this is important to us and that we're willing to pull out the stops. Money is always important, but sometimes being close to home and knowing where you fit in the organization is just as important." Cuban: "This isn't about pressuring him. This isn't about trying to sell him at all. He's got to feel comfortable, he's got to know this is a good decision because this is a career decision." Don Nelson: "We don't really have a small forward. Rashard rebounds really well for his position and he can shoot it. Plus I think there's even more there to work with, since we allow our players to do a little more." My belief is that Seattle ups their offer and Lewis re-signs there. But it is worth making an overture for Lewis and doesn't cost anything to try to recruit him. The worst that could happen is that he doesn't sign with Dallas - and that leaves Dallas in no different position than if they hadn't tried to recruit him. If he re-signs with Seattle for a better offer than Seattle first put out, that makes Dallas look good in other players' and agents' eyes in doing something that helped a player get a better deal. The best that could happen is that he signs with Dallas and becomes the team's new starting small forward. The thought of a starting lineup of Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Rashard Lewis, Dirk Nowitzki, and Raef LaFrentz is enough to make anyone drool. Speaking of Raef, word came out on July 17 that Dallas and Raef LaFrentz reached a new contract agreement of 7 years, $60 million. But as of yet, I don't believe the contract has actually been signed - I'm not sure what the delay is. And the NBA announced that the new salary cap for 02-03 is $40.271 million - a decrease from the 01-02 salary cap ($42.5 million). Dirk Nowitzki's contract extension is based on 25% (first year with 12.5% of that amount increases each year) of the 02-03 cap, which makes the actual value of his 6 year contract extension $79.3 million. Del Harris is believed to be one of the two finalists for the vacant Denver Nuggets head coaching job. Utah assistant Phil Johnson is the other candidate. At some point Denver will actual hire a coach (they're taking their time). The Mavs' summer league play is almost over. The team finished the Long Beach Pro Summer League with a record of 3-3. The team is really struggling in the Rocky Mountain Revue games as they haven't won a game in 5 tries and the last game is Saturday. Tariq Abdul-Wahad averaged 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in 34.3 minutes in 3 games of the Long Beach Pro games - he played every other game and didn't play in the Rocky Mountain Revue games (don't know why). He had a triple-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the 7/15 games. Dallas 2nd round draft pick Mladen Sekularac joined the team during the Long Beach Pro games and averaged 11.3 points including 51.7% FG and 3.7 rebounds in 22.9 minutes in 7 games. He did miss 2 games due to a sore knee. You can see the full boxes for the Mavs games at http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs/mavs-news/sum02/roster.html Wang Zhizhi averaged 12.8 points including 56.6% FG and 6 rebounds in 28.2 minutes for Golden State (who went 2-4) in the Long Beach Pro Summer League. The NBA released the 02-03 regular season schedule for all the teams. [Go to http://www.nba.com/ to see other team's schedules.] The pre-season schedule has not yet been released. The national TV schedule has also been released (local TV yet to be announced). Dallas will have 22 games on national television - 9 games on ESPN, 8 on TNT, 4 on ABC, and 1 on ESPN2. Only Sacramento and the Lakers have more national TV games scheduled. 2002-2003 Dallas Mavericks schedule All Times Central Regular Season October Wednesday Oct 30 @ Memphis 7:00 November Saturday Nov 2 Phoenix 7:30 Monday Nov 4 Golden State 7:30 Wednesday Nov 6 @ Toronto 6:00 Friday Nov 8 @ Chicago 7:30 Saturday Nov 9 Detroit 7:30 Monday Nov 11 Portland 7:30 Wednesday Nov 13 @ Cleveland 6:00 Friday Nov 15 @ Boston 7:00 ESPN Saturday Nov 16 @ New Jersey 6:30 Tuesday Nov 19 LA Lakers 7:30 Thursday Nov 21 Houston 6:30 TNT Saturday Nov 23 Seattle 7:30 Wednesday Nov 27 @ Detroit 6:30 Thursday Nov 28 @ Indiana 6:30 TNT Saturday Nov 30 Chicago 7:30 December Monday Dec 2 Toronto 7:30 Wednesday Dec 4 @ Portland 9:00 Friday Dec 6 @ LA Lakers 9:30 ESPN Saturday Dec 7 @ Golden State 9:30 Tuesday Dec 10 LA Clippers 7:30 Wednesday Dec 11 @ San Antonio 8:30 ESPN Saturday Dec 14 Memphis 7:30 Tuesday Dec 17 Indiana 7:30 Wednesday Dec 18 @ Denver 8:00 Friday Dec 20 Utah 7:30 Monday Dec 23 Washington 7:30 Thursday Dec 26 @ New Orleans 6:30 TNT Saturday Dec 28 New York 7:30 Monday Dec 30 Milwaukee 7:30 January Thursday Jan 2 LA Clippers 7:30 Saturday Jan 4 Philadelphia 12:30 ABC Monday Jan 6 Denver 7:30 Wednesday Jan 8 @ Atlanta 6:30 Friday Jan 10 Boston 7:00 ESPN2 Sunday Jan 12 @ LA Clippers 2:30 Wednesday Jan 15 @ Sacramento 8:00 ESPN Friday Jan 17 @ Phoenix 8:00 Sunday Jan 19 @ Seattle 8:00 Tuesday Jan 21 Houston 7:30 Thursday Jan 23 @ Philadelphia 6:30 TNT Friday Jan 24 @ New York 6:00 ESPN Sunday Jan 26 Portland 1:00 ESPN Wednesday Jan 29 @ Houston 8:00 ESPN Thursday Jan 30 Minnesota 6:30 TNT February Saturday Feb 1 Denver 7:30 Monday Feb 3 @ Utah 8:00 Tuesday Feb 4 Sacramento 7:30 Sunday Feb 9 All-Star Game @ Atlanta Tuesday Feb 11 @ Minnesota 7:00 Wednesday Feb 12 @ Milwaukee 8:00 ESPN Friday Feb 14 @ Memphis 7:00 Saturday Feb 15 Miami 7:30 Tuesday Feb 18 Atlanta 7:30 Thursday Feb 20 San Antonio 7:30 Friday Feb 21 @ Houston 7:30 Sunday Feb 23 @ Washington 11:30 am ABC Tuesday Feb 25 @ Orlando 6:00 Thursday Feb 27 Sacramento 6:30 TNT March Saturday Mar 1 Memphis 7:30 Tuesday Mar 4 New Jersey 7:30 Friday Mar 7 @ Miami 7:00 Saturday Mar 8 Utah 7:30 Monday Mar 10 Minnesota 7:30 Thursday Mar 13 @ Seattle 9:00 TNT Friday Mar 14 @ Golden State 9:30 Sunday Mar 16 @ Sacramento 2:30 ABC Tuesday Mar 18 Cleveland 7:30 Thursday Mar 20 San Antonio 7:30 Saturday Mar 22 Phoenix 7:30 Monday Mar 24 @ Denver 8:00 Wednesday Mar 26 @ LA Clippers 9:30 Friday Mar 28 @ Portland 9:30 ESPN Sunday Mar 30 @ Minnesota 12:30 ABC April Tuesday Apr 1 New Orleans 7:30 Thursday Apr 3 LA Lakers 6:30 TNT Saturday Apr 5 Orlando 7:30 Tuesday Apr 8 @ LA Lakers 9:30 Wednesday Apr 9 @ Phoenix 9:00 Friday Apr 11 @ Utah 8:00 Saturday Apr 12 Golden State 7:30 Monday Apr 14 Seattle 7:30 Wednesday Apr 16 @ San Antonio 7:30 patricia