Here I was all set to spend some time writing my overdue draft report (I
was on vacation the 25th through Tuesday) and I get blindside by terrible
news.  Dallas has lost its heart.  The Phoenix Suns brought a full
contingent to Dallas to seriously recruit Steve Nash and made him an offer
of 5 years, $65 million with a 6th year partially guaranteed.  It was an
offer too good to pass up, but Nash and his agent did give Dallas a chance
to match the offer, but Mark Cuban declined to do so [the Mavs had offered
a 4 year contract].  I can't even begin to describe how upset I am with
this.  I guess the 02-03 season was a fluke and this team is going the way
of the 87-88 Mavs [Sam Perkins anyone?].  Anyone who has watched the Mavs
the past several years know that it is a completely different team when
Nash is not on the court.  Yes, there are durability issues, but it is a
risk worth taking instead of losing one of the best point guards in the
league for nothing.  The Mavs went cheap and it cost them their heart
[I've always said (in fact I said it to someone earlier today) Nash was 
the heart, Dirk was the talent, and Finley was the leader].  The Mavs now
not only have a hole at center but also one a point - the 2 hardest
positions to fill.


[I'll try to focus one the draft now, but losing Nash is really hurting.
Any quotes and comments from Nelson were from draft night.]
The NBA held the draft last Thursday (June 24).  One rumored trade went
down and 2 more minor trades occurred.  The basics:

  Dallas traded Antawn Jamison and $1 million to Washington for Jerry 
    Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and the rights to #5 Devin Harris. 

  Dallas traded a future 1st round draft pick (lottery protected) to Utah
    for the rights to #21 Pavel Podkolzine. 

  Dallas traded the rights to #50 Vassilis Spanoulis to Houston for the
    rights to #55 Luis Flores and cash. 

The first trade was the big news.  Though the Mavs say they want to keep
Harris, don't be surprised if Stackhouse and Laettner are eventually moved
on.  Donn Nelson (who addressed the media 3 times (the 2nd time as neither
Don Nelson (who opted to have a beer) or Del Harris wanted to take the
podium and the last one really briefly regarding Flores as everyone was 
packing up or had already left)) made nice comments about Stackhouse and
Laettner, but neither was brought to town for a press conference, as had
happened with previous major deals.  Stackhouse was injured most of last
season (only played 26 games) and averaged 21.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in
02-03.  His best season (and he played on the All-Star team) was 00-01
with Detroit when he averaged 29.8 points (2nd most in the league) and 5.1
assists.  He's a 6-6 small forward.  Nelson said that he had spoken to
Stackhouse about playing a 6th man role and he was accepting of that role.
Nelson commented on Stackhouse's ability to post up and generate offensive
in the paint.  Laettner, a 6-11 245 power forward/center, is way past his 
prime and only averaged 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 20.5 minutes and
played just 48 games [he also was suspended by the league for marijuana
use].  He does have value, though, as he has just 1 year worth $6,187,500
left on his contract.  Both players desperately wanted out of Washington,
but I'd be surprised [but this summer is already full of surprises
(frown)] if both are still with the Mavs when the season starts - both 
are trade bait.  The trade split up Antawn Jamison's massive maximum 
contact.  Jamison did exactly what the Mavs wanted him to do while he was 
here and I wish him the best.

The Mavs said that they wanted to keep Harris and did not acquire him to
move him on - and with losing Nash, that is almost certainly true (but the
Mavs still need a veteran point).  Harris came out of school a year early
and averaged 19.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists with Wisconsin.
He is a 6-3 guard and was named to the 2nd Team All-America for 03-04 by a
number of publications and 03-04 Big Ten Player of the Year.  He started
every game he played for Wisconsin and broke Michael Finley's
single-season scoring record with 624 points in 03-04 (Finley had 620
points in 92-93).  
From Nelson: ("quotes" are quotes, others my short notes from what he 
said)
  Mentioned a number of times about his heart and leadership.
  A true point guard, a scoring point.
  Runs the pick-and-role, can "get into the gut", talented, makes shots.
  "Just really kind of the perfect guy."
  Said that they wanted him to backup Nash and compared it to the
    situation when Nelson was with Phoenix and they drafted Nash even 
    though Phoenix had Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson.  He'd learn the
    game from Nash.  [so much for all of that :( ]
  Has intangibles - integrity and background
  "We're fired up about getting Devin Harris on this team."
  "This kid is going to generate offense for us.  We're really excited
    about the ability he has to pick up in the open court and defend.  
    He's a young man that can generate offense for us."
  "This is someone that we've been eyeing for a long time.  We were very
    active as you know, really all week.  We came up with the 5th pick 
    and we thought that this young man was the best talent, the most 
    talented player with an eye on generating offense.  I think that's 
    important to our basketball team.  We feel he's a true point guard.  
    He's got good size and the ability to score the ball.  Scoring point 
    guards have done very well in Nellie's system in the past."  
  "We feel he's got terrific range and excellent leadership abilities."

Devin Harris: "I'm a very smart point guard, very versatile and I can do 
  a lot of things well.  I want to learn the system very quickly and
  contribute right away and just play my heart out for this organization."

Harris on playing for Nelson: "It excites me tremendously.  Coming from a
  program where a point guard can score and thrive in that kind of system
  and then coming to the Mavericks is a dream come true."

Podkolzine is a very big guy - 7-5 and 260.  He has acromegaly, a growth
disorder, that may require minor out-patient surgery (he has been treating
it with medication).  He averaged just 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds last
season while playing for Metis Varese of the Italian League and is a
PROJECT.  He has only been playing basketball about 4 or 5 years.  Though 
he is Russian, he does speak English.  
From Nelson: ("quotes" are quotes, others my short notes from what he 
said)
  Really excited about the 2nd pick.
  He's young, young to the game.
  He's not expected to perform now, but down the line.
  He should develop into a nice backup.
  He has somethings you can't teach - size, big hands, massive.
  [play overseas?] "We want him here.  The summer league is important."
  Needs to learn the NBA way.
  He needs time and development, needs to work on back to the basket
    stuff.
  "His footwork is pretty decent, pretty good body control and he's just
    massive.  We're pretty excited because he takes up a lot of space.  
    With the center rotation as it is we're hopeful that he can be a 
    contributor at some level down the line.  Bigger guys take a longer 
    period of time to develop.  They usually don't kick in until 24 or 25."
  "His action on his shot is pretty good.  His footwork is good, but he
    needs to learn the NBA way.  He's got a big heart, a solid work ethic,
    and with time he'll be a contributor at some level."

Flores is a 6-2 guard from the Dominican Republic (but went to high school
and college in New York City).  He averaged 24 points, 3.9 rebounds, and
1.6 assists as a senior with Manhattan.  The Mavs want him to play 
overseas to pick up experience.

During the 2nd press conference, someone asked how many minutes Harris
could give the team and a voice spoke out from the back: "I can only go
for 5 or 6 minutes", said Del Harris giving everyone a laugh.


Expect lots of talk about the Mavs over the rest of the summer.  They have
lots of tradable pieces (Antoine Walker, Stackhouse, Laettner) and 2
major holes to fill.  The hot rumor mill has been about Shaquille O'Neal.
O'Neal has asked the Lakers to trade him and Dallas is one of the places he
would like to go to (and one of the few that has the pieces and dollars to 
make a deal for him).  O'Neal has 2 years left on his 3 year extension 
(with a player option for the summer of 2005) and wants another extension.
He will earn $27.7 million for 04-05.  Mark Cuban has clearly stated that 
he will not trade Dirk Nowitzki [and here's hoping he sticks to that - I 
wouldn't do a Nowitzki for O'Neal trade (plus my heart has been torn apart
enough with losing Nash - it would also hurt to lose Nowitzki or Finley)
and the reasons I wouldn't do it are not purely from the fact that I'd
_hate_ to see him leave].  I would say that nothing would happen for a 
while but lots of talk and rumors, but after what happened tonight, who 
knows.  Stackhouse and Laettner can not be traded as a package deal 
until August 22 (though they can be traded individually with the Mavs 
send no one else before that date).  With losing Nash, the only free 
agent of concern (Scott Williams and Travis Best are also free agents, 
but won't be re-signed) is Marquis Daniels.  Though Daniels is a 
restricted free agent, there is a risk that Dallas can lose him too as 
the Mavs can only offer up to the midlevel exception for him (will be 
somewhere around $5 million) and another team could offer more than that 
and Dallas would be unable to match (like what happened with Calvin Booth
a few years ago).  Daniels can not be involved with a trade (via a 
sign-and-trade - you can not use an exception in a sign-and-trade) - so 
any rumors you hear involving Daniels as part of a trade (say, for Shaq)
are fantasy.


Little bit older: Dallas reportedly left Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Tony Delk, 
Danny Fortson, and Antoine Walker off their protected list for the 
expansion draft, but none were selected.

A lot older:
5/26 Steve Nash was named to the NBA All-Interview team.  Nash received 17
media votes. 

5/3 The NBA fined Dallas $25,000 for showing a cartoon that made fun
of several Sacramento players prior to the Sal-Dal game on March 24. 


patricia