March was a busy month for me with my sister's wedding, so I have a lot to catch up on. First the older news. Older news: The Mavs held their 2nd annual Jam Session February 24th. It wasn't as good as last year's, though. Rolando Blackman made an appearance and gave a small speech. Then the players came out and had a light practice (light due to 3 of the players being injured). The highlight of the day was when Jason Kidd spotted the speed boat. He said, "Look, they brought my boat!" About a week before the event, Kidd had made comments to the press that he should be the team leader and that everyone should get in his boat. He made a couple of comments about the boat and the players and coaches were getting a kick out of it. He then went and got in the boat and said, "Come get in my boat." Only Tony Dumas joined him in the boat. [The down side was that Kidd didn't get much shooting practice.] The Mavs signed David Wood for the rest of the season on February 21. Terry Davis suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament and cartilage damage in his left knee on February 28. He underwent successful surgery on March 5. His recovery time was said to be 4 to 6 weeks. It is doubtful he will return this season. The team did not put him on IR so that they did not have to bring in another player. The team has been playing with basically a 11-man roster (sometimes even less due to more injuries). The 20% increase for a free agent salary that I reported way back when is indeed from the base salary only, not accrued. (Thanks to Tom McGuigan) To rehash: Mavs free agents: Lorenzo Williams ($1.55 million), Scott Brooks ($750,000), Lucious Harris ($725,000), and David Wood (guess - $225,000 league minimum). Terry Davis earned $1,920,000 this season and has one more year on his contract. Free agents count 150% (if the salary was under $2.1 million) or 200% (if over $2.1 million) against the team's salary cap until the free agent is re-signed, the team renounces their rights to the player (meaning they can not sign the player until sometime well into the season), or the player signs with a different team. If the Mavs renounce their rights to Williams, Harris, Brooks, and Wood, the Mavs will be about $3.5 million under the cap. With those numbers and the minimum amount the cap will be (but the cap will probably be more than the minimum) these are the numbers the Mavs are looking at in going after free agents. yearly salary contract total per year avg base 3,500,000 2 yr 4,200,000 7,700,000 3,850,000 3 yr 4,900,000 12,600,000 4,200,000 4 yr 5,600,000 18,200,000 4,550,000 5 yr 6,300,000 24,500,000 4,900,000 6 yr 7,000,000 31,500,000 5,250,000 7 yr 7,700,000 39,200,000 5,600,000 8 yr 8,400,000 47,600,000 5,950,000 If they release Terry, I believe they get to use half his salary. (guestimated Terry's contract to be this year's salary (1,920,000) plus the difference between this year and last year's salary ($1,560,000) = 2,280,000 1/2 = 1,140,000) Base = 3,500,000 + 1,140,000 yearly salary contract total per year avg base 4,640,000 2 yr 5,569,000 10,208,000 5,104,000 3 yr 6,496,000 16,704,000 5,568,000 4 yr 7,424,000 24,128,000 6,032,000 5 yr 8,352,000 32,480,000 6,496,000 6 yr 9,280,000 41,760,000 6,960,000 7 yr 10,208,000 51,968,000 7,424,000 8 yr 11,136,000 63,104,000 7,888,000 Newer news: With the season a bust, the most import thing concerning the Mavs (besides what Carter decides to do with the team) right now is the lottery. Here is a table of the percentages of the chance the lottery teams have of receiving the number 1 pick. Per their expansion contract, Vancouver and Toronto can not receive the number 1 pick, thus the 4th column reflects the teams chances minus the expansion teams. [Vancouver and Toronto _can_ receive the 2nd or 3rd pick, though.] Dallas will likely have the 4th or 5th worse record [current standings: Vancouver 12-63, Philadelphia 16-60, Toronto 20-56, Milwaukee 23-52, Dallas 24-52, LA Clippers 28-48, New Jersey 29-47, Boston 30-46] [note: only non-playoff teams qualify for the lottery]. The lottery drawing will take place May 19 and will be shown on NBC during halftime of one of the playoff games. Lottery chances of #1 Team Numbers Percentage % minus Van and Tor 1 250 25.0 --- 2 200 20.0 33.73 3 157 15.7 --- 4 120 12.0 20.24 5 89 8.9 15.01 6 64 6.4 10.79 7 44 4.4 7.42 8 29 2.9 4.89 9 18 1.8 3.04 10 11 1.1 1.85 11 7 0.7 1.18 12 6 0.6 1.01 13 5 0.5 0.84 The other big news is that Donald Carter is listening to offers to buy the team. Last I heard was that there were 6 interested parties. Carter is not looking for a bidding war. He says that there is one person that will get first shot of obtaining the team. The name of that person has not been in print lately (but if I went through back issues for the past 3 years, I could probably figure out who it was). If things do not work out with that person, Carter has a second party in mind that he will listen to. This party is believed to including making shares available to the public. Ross Perot and the owner of the Dallas Stars have expressed interest in the team, but I doubt either Carter would sell to either one. If Carter does decide to sell the team, it is expected to happen this month. He may decide not to sell the team and the public announcement that he was listening to offers may be just due to the frustration from this lousy seasons. His reasons for considering selling the team include the lousy season, in-fighting amongst the star players, the lack of progress and struggles in the new arena problem (surprise, nothing new has happened since I last wrote), being called a racist for his comment that the State Fair area probably wouldn't be a good location for the new arena as some people wouldn't want to go there, and the need to fire people he doesn't want to fire (Norm Sonju and Dick Motta). I'm not too keen on losing Carter as the owner. Yes, he's made mistakes with his loyalty and Sonju and Motta need to go. But he is a rarity in the ownership ranks - he is a good man at heart. His word is gold, he'd never take the team from the Dallas area, and he truly cares about the team, not as just a business. A new owner would bring a lot of questions - would we have the next Sterling, would he want to move the team out of Dallas at some point in the future (Carter would probably have a clause in the buyout requiring the team to remain in the Dallas area for a certain amount of time), how much meddling would he do, what kind of people would he bring in, how would he treat the players, is he looking purely at the dollars, etc? Part of what brought Carter's decision to listen to offers is the latest player clash. Jim Jackson and Jason Kidd apparently had not communicated much since December and things came to a boil about two weeks ago. Kidd, as usual, went to the press with his unhappiness and even went so far as to suggest that one of the two may need to be traded. The paper said that, according to three sources, the problem stemmed from an incident involving a woman at a party in December [you should have heard me grumbling that day and the next]. Both players denied the report that a woman was the cause. Jackson went so far as to say, "That's ." The two were still not going to get together to try to talk things out, so Donald Carter stepped in and got the two to talk. Things are better now. The two seem to be getting along fine now. Jackson says that their friendship is back and Kidd says that they like each other again, but that they are not buddy-buddy. Their on-court behavior seems to indicate that things are fine between the two. Jason: Grow up! Between this and your "I want to play baseball" comments and your lousy shooting, you really need to mature. You are 23 now. Your age is no longer an excuse. If you have a problem with someone, talk to him or her. Don't go to the press. And the only way you'll become a better shooter is to practice. Why don't you participate in the pre-shoot around prior to games? I can't even recall the last time I saw you out shooting early. Jimmy: Talk to people! If you sense a problem or haven't talked with one of your _teammates_ in a while, talk to him. Keeping things to yourself and hoping everything will work out in its own does not solve anything and, as you saw, sometimes makes things worse. Part of your responsibilities as team captain is to address problems. In what might be seen as a sign as to how the rest of the team saw the incident, Jackson has led the team out of the tunnel 3 of the last 4 homes games. Kidd used to lead the team out of the tunnel. The problem child is at it again. Tony Dumas went to the press to complain about his playing time. Granted, Motta can be a jerk about playing time for rookies and his dog house players (of which Tony has been most of his career). But Tony has been fined a couple of times for showing up late for practice. Tony, practice is where you earn you minutes. In addition, Lucious Harris has been playing well in the few minutes he gets and has _earn_ some minutes. Despite that, Tony has become a fan favorite. Amazingly, Motta has given in to the fan pressure [and maybe management pressure?] and has given Tony some minutes. A radio announcer express surprise that Tony played in the Clipper's game. The players are required to be at the arena by 6:00. Tony showed up at 6:15 with a McDonald's bag in hand. [Hey, Tony, my message for you is the same as for Jason: Find some maturity in the off-season.] On the lighter side: in response to his fan favoritism, the team had Tony lead them out of the tunnel for the Clipper's game. They tried to have him make the solo lead onto the court, but he caught on to the fact that the others weren't following him before he got to the aisle. And in what is probably a result of the player conflicts, Terry Davis has returned to the bench for home games (in a suit even) after a month's absence. [And he must have found a new tailor or taken to heart his title of "Worse dress player in Dallas" as they were conservative suits. No purple, red, green, or orange.] Terry also said that next seasons is his last season. Jamal Mashburn has also made several appearances on the bench recently. [My message to Jamal: you need to dress nicer for sitting on the bench. A sweater and really baggy jeans just doesn't look professional. (as she sits at work in a t-shirt and shorts)] His rehabilitation is ahead of schedule and he is now off the 8-hour per day motion machine. Through April 9, Dallas has lost 193 player-games (and will lose at least 12 more due to Mashburn's and Davis' injuries). 205 player-games lost will rank as 3rd most in team history (246 in 92-93 and 240 in 91-92). Player Injuries Games missed Jamal Mashburn Knee 57 Terry Davis Knee, groin, Achilles' tendon 32 Donald Hodge Thumb 28 Lucious Harris Left wrist 18 Lorenzo Williams Right eye 17 Roy Tarpley Pancreatitis 16 Popeye Jones Tendinitis right knee 14 Cherokee Parks Back spasms 3 Loren Meyer Left ankle 3 Tony Dumas Punctured left foot, attending funeral 2 George McCloud Left ankle 1 Scott Brooks Food Poisoning 1 Jason Kidd Hip flexor 1 Jim Jackson is the only player who has not missed a game. The Mavs have set a number of team and league records already. Some highlights of the records: George McCloud and Dennis Scott are in a 2 man race to see which will set the league record for 3-pointers made. The old record was 217. McCloud currently has 245 3pt made and Scott has 239 3pt made. McCloud has set the league record for 3-pointers attempted with 635. The old record was 611 [Scott only has 570 attempted]. McCloud has also tied the NBA records for 3-pointers made in a game (10), attempted in a game (20), and made in a half (7). The Mavs have shattered most of the league 3-point records. The old record for 3pt made was 646 and 1757 for 3pt attempted. The Mavs have made 687 3-pointers (including a record 18 twice in a game) and attempted 1875 3-pointers (including a record 49 in a game). They also set the record for 3-pointers made in a half (12) and quarter (9). Jason Kidd has set the team record for assists in a season with 713 and counting (old record: 634) and assists in a game with 25 (old record: 18). Popeye Jones ripped down a team record 28 rebounds in a game (old: 27) and Lorenzo Williams had a team record 12 rebounds in a quarter (old: 11). [Off topic trivia (answer at the end): What do Wilt Chamberlain and Steve Kerr have in common?] George McCloud is a likely candidate for the Most Improved Player award. His numbers speak for themselves. Ptotal = pervious career totals and averages (excludes this season) Year GP-GS MIN AVG FGA-FGM PCT 3PM-3PA PCT FTM-FTA PCT 94-95 42-3 802 19.1 144-328 0.439 34-89 0.382 80-96 0.833 Ptotal 289-29 4677 16.2 664-1661 0.400 180-528 0.341 258-330 0.782 95-96 74-58 2651 35.8 497-1187 0.419 245-635 0.386 163-204 0.799 Year OFF DEF TOT AVG AST AVG T0 PF-D STL BLK PTS AVG HI 94-95 82 65 147 3.5 53 1.3 40 71-0 23 9 402 9.6 25 Ptotal 234 410 644 2.2 556 1.9 336 528-2 161 45 1766 6.1 25 95-96 103 249 352 4.8 193 2.6 154 199-1 99 36 1402 18.9 37 [and before anyone harps on his FG%, for 2FG% his numbers are: Year 2FGM-2FGA PCT 94-95 110-239 0.460 Ptotal 484-1133 0.427 95-96 252-552 0.456 ] One of the tougher decisions this summer is going to be what to do with Lucious Harris. He will be a free agent this summer. He has proven to be a solid backup shooting guard and can occasionally play spot minutes at point (but wouldn't be comfortable there full time). He has said that he'd like to remain in Dallas, but will go where he is wanted. For those who say, "Well the Mavs have Tony Dumas...", Tony has said that he wants to be a starter, which won't happen as long as Jim Jackson is here, and still needs to mature mentally (see above). Tony has 2 years left on his contract. The problem with Lucious is the salary cap. Lucious earned $725,000 this season. Keeping Lucious will hurt the team's chances of getting a good free agent. If I were in charge (something I'd never want to be), I'd keep Lucious and trade Tony for a good draft pick (hey, maybe even package Terry in the trade). This would still give the Mavs salary cap space for free agency and solve the shooting guard log-jam. I like Tony and he has a lot of talent and explosiveness, but he has been very unhappy here and I just can't see him staying when his contract expires. Another free agent has expressed interest in possibly returning to Dallas - Derek Harper. He still has a home in Dallas and seems to like the idea of playing out his career in Dallas. I heard that he said that he would be willing to take a pay cut. He earned $2,837,000 this year. He would provide the veteran leadership that this team has been lacking. But would he be willing to forgo a chance with a championship caliber team and knowing he'd only receive 15 to 20 minutes per game here? Plus even a salary of $2 million would hurt the Mavs in their bid for a big man free agent. [If he'd be willing to play for the $1 million exception teams have it would be good for the team, but I doubt he'd take that much of a pay cut.] And if Carter is no longer the owner of the team, he probably wouldn't come. I doubt he'll play for the Mavs next season. The Dream Team III selection committee be selecting the final two spots for the team Thursday. Jason Kidd is still a prime candidate. Many believe that he, Shawn Kemp, and Mitch Richmond are the top three candidates. But, Kidd's agent said about a week and a half ago that he had heard from an inside source to the committee that Kidd will not be selected due to his poor shooting. The start time for the game in Houston on Saturday has been changed to 5:00 pm. The game will not be televised. Games: Short and not so sweet: a lot of crappy games and crappy shooting with occasional bright spots. They have been playing better in the last several games, though. [Hey, what did you expect. This is long enough already.] patricia (trivia answer: Neither has ever fouled out of an NBA game.)