As you've probably already heard, the Mavs have traded the #6 pick and Dallas' 1997 pick (I haven't heard yet if there are any restrictions on this pick) to Boston for Eric Montross and the #9 pick. [Dallas still owns New Yorks' 1997 pick (top 5 protected) and Minnesota's 1997 pick (top 6 protected).] Interesting. I have to find out what kind of restrictions are on that 1997 pick before I pass judgement. A couple of negatives already: according to the reports when Montross signed his rookie contract, it was an 11 year, $17-20 million contract. If he turns out to be a bust, that is a very long contract. The other problem I see is the impact on the Mavs going after a free agent. Montross earned a little over a $1 million this season. Here are the new numbers I came up with for the Mavs going after a free agent with Montross in the picture: Mavs free agents: Lorenzo Williams ($1.55 million), Scott Brooks ($750,000), Lucious Harris ($725,000), and David Wood (guess - $225,000 league minimum). If the Mavs renounce their rights to Williams, Harris, Brooks, and Wood, the Mavs will be about $3.5 million under the cap. Subtract about $1 million from that for Eric Montross (draft picks do not count against the cap until they are signed). 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. [The team can also free up more money if they release Terry Davis (half his salary still counts against the cap then) or trade Terry and/or other players for draft picks.] yearly salary contract total per year avg base 2,500,000 2 yr 3,000,000 5,500,000 2,750,000 3 yr 3,500,000 9,000,000 3,000,000 4 yr 4,000,000 13,000,000 3,250,000 5 yr 4,500,000 17,500,000 3,500,000 6 yr 5,000,000 22,500,000 3,750,000 7 yr 5,500,000 28,000,000 4,000,000 8 yr 6,000,000 34,000,000 4,250,000 Here are Eric Montross' numbers with Boston and from college: Eric Montross - 0 Position: C Height: 7-0 College: North Carolina'94 Birthday: 9/23/71 Acquired from Boston 6/21/96 with the #9 pick for the #6 pick and a 1997 1st round draft pick Played 94-95 and 95-96 with Boston | Rebounds | Year GP-GS MIN AVG FGA-FGM PCT FTM-FTA PCT OFF DEF TOT AVG 94-95 78-75 2315 29.7 307-575 0.534 167-263 0.635 196 370 566 7.3 95-96 61-59 1432 23.5 196-346 0.566 50-133 0.376 119 233 352 5.8 Total 139-134 3747 27.0 503-921 0.546 217-396 0.548 315 603 918 6.6 Year AST PF-D STL TO BLK PTS AVG HI 94-95 36 299-10 29 112 61 781 10.0 21 95-96 43 181-1 19 83 29 442 7.2 19 Total 79 480-11 48 195 90 1223 8.8 21 3-pointers: 94-95 0-1 0.000, 95-96 0-0 0.000, Total 0-1 0.000. North Carolina Stats Year GP MIN AVG FGA-FGM PCT FTM-FTA PCT REB AVG AST PTS AVG 90-91 35 531 15.2 81-138 0.587 41-67 0.612 148 4.2 11 203 5.8 91-92 31 784 25.3 140-244 0.574 68-109 0.624 218 7.0 18 348 11.2 92-93 38 1076 28.3 222-361 0.615 156-228 0.684 290 7.6 28 600 15.8 93-94 35 1110 31.7 183-327 0.560 110-197 0.558 285 8.1 29 476 13.6 Total 139 3501 25.2 626-1070 0.585 375-601 0.624 941 6.8 86 1627 11.7 patricia