Former Mav update: Washington signed Lorenzo Williams. Terms of the contract were not released, but it was for more than one season. As expected, the Mavs signed Derek Harper to a 2 year, $2.86 million contract. He will earn $1.3 million this season. Derek returns to Dallas after 2 3/4 seasons with New York. He will be the back-up point guard. Derek had higher offers from other teams such as Charlotte (which offered $2 million for this season) and Detroit, but chose to return to Dallas. Look for him to regain his team captain title (especially since Jim Jackson is currently the team captain). Welcome home, Harp! Harper: "Words can't explain how happy I am to be coming back. I thank God that I have the choice to play where I want to play. I am choosing Dallas because this is where I want to be. This is where my career started, and I want it to end here." Harper: "I look at it like I was off at boarding school for a couple of years. And I'm back home." Harper: "I think I will bring a stability to the team. I'm not the main guy on the team. But I think the other players will respect me enough to accept my leadership." Harper when asked if he could help with the feuds: "I think I can, from a stability standpoint. Let me say this: the thing Jason and Jimmy are going through, it's common in the league. My feeling about that is I'm sacrificing a lot, especially money, to come back to Dallas. I think from a team point, everyone has to look at themselves in the mirror and be willing to sacrifice a little. I think if both of those guys can sacrifice something, I think things are going to work out and we're going to be a solid team." Keith Grant: "He brings a lot of experience to our entire ballclub. He's been in the league a long time, and knows the ins and outs. He will help our young team learn how to win." Jim Cleamons: "Derek will bring valuable experience at the guard spot, which we are in need of. He's a proven winner who knows how to play the game. He's a fierce competitor. All of those qualities we need to improve our basketball team. We welcome him back." Cleamons: "Derek understands the situation he's coming into. From that perspective, I'm happy we are in agreement as to the role he's going to play, which I think is a lesser role than he's accustomed to. But I think it's one this basketball team is in sore need of. He brings to the table qualities, both individually and as a professional, that are rare. He knows how to win. He knows what's important." Harper's stats (thanks to Jazzy J for his college stats and Doug Steele for his 95-96 playoff stats): Derek Harper - 12 Position: Guard Height: 6-4 Weight: 206 Birthday: October 13, 1961 Birthplace: Elberton, Georgia High School: North Shore High School (West Palm Beach, Florida) College: Illinios '84 1983 Dallas draft pick, 1st round (#11) Traded to New York 1/6/94 for 1997 (top 5 protected) or 1998 first round draft pick and Tony Campbell Free agent signee 7/26/96 | Rebounds | Year GP-GS MIN AVG FGM-FGA PCT FTM-FTA PCT OFF DEF TOT AVG 83-84 82-1 1712 20.9 200-451 0.443 66-98 0.673 53 119 172 2.1 84-85 82-1 2218 27.0 329-633 0.520 111-154 0.721 47 152 199 2.4 85-86 79-39 2150 27.2 390-730 0.534 171-229 0.747 75 151 226 2.9 86-87 77-76 2556 33.2 497-993 0.501 160-234 0.684 51 148 199 2.6 87-88 82-82 3032 37.0 536-1167 0.459 261-344 0.759 71 175 246 3.0 88-89 81-81 2968 36.6 538-1127 0.477 229-284 0.806 46 182 228 2.8 89-90 82-82 3007 36.7 567-1161 0.488 250-315 0.794 54 190 244 3.0 90-91 77-77 2879 37.4 572-1226 0.467 286-391 0.731 59 174 233 3.0 91-92 65-64 2252 34.6 448-1011 0.443 198-261 0.759 49 121 170 2.6 92-93 62-60 2108 34.0 393-939 0.419 239-316 0.756 42 81 123 2.0 93-94 82-82 2204 26.9 303-744 0.407 112-163 0.687 20 121 141 1.7 94-95 80-80 2716 34.0 337-756 0.446 139-192 0.724 31 163 194 2.4 95-96 82-82 2893 35.3 436-939 0.464 156-206 0.757 32 170 202 2.5 Total 1013-807 32695 32.3 5546-11877 0.467 2378-3187 0.746 630 1947 2577 2.5 Year AST AVG PF-D STL TO BLK PTS AVG HI 83-84 239 2.9 143-0 95 111 21 469 5.7 19 84-85 360 4.4 194-1 144 123 37 790 9.6 22 85-86 416 5.3 166-1 153 144 23 963 12.2 26 86-87 609 7.9 195-0 167 138 25 1230 16.0 31 87-88 634 7.7 164-0 168 190 35 1393 17.0 35 88-89 570 7.0 219-3 172 205 41 1404 17.3 38 89-90 609 7.4 224-1 187 207 26 1473 18.0 42 90-91 548 7.1 222-1 147 177 14 1519 19.7 34 91-92 373 5.7 150-0 101 154 17 1152 17.7 38 92-93 334 5.4 145-1 80 136 16 1126 18.2 35 93-94 334 4.1 163-0 125 135 8 791 9.6 ? 94-95 458 5.7 219-0 79 151 10 919 11.5 26 95-96 352 4.3 201-0 131 178 5 1149 14.0 25 Total 5836 5.8 2405-8 1749 2049 278 14378 14.2 42 3-pointers: 83-84 3-26 0.115, 84-85 21-61 0.344, 85-86 12-51 0.235, 86-87 76-212 0.358, 87-88 60-192 0.312, 88-89 99-278 0.356, 89-90 89-240 0.371, 90-91 89-246 0.362, 91-92 58-186 0.312, 92-93 101-257 0.393, 93-94 73-203 0.360, 94-95 106-292 0.363, 95-96 121-325 0.372, Total 908-1665 0.545. Playoffs | Rebounds | Year GP-GS MIN AVG FGM-FGA PCT FTM-FTA PCT OFF DEF TOT AVG 83-84 10-0 226 22.6 21-54 0.389 5-7 0.714 8 12 20 2.0 84-85 4-0 132 33.0 10-21 0.476 5-7 0.714 1 11 12 3.0 85-86 10-10 348 34.8 57-107 0.533 12-16 0.750 13 6 19 1.9 86-87 4-4 123 30.8 20-40 0.500 24-30 0.800 2 10 12 3.0 87-88 17-17 602 35.4 89-202 0.441 43-59 0.729 11 32 43 2.5 89-90 3-3 119 39.7 21-48 0.438 11-16 0.688 2 6 8 2.7 93-94 23-23 750 32.6 99-231 0.429 36-56 0.643 13 41 54 2.3 94-95 11-11 388 35.3 56-109 0.514 18-24 0.750 5 33 38 3.5 95-96 8-8 293 36.6 29-82 0.354 11-15 0.733 0 17 17 2.1 Total 90-76 2981 33.1 402-894 0.450 165-230 0.717 55 168 223 2.5 Year AST AVG PF-D STL TO BLK PTS AVG HI 83-84 28 2.8 16-0 11 6 2 50 5.0 14 84-85 20 5.0 12-0 6 4 1 26 6.5 10 85-86 76 7.6 27-0 23 23 0 134 13.4 24 86-87 27 6.8 7-0 7 5 0 66 16.5 30 87-88 121 7.1 44-0 32 32 5 230 13.5 35 89-90 23 7.7 13-0 4 12 0 58 19.3 24 93-94 103 4.5 63-1 42 41 1 263 11.4 ? 94-95 62 5.6 29-0 11 26 1 157 14.3 ? 95-96 38 4.8 ?-? 10 14 1 80 10.0 ? Total 498 5.5 211-1 146 163 11 1064 11.8 35 3-pointers: 83-84 3-8 0.375, 84-85 1-3 0.333, 85-86 8-14 0.571, 86-87 2-9 0.222, 87-88 9-36 0.250, 89-90 5-16 0.312, 93-94 29-85 0.341, 94-95 27-47 0.574, 95-96 11-35 0.314, Total 95-253 0.375. Illinois stats Year GP MIN AVG FGM-FGA PCT FTM-FTA PCT REB AVG 80-81 29 934 32.2 104-252 0.413 33-46 0.717 75 2.6 81-82 29 1059 36.5 105-230 0.457 34-45 0.756 133 4.6 82-83 32 1182 36.9 198-369 0.537 83-123 0.675 112 3.5 Total 90 3175 35.3 407-851 0.478 150-214 0.701 320 3.6 Year AST AVG PF STL TO BLK PTS AVG 80-81 156 5.4 50 39 66 8 241 8.3 81-82 145 5.0 48 67 51 16 244 8.4 82-83 118 3.7 80 72 90 18 479 15.0 Total 419 4.7 178 178 207 42 964 10.7 patricia