As you've probably heard, Dallas traded Derek Harper and Ed O'Bannon to Orlando for Dennis Scott and $500,000. The money is to be donated to the Dallas Mavericks Foundation - the team's charity. It is the same trade, minus the money, that owner Ross Perot rejected a week ago. GM Don Nelson asked Perot to reconsider the traded and gave Perot his personal assurance that Scott is not a bad person. Perot met with Scott Thursday and agreed on the trade - plus the money to make Perot feel better about the trade and give something back to the community. All three players are in the last year of their contracts. Not much has been or needs to be said about losing Ed O'Bannon. He has yet to show signs of being a decent NBA player and that probably won't change this season. With Harper, the Mavs lose their veteran leadership [that really bothers me]. Orlando gains a solid (but old - 36 in October) point guard who will help in Orlando's attempt to move Anfernee Hardaway to shooting guard. Harper is extremely happy to be going to Orlando - he was raised in Florida (Palm Beach) and the Magic is a solid playoff team. He says that next season will still probably be his last and he will return to Dallas after he retires - "It's my home." Nelson says that Harper will still be welcome in the Mavs' front office after he retires. Dennis Scott is a small forward who is known purely for his shooting (his nickname is "3-D", but others sometimes call him "no-D"). He turned 29 this month. One of his problems has always been his weight. He says he has had his best off-season of his career and has lost 30 points and is down to 228 points (he's 6'8"). Scott is scheduled to make $3 million this season. His addition gives the Mavs a true small forward and allows Michael Finley to play more at his natural shooting guard position (and Erick Strickland will see more time at back-up point guard in addition to back-up shooting guard). Scott had a poor year last season and averaged a career low 12.5 points (39.8% FG, 39.4% 3-pointers, 79.2% FT), 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. He had one of his best seasons in 95-96 with 17.5 points (44% FG, 42.5% 3-pointers, 82% FT), 3.8 rebounds, and 3 assists. [Though some may claim that Scott's numbers dropped in large part due to Shaquille O'Neal's departure from Orlando.] He set the league record for 3-pointers made at 267 in 95-96 - the longer 3-point line will not bother him. Another knock against Scott is that he has the reputation of a headcase. He has had several off-the-court problems this summer and said a week ago that he would not report to the Magic training camp due to the way he felt the Magic management had been treating him. This was purely a Don Nelson move. He had to talk Perot into making the trade. And, despite talk floating around before the press conference, it sounds very much like Scott is going to remain here for the season (people were talking about trading him somewhere else). Nelson sounded _very_ happy to get Scott. I could almost here the gasp of surprise when Nelson said "playoffs" during the conference. Nelson said that the team had the ability to make a playoff run - they may not make it, but they will make a run at it. Nelson went through the team position by position and said that the only position the team was lacking was in back-up center and that one of the power forwards would have to fill-in there. Additional proof that Scott will remain is that he was at the press conference. He came to town to have a one-on-one talk with Perot and described his meeting with Perot as "I could actually say I could shake a billion dollar man." He also said that he was now "playing for the love." Scott: "I want to thank God for giving me another opportunity to play basketball for all the right reasons. I'm really excited to have a fresh start here in Dallas." Scott: "I know I can help the team get to the next level. I'm in the best shape of my career and I'm ready for camp to get started." Nelson: "Scott is the small forward we've been looking for all summer. The acquisition of Scott should allow us to compete for one of the last playoff spots in the West. Nelson: "As an organization, we feel great loyalty toward Derek and are happy to give him this opportunity, which he wanted very much in the final year of his career. Derek and I still have an agreement that he can come back and work in our organization when he's through playing." Nelson: "This trade, which allows us to shift Michael Finley to the backcourt, is a great basketball move for us." Nelson: "We're a much better shooting team now. With shooters like Scott, Hubert Davis and Erick Strickland, we should be pretty fun to watch and be the type of team that can come from behind when it needs to." Nelson: "I've known Dennis Scott for a long time and I know he's a good guy. I think he'll fit in nicely. I feel really good about this team." Nelson on Scott's problems this summer: "I asked him not to throw parties like that in Dallas, and he agreed. We addressed all the hard issues. He understands he made some mistakes, but he's apologized publicly and he apologized to Ross. He's not a bad kid. He's a good kid that just did some crazy things." Other news: The Mavs named Matt Pinto as radio voice of the Mavs. Pinto will be calling all the games, including pre-season games, on KLIF 570. Pinto was radio voice of the Charlotte Hornets from 1990 - 1996. The Mavs and KLIF with be hosting an open house party with a team practice October 20th at Reunion Arena at 6 pm (it's free). The October 15 pre-season game vs Vancouver has been moved from the originally scheduled location of Bismarck, North Dakota to Rapid City, South Dakota. Training camp opens next Friday! patricia [if you're wondering, I don't like the trade, I would not have made the trade, and I'm not too thrilled to have Scott as a Mav.]