In what many, including myself, did not think would happen considering the
numbers, the Mavs won for a change and signed Gary Trent to a 2 year, $4.2
million contract ($2 million in 99-00 and $2.2 million in 00-01).  Trent
does have the option to opt-out of the contract after this season [but
probably won't as the Mavs won't be able to give him more money and if he
completes the contract, the Mavs will have Bird rights for him and be able
to re-sign him to a large, non-cap restricted contract starting in 01-02].
A number of teams were interested in Trent, especially Seattle who it is
known had offered him a 3 year, $12 million contract, but Trent opted to
remain in Dallas where he has the best opportunity to showcase his talents
and maximize his next contract (lower dollars now and potential high
dollars down the road vs higher dollars now and likely medium dollars down
the road).  In Seattle, Trent would have been the 3rd or lower offensive
option on the team.  In Dallas, Trent and Michael Finley will be the top
offensive options.  And, much to Seattle fans surprise, Trent considered
Seattle only a slightly better team than Dallas.  Trent averaged 16 points
and 7.8 rebounds in 98-99.

That was the positive.  The negative was that Trent, for some reason,
decided not to attend the press conference the Mavs had scheduled to
announce the signing and the team canceled the press conference.  A lousy
excuse of Trent being busy house hunting was given.  This, of course, led
to negative talk about Trent and some bring up Trent's troubled past from
two years ago.  Hopefully his not wanting to talk to the media is just a
minor thing - his tenure in Dallas has been squeaky clean so far.  Don
Nelson pointed out that Trent and A.C. Green were the only two players
last season who did not receive any sort of team fines - and Nelson loves
to catch the players at some infraction at least once.

Quotes from the signings:
Gary Trent: "I think the way Nellie gave me the ball last year is what 
really helped my decision to come back here.  I heard from a lot of teams 
this summer, and a lot of teams wanted to offer money, but the situation 
here ... I already knew what I was coming back to as opposed to going to a
new situation and starting all over with guesswork."

Trent: "I am very excited to be back with the Mavericks.  I had a taste 
of success last season and I want to continue to have success.  Hopefully 
we can get a jumpstart on things and make a good run this year.  Anytime 
you are part of success it sticks in your mind.  I think the way that 
Nellie gave me the ball last year is what really helped my decision to 
come back here."

Don Nelson: "Our top priority in the off season was to sign Gary Trent.
Today, that goal was accomplished and I feel very good about that.  We 
greatly appreciate the commitment to our organization from Gary.  He has 
been very loyal to our program and we in return will be very loyal to 
him."

Nelson: "I always thought Gary would re-sign with the Mavericks because I 
believed in my heart that this was the best place for him.  He is our 
primary go-to guy in the low box.  Gary has an established inside game 
and has proven to be a very versatile basketball player."

Nelson: "We can't talk about the future, but loyalty goes two ways.
Gary's shown that he's very loyal to us and, when the time comes, we'll be
very loyal to him."

Nelson: "We had a chance to be around him a whole year and saw a guy we
liked a lot.  A guy who's grown up and left his checkered past.  We signed
who he is today, not who he was."

Nelson: "Gary would have been the third wheel [in Seattle].  I didn't
think their offer was good enough for him to give up this great
situation."

Mark Termini, Trent's agent: "I can say the entire situation that Gary 
started in Dallas last season outweighed other situations that were 
presented to us.  There's a lot of value put to how you're being used, 
and the known factors that exist in a situation where you're enjoying 
personal success, and where you see room and potential for team success.
That cannot be discounted, and that weighed heavily in the decision to 
reject other situations in order to return to the Mavericks.  But there 
were a number of elements, and all the elements that Dallas presented 
resulted in him making that decision to return here."


The other good news is that the Mavs also re-signed Cedric Ceballos to a 2
year contract.  The Dallas Morning News reports it as $7.4 million ($3.5
million in 99-00 and $3.9 million in 00-01) and the Fort Worth Star
Telegram reports it as $8.2 million.  Ceballos also had interest and
an offer from Seattle but opted to remain in Dallas.  He had been seeking
a 4 year contract, but agreed to the 2 year contract.  

Cedric Ceballos: "It's exciting because this is what I wanted to do.  I 
wanted to get back here and start working toward the future.  My teammates 
wanted me back, which is more than positive.  Our young guys are really 
talented.  I have tried to get every team I have played with closer to the
playoffs.  Hopefully I can do that with this team."

Ceballos: "I wanted to do this a lot earlier.  I always said I wanted to 
come back - badly.  [Seattle] was a long term deal, but I'll make almost 
half of that here in two years."

Ceballos: "This is a better opportunity.  Gary Payton is a good friend of
mine, but I wasn't really sure where they were going.  In Dallas, we
haven't all gotten to play together yet.  We're finally starting to get
healthy."

Nelson: "It is great to have Cedric back in the fold.  This allows me to 
bring Dirk Nowitzki along at the right pace.  Ced gives us flexibility. 
He is a great scorer and he adds to the excitement of the team.  Cedric 
fits in extremely well with our players and with our style of play."
 

Trent was signed to the Mavs' Mid-Level exception.  The Mavs don't have
any other exceptions this year - the $1 million exception can only be used
every other year and it was used last year to sign Trent.  Besides A.C.
Green (the Mavs have his Bird rights), the Mavs can only sign free agents
they are interested in to minimum contracts.


And the Mavs are showing some interest in re-signing Green.
Nelson: "We're a little light in depth upfront, and it'll be nice to have
another bigger player, a veteran.  It looks like [Green's] got some other 
offers that he's going to take, but we just let him know we still love 
him, and if it doesn't work out that he should call us."


Nelson also said that he will not be offering Chris Anstey a contract
extension before the October deadline.  Teams can offer players signed to
rookie contracts extensions during the summer after their second season.
The Mavs signed Finley to his extension that way.


Samaki Walker signed 2 year, $5.67 million contract with San Antonio on
Wednesday.  San Antonio has an option for a third year worth $3.24
million.  San Antonio used their $2.7 million injury exception (Sean
Elliott) to sign him.  Losing Samaki did not surprise me (though that he
received as much money as he did, did surprise me).  Samaki look extremely
promising during February of 97-98 before he went down with an injury, but
just looked terrible last season.  He wasn't hustling on defense and was a
black hole on offense.  Every team knew that as soon as he got the ball in
the post, he wasn't going to pass it out.  Gary Payton even publically
stated that their strategy was to double Walker when he got the ball in the
post as they didn't have to worry about the open man getting a good shot.
The Mavs offered Samaki a 4 year, $20 million contract extension in
February, but Samaki and his agent Norm Nixon responded by asking for a 4
year, $40 million contract.  The negotiations broke off with the distance
between the two sides and Samaki's poor play.  And Samaki found himself in
Nelson's doghouse for a good chunk of the season.  He only averaged 5.9
points and 3.7 rebounds in 14.6 minutes last season.  The undercurrent of
bad feelings between Walker and Nelson were there and it is best that he
moved on.  Everything I've heard about Samaki as a person is that he is a
really nice guy.  I blame a lot of the bad feelings that happened on Norm 
Nixon.  I wish Samaki the best.


patricia