In February, Devean George blocked the Mavericks' first attempt to save themselves from acquire Jason Kidd. He knew the decision would be unpopular -- fans in Dallas booed him during his first appearance after the trade fell through -- but he was content "being the bad guy" while exercising his contractual rights as a soon-to-be restricted free agent who'd be losing his Bird rights.
Considering the whole debacle (and that the re-worked trade for Kidd not involving George cost Mark Cuban an extra $11 million), it seemed a foregone conclusion that George would be given the boot this summer. Instead, it's the exact opposite. From Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News:
George and the Mavericks reached an agreement Wednesday on a new, two-year contract worth about $4 million, according to George's agent, Mark Bartelstein. Bartelstein said the deal includes an option for George to return to free agency after next season.
"He's excited about returning to the Mavericks," Bartelstein said. "He's excited about playing for [new coach] Rick Carlisle. Rick made a great impression on him and came to visit him a couple of times."
I admit, I'm more than a little surprised that the Mavs wanted George back, and not only because of any lingering feelings of resentment about the botched trade. The fact is, George is woefully unproductive. He averaged just 3.7 points and 2.6 boards in 15.5 minutes per game. Looking at his stats independent of playing time, he posted a paltry 7.06 PER, far below the league average PER of 15.0 and ranking 312th in the entire league. And yet, for some reason, the Mavs not only kept him but also gave him the option to decide how long he wants to stay. Brilliant.
The Mavericks signed Gerald Green to what is believed to be a one-year deal, thus continuing the tradition of filing their roster with players of questionable talent (like Devean George and Tyronne Lue, for example). Green played for the Timberwolves and (briefly) the Rockets last season, and ultimately finished the year out of the NBA. I'm sure that's just the answer to get Dallas out of the first round of the playoffs.
But let's talk about something important: if Green can stay on the roster until the All-Star break, it means we'll get to see him in the dunk contest! Green took home the trophy in Vegas in 2007, and despite Dwight Howard's Superman winning it last year, Green's Birfday Birthday Cake dunk was by far the talk of the event. Plus, it lead to comments on our event chat like, "Wait, is it even anyone's birthday?" followed by an email of a list of the NBA's birthdays for the day. You just can't buy entertainment like that. Anyway, let's hope the kid makes it to All-Star weekend, so we can see more dunks like this one.
There's a slew of "new" versus "old" changing of the guard notions buried within the New Orleans Hornets -- Dallas Mavericks series that just ended. The one time perennial contender Maverick team is on the verge of being blown up and something -- something about a change in the league's best point guard.
But I don't know that I have the brain power to wax poetic about it right now, simply because I am in absolute awe of how freaking good Chris Paul is. Say whatever you want about this Dallas team quitting on Avery Johnson -- and they did, no doubt about it -- but this series wasn't about redemption for Dirk or Avery. That's because it was CP3's coming out party.
The best part about having a blog is that you get to tell everyone your opinion. The worst part about being a celebrity is that everyone watches what you do. When you're a celebrity blogger, well, you have that juxtaposed blend of power sitting squarely in your lap. Mark Cuban, of course, is a fan of wielding said power. So when Peter Vesceyclaimed that the Mavs have been trying to trade Dirk Nowitzki, and when Devean George's agent squashed a trade Cubes was trying to pull off, he made sure (after the deal had been consummated) to let them know how he felt.
The annoyance. One agent who made a truism of the saying that "no good deed goes unpunished". That said, I have nothing but respect and admiration for Devean George. He told me that he would trust his agent as he had done for the last 10 years and take whatever may with that decision. He had the balls to stick to it. Even with people yelling and screaming at him. That said, as I write this, I really have no clue why the agent made the decision he did.
The dirt. Peter Vescey's ridiculous assertion that Avery asked me to trade Dirk. Even in the Nellie years where we discussed trading every other player on the roster, Dirk was never mentioned. There has never been a discussion of trading Dirk during my tenure, EVER. Vescey's source is an out and out liar.
The war of words that is heating up in Big D is getting pretty exciting just as the Western Conference Arms Race begins to heat up and the playoff battle gets more and more down-to-the-end-bitter. I agree with Cuban on the Devean George-agent issue to an extent, although in fairness, the guy is just doing what he thinks is best for his client. And as for Vescey's allegations that the Mavericks wanted to trade Dirk, well, it's kind of presumptuous for Cuban to want us to think he's never actually thought about it. Maybe it wasn't going to happen, but pretending like it was "never mentioned" seems a bit of a stretch.
The eight-player deal, in the making since before the All-Star break, sends Kidd, forward Malik Allen and guard Antoine Wright to Dallas for point guard Devin Harris, center DeSagana Diop and swingman Maurice Ager, plus retired forward Keith Van Horn and Trenton Hassell. New Jersey also gets two first-round draft picks and $3 million.
Now that Stack is definitely staying, the only real trouble for the Mavs in making this "win-now" deal is depth at the center position. Which, considering the Lakers, Suns, and Spurs all have complete monsters at that position, should be a huge concern.
You know, in simpler times, before players had these "rights", owners would just ship them to and fro, doing whatever they wanted. Now, things are different, as evidenced by Devean George's behavior and the inability of the Mavericks and Nets to close this Jason Kidd deal (which we thought was locked down). And in theory, it will still go through. But as Dave D'Alessandropoints out via his conversation with David Falk, Keith Van Horn is no lock to fall in line with the business of getting paid to take a physical.
And suddenly, that seems to be the important factor in this trade: Keith either has cold feet, or feels that a $2M payday for taking a physical is shameless and needs time to think it through, or he just doesn't want any part of it.
Falk won't say which is closest to the truth.
"I really can't say," the agent said. "He wants some quiet time to reflect on it. And that's what he should be doing.
"He'll make a decision, but it's not going to be 'maybe,' or 70-30. Either he'll do it or he won't do it. And we'll all know in the next 48 to 72 hours."
Ouch, for Mavs fans and the slew of players involved who are awkwardly returning to their original teams following this ridiculously over-dramatized deal (and yes, guilty). Falk essentially insinuates (via D'Alessandro's article) in the conversation that Van Horn thinks his involvement in the trade is either a pain or just flat out shameless, although he has deep seeded respect for both Rod Thorn and Mark Cuban in possibly wanting to get this deal done. Will it happen? My personal gut would say yes, but then again, I never thought George would demand to use his Bird Rights either.
Since we have a quick moment to breathe between All-Star weekend and the rest of the season, let's take a look back at the winners and losers of the first half.
Winners:
Lakers: LandedPau Gasol for Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton, also known together as "basically nothing." Started a chain reaction of trades in the West, and even after those are considered by many to be the favorite to reach the Finals.
Suns: Traded for Shaq, as an obvious response to the Lakers' deal. They're winners because a motivated Shaq for a season-and-a-half is definitely worth something, and the guy still has a little left I think. Remember, Shaq returned from injury earlier this season to put up a strong effort of 24 and 10 against the Bulls ... but his team lost the game by 30. He'll definitely contribute something positive to his new team.
Heat: Anytime you get $40 million in contracts off the books when you're the worst team in the league, you win. Plus, the Heat have played with more energy since Shawn Marion has arrived, and now they have some cap space to rebuild for next year.
Pistons: Very quietly, the Pistons have racked up the league's second best record at the break, and are currently riding a 10-game winning streak. No one's paying attention to them right now, and that's just the way they like it. This team will be extremely dangerous come playoff time.
That's right! The trade "has legs" again, so sayeth Ernie Johnson. Well, the trade initially had about 14 legs, but then appeared to be practically torso-less, following the stubbornness of Devean George and the wordsmithing of Jerry Stackhouse. But things are not completely bleak for Jason Kidd, desperate to get the heck out of Jersey, as it appears that the deal is back on track, albeit with a few different parts.
Reportedly, there is a conference call scheduled with the league for Monday morning, at which time everything will be made formal, although given what happened last time, I would hardly expect Mark Cuban to come out and announce anything until the t's, etc. are crossed. And one would guess to, that he has made sure Donnie Nelson has Van Horn's approval to get traded.
This is basically the same deal for both teams, and there's probably a good chance that Rod Thorn has already spoken to Hassell about a buyout, although I am completely speculating on that issue. Hassell seems relatively unimportant, but he's a good defender, even if his contract is bigger than Stackhouse's long term. Again, we'll have more once the deal is finalized but it is also interesting to note that Kidd's response to David Aldridge's questioning was that his gut feeling had him in Dallas tomorrow morning. You know what my gut feeling says? Devean George is going to be super-popular in the Dallas metro area for the rest of the season.
He entered the Suns' arena Thursday night with a cell phone to his ear and within minutes he had center Shaquille O'Neal, who was traded to the Suns last week from the Miami Heat, in his ear. Through an intermediary, O'Neal summoned George, a former teammate of his in Los Angeles, to the Suns' weight room for a talk.
After the game, George would not reveal what O'Neal had said, but he did say that his advice was helpful. "He's had brotherly advice for me since my first day in the league," George said.
Don't you wish you could've been a fly on that wall? I'm sure O'Neal is looking out for his former teammate to a degree, but after being traded to the Suns, he's also no longer in the best position to remain completely impartial, either. You have to be impressed at Shaq's ability to summon opposing players for secret meetings through various intermediaries, though. It seems like his his Godfather fetish is playing out in real life.
(Speaking of ... if Penny was Fredo, Kobe was Sonny and Wade was Michael, is Shaq's journey to Phoenix the equivalent of Godfather III, the film that everyone regrets being made and is universally regarded as a mistake?)
Hey, remember that Jason Kidd-to Dallas thing? Sure you do. It was about to be another blockbuster deal, but it was killed by a delusionalDevean George deciding he'd rather be a Maverick. While the team spent most of yesterday trying (unsuccessfully) to convince George to relent and pack his bags for Jersey, it appears now that the trade wouldn't be immediately approved even if Devean changed his mind.
Comments made by Jerry Stackhouse implied that a side deal had already been negotiated to bring him back to Dallas after a buyout from the Nets. His exact quote was, "I get 30 days to rest then I'll be right back. I ain't going nowhere." This is in clear violation of league rules, so if the trade does get resurrected, it's very possible that it wouldn't get immediately approved, and it's probable that at this point, Stack wouldn't be allowed back in Dallas.
The NBA will investigate the possibility the Mavericks and Stackhouse violated league rules with a prearranged agreement for the forward to return to Dallas after reaching a contract buyout in New Jersey and sitting out the 30-day waiting period, sources said. Several league sources said the NBA will consider forbidding Stackhouse to re-sign with the Mavericks this season as punishment for public comments the forward made on Wednesday that suggested tampering could have occurred.
If that's the case, and Stackhouse couldn't come back to the Mavericks, then this deal really is dead. Mark Cuban has said that he wouldn't pull the trigger unless he wasn't really losing Stack, which makes complete sense. But what doesn't make sense is how loose-lipped both Cuban and Stackhouse have been with regards to this little side deal. They had to know the commissioner wouldn't allow something like this to go on, at least if they were going to flaunt it to the rest of the league like this. By openly admitting to circumventing league rules, Cuban will have no one to blame but himself if the Kidd trade ends up falling through. Which at the moment, seems extremely likely.
In February, Devean George blocked the Mavericks' first attempt to 
The best part about having a blog is that you get to tell everyone your opinion. The worst part about being a celebrity is that everyone watches what you do. When you're 
You know, in simpler times, before players had these "rights", owners would just ship them to and fro, doing whatever they wanted. Now, things are different, as evidenced by 
Since we have a quick moment to breathe between 
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