Dallas Mavericks: Time To Go Fishing, Again

 

 

TIME TO GO FISHING, AGAIN

By Phillip Dang

 

The summer of 2016 will be another summer where the Dallas Mavericks attempt to land a marquee free agent or a “big fish” as many of us would say. As a Mavericks fan, we have grown accustomed to this being our yearly ritual. After the 2011 championship title, the Mavericks have failed to win a single playoff series, and this is largely due to the fact that each year the Mavericks come in with a completely different roster.

 

The different roster deals with many variables but mainly the fact that the Mavericks have been unable to land the cornerstone piece that will allow them to move on after Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs have missed out on Deron Williams, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony just to name a few. Let’s not even begin to mention the DeAndre Jordan debacle.

 

Still somehow, the Mavericks are able to be competitive each year because of the miraculous work by the front office, coaching staff, and Dirk Nowitzki. The front office has been able to turn plan As such as acquiring Dwight Howard into plan Bs such acquiring as Monta Ellis and Chandler Parsons. Rick Carlisle has been a wizard with the roster turnover, and Dirk has just been Dirk.

 

However if the Mavs want to really close the gap and start to contending for the title again, they must land a big fish this summer. The pressure that the front office is under this summer is going to be tremendous. With Parsons and Nowitzki opting out, this leaves the franchise with a lot of options. If played correctly, this could be what Dallas needs in order to land that big fish. If played poorly, this could be the end of Dirk in a Mavericks uniform.

 

Will Dwight Howard want to finally head over and play in Dallas alongside his good friend Chandler Parsons? Will Mike Conley be the starting point guard for the Mavericks or will Deron Williams resign? Will Parsons leave Dallas for his hometown Orlando? Will the Mavs choose to rebuild which then causes Dirk to go chase a ring with another championship caliber team? There are many options available and the possibilities are endless, as there are every summer for the Mavs. Let the cards fall as they may, as we learned last summer, nothing is over until the ink is put to paper. It’s time to go fishing, again.

 

Potential Options

 

Let’s lay out some of the realistic and potential free agent options that are available for the Mavericks assuming that Parsons and Dirk resign.

 

 

Dwight Howard – Dwight is a clear and obvious option for the Mavericks. After last summer’s DeAndre Jordan fiasco, the Mavs are still in need of a big man. Despite all of the talk about how his play has diminished, the guy is still a walking double-double. He is rarely used in the Rocket’s offense whatsoever and still averaged 13.7 ppg last season. Under the right coaching staff and philosophy, I feel that Dwight could still produce numbers that no other big man in the league can. Howard hasn’t played with a stretch four since Hedo Turkoglu in Orlando and you saw the numbers he put up there. Just imagine if you pair him with Dirk and shooters such as Parsons and Wes.

 

Mike Conley – This option is more of a long shot but I believe that Conley should weigh all options on the table as Memphis doesn’t have a clear direction in which they are headed. Conley would be a perfect fit in Carlisle’s system. He can score from anywhere in numerous ways, takes care of the ball, and is great defensively. With Conley, the Mavericks would have the dependable point guard that they have wanted and pursued for so long.

 

Andre Drummond – Drummond is a restricted free agent and coming off of his best year, it is unlikely that the Pistons wouldn’t want to retain him. However if they did, Drummond would be a great addition for the Mavs. His post game could develop under Carlisle as well as his free throw shooting. Parsons and Drummond have a stance sock deal together and have been known to be pretty good friends. Who knows what could happen?

 

 

Joakim Noah – If Howard chooses not to come here, I bet that Noah would be a definite back up plan for the Mavs. Noah plays very similar to Pachulia, but he is better at everything which would make for a definite upgrade. He is a great defender, hustles, and is very good at passing from the elbows; something Carlisle loved to do with Zaza Pachulia. Spacing would be a problem with Noah as it is with Pachulia, but Noah is definitely one of the better options in the market at the center position. The arrival of the Bull’s new coach also lessened the role for Noah so it would make complete sense if Noah wanted to leave. You also can’t forget about the Florida Gators connection between Parsons and Noah. Granted we keep Parsons, his recruiting skills will be put to the test once again this summer.

 

Lebron James/Kevin Durant – I listed these two together because they are pipe dreams, but it makes sense to attempt to go after them with max type of money. These are franchise players for a reason, and anyone that wouldn’t want to go for these guys just simply have malice towards them. Anytime you can go for a Lebron James or Kevin Durant, you at least try. Although I wouldn’t count on it, as we have tried for James before, and Durant recently just called Cuban an idiot.

 

These are only some of the options that I have listed above. I guarantee that many articles have attempted to predict previous Mavericks offseason only to have completely failed. That is because there are literally so many options available, and the Mavs always have different plans for each case. Who could’ve predicted we would have Darren Collison and OJ Mayo as our starting backcourt one year? What about Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon? Sure these are great temporary plans, but if the Mavs want to take the next leap then they must sign a franchise caliber player to grow with our current roster.