David Dow/NBAE/Getty Images Aldridge: Shawn Marion headed to Dallas Mavericks By David Aldridge, TNT Analyst Posted Jul 9 2009 1:13AM Toronto's Shawn Marion will go to the Dallas Mavericks for a five-year, $40 million contract in part of a sign-and-trade deal that the two teams have been working on, reports TNT's David Aldridge. The deal came after the Memphis Grizzlies agreed to take Dallas guard Jerry Stackhouse from the Mavericks to help facilitate the deal, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley said Wednesday night. Stackhouse has a $7 million contract for the upcoming season, but only $2 million of it is guaranteed, provided the team that acquires him waives him by Aug. 10. So Memphis only would be on the hook for $2 million next season, and would only give Dallas a draft pick in return for Stackhouse. That would create a $7 million trade exception for Dallas that the Mavericks can use to take on Marion in a sign and trade deal from Toronto. Dallas needs an exception that large in order to give Marion a contract in excess of the mid-level exception. The Raptors would sign Marion, then trade him into the exception, and take cash back from Dallas in exchange--likely $3 million, the maximum amount allowed in trades. "We've agreed, from our point of view, what we would do with Dallas," Heisley said by telephone Wednesday evening. "Now it's up to Toronto and Dallas...I would say it's a real situation, and I'd say there's a good chance it would happen." The Mavericks and Raptors had been looking for a third team for the last couple of days that had enough room under the salary cap. Only a handful of teams met the criteria. Oklahoma City, another team with cap room, was approached. But the Thunder had little interest in taking on salary, even for a year, for a player that they knew wouldn't be part of their future plans. Oklahoma City would only be involved in such a trade, a source said, if the Thunder got a young, up and coming player on his rookie contract. The Thunder's priority is to keep its cap room, either to hold until the trade deadline next February or to use it in future years to re-sign their own young stars--Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook. Heisley also said that discussions with free agent point guard Allen Iverson are only in the preliminary stages. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Wednesday that Heisley was ready to sign off on a one-year, $5 million deal with Iverson. "We've talked to his agent," Heisley said. "We have not come to anything close to an understanding. We're just exploring. More or less, we're going to have initial discusions with his agent. But it's very, very early. I don't want people to think there's anything more to it than that...it's very, very early and It's nothing more than exploratory." Link: http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/david_aldridge/07/08/marion.raptors/index.html
He'll give the Mavs an actual running game. Plus, we can now look out for alley-oop connections between him and Kidd.
Good deal for the Mavs. Kinda skeptical in the long run. Giving a 31 year old whose game revolves around athleticism a 5 year deal? Not too smart.
Cuban right now is not looking beyond 2 to 3 years. He wants to win now. And for that time frame, I think the Mavs are on the right direction. Securing Gortat would give Dallas the option to shop Dampier and maybe end up with a legitimate 2 guard. Honestly, I'd dangle Josh Howard also.
Still doesn't make them contenders. This deal improves Dallas slightly for the short term, but that's about it. Too bad we lost Wright. He wasn't great, but he was decent on the Mavs. Was Marion the best Cuban could do?
Wow, I guess nothing will satisfy you. Two significant moves by Cuban and still nothing. Tsk Tsk Tsk.
I'm not satisfied because I have seen what Dallas is capable of. A few years back, they were always ranked amongst the top teams, had a 67 win season, and made it to the Finals. With the key players still the same, Dallas has fallen off the map. Cuban has made horrible trades and signings, and we go from a pretty deep bench now to one of mediocrity. Other teams have continued to get better, and have made smart moves, while Cuban is always a step behind and ends up making a move to appease the fans but not necessarily make the team better.
