2006/07 Dallas Mavericks Payroll: $74 million2006/07 Estimated NBA Salary Cap: $52 millionRoughly: $22 million over cap Dirk NowitzkiPhoto: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty ImagesThe Good: The Dallas Mavericks enjoyed one of the best seasons in franchise history, and they have their MVP candidate to thank. Dirk Nowitzki had a phenomenal year. His 26.6 points per game, 48% shooting from the field, 40.6% shooting from the three-point line and 90.1% free throw shooting were all career highs. He also chipped in 9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Dirk proved without a doubt that he is one of the top five players in the league. He will receive $15 million dollars next season, a rather small number considering what he brings to the table. Nowitzki also has a player option for the following year at $16 million. I have a feeling Mark Cuban won't be letting Dirk get away like Steve Nash did.One of the better bargains in the entire league is forward Josh Howard. He will make just $1.5 million next season, and after Dirk and Jason Terry, Howard is one of the more important players on the team. He scores (15.6 ppg), rebounds (6.3), and shoots well from the field (47%). Howard will be paid well after next season, but for now, he gives Dallas incredible value.Keith Van Horn's contract is finally finished! The expiring deal will save the Mavericks more than $15 million dollars off the salary cap. The team loves Van Horn's versatility, just not his durability. They might try to resign him for a much cheaper price.The Bad: Erick Dampier's contract is another example of everyone knowing it's a bad deal except the people who offered it to him (like Jerome James in New York). Dampier is owed, on average, nearly $10 million dollars each of the next five years. The burly center played in all 82 games, which was nice, but he averaged just 5.7 points and 7.8 rebounds. Granted, Dampier brings some defense, but you could find another player to equal those stats for half the price. The Mavs are stuck with Dampier for the time being and will have to make the most of it.Sadly, Michael Finley will count $17 and $18 million against the cap the next two years. Waived under the Allan Houston rule, Finley will receive large paycheck after large paycheck from Dallas, all while playing for San Antonio. Finley is certainly enjoying the crazy world we live in.The Mavs' most important bench player, Jerry Stackhouse, will get $8 million dollars to play next year. That is a high price to pay for a 40% shooter who hasn't played in more than 56 games in a season the past three years. It is also Stack's final season of his contract. It will be interesting to see what Dallas does with him.The Future: Unlike the Knicks, the Maverick's inflated payroll actually translated into wins. 60 of them, to be exact. With that kind of production, it is easy to look past the contract numbers.The priority for Dallas this off-season will be to resign Jason Terry. The starting point guard thrived this season, shooting well from all over the field and finishing second on the team in points per game with 17.1. Terry also hit a lot of big shots late in games, which showed that they have other options during crunch time aside from Dirk Nowitzki. Keeping Terry in town will be an important move for this team.The Mavericks are a bona-fide contender, so there isn't a whole lot that they have to do. They have superstars and role players, excellent chemistry, and Coach of the Year Avery Johnson. With Mark Cuban willing to spend just about anything to keep the team playing at a high level, there is no reason to believe that Dallas will be losing their contender status any time soon.Bonus Points? for hiring Avery Johnson as their coach. The Mavs found the perfect leader for their team. He came from in-house so he knew the players, knew the system, and knew what needed to be done. Johnson deserved his award for actually getting the Mavs to play a little defense.Grade: C http://nbadraft.net/2006stateofthecapdallas001.asp
Man why you gotta bust our balls man? LOL.We know we are in salary cap hell, but unlike the NFL, the Mavs don't have to be under that cap...they just can't do anything besides use the MLE and LLE...And as good as this team is, that's all we really need.
As long as we sign great role players and draft players like we have in the last few years, we will be fine in my opinion. We've done that pretty good the last few years. Adrian Griffin, Diop, Armstrong in free angency and Harris and Howard in the draft. You can also put Mbenga, Powell, and Daniels as good drafted players since we got them all as rookies. Only things bad to the cap was signing Finley to that massive contract and Dampier as well.
Yeah, but Fin was signed along time ago, and we wouldn't have kept him if we didn't pay for him, and at the time, it was a good thing to keep him.We didn't have Harris, Howard, and Daniels to be behind him.We need to get another good rebounding big, or long range shooter in the first this year, and I'm sure we will. We've drafted well, and signed good FA's over the last few years.
Yeah, I really wish Finley's payroll was out of here. I wish we could at least trade him, but oh well. But, remember, Dallas has a lot of different types of players.Superstars: Dirk NowitzkiAll-Star/All-StarPotential: Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki, and Josh HowardOlder Role Players: Jerry Stackhouse, Keith Van Horn, Erick Dampier, and Adrian GriffinYounger Role Players: Marquis Daniels, Devin HarrisUnsure of Potential: Pavel Podkolzin, DJ Mbenga, Josh Powell, Rawle Marshall End of Career: Darrell Armstrong
