<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Think of it as Donald Trump meets Jerry West. Welcome to the art of the deal, NBA-style. The trick is to manage salaries, depth charts and timetables. For some teams, that means improving for the here and now. For others, the goal involves improvement in a year or two. Lurking in the background is the next deal on the horizon. A good example is the nine-player deal between the Mavericks and Golden State Warriors earlier this summer. Golden State acquired a veteran point guard in Nick Van Exel, who might or may not stay in the Bay Area. Just as importantly, the Warriors bought salary cap room in a year or two to rebuild, again. The Mavericks got what they feel they need now. Management believes the trade made the team younger, bigger and better with the acquisition of Antawn Jamison, Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills. Just as importantly, the Mavericks are well positioned for anything that might potentially materialize. In the Golden State trade, they dealt one player who saw regular minutes for three who could. Sure, the marketability of those players depends on whether they produce like the Mavericks think they will. Jamison must prove that he can be the second or even third option rather than having the offense go through him most of the time. Fortson will have to revert to the dependable double-double producer of two years ago and rehabilitate his image as Van Exel did in Dallas. Welsch needs to show why he deserved to be the 16th pick overall in the draft in 2002 instead of the 25 percent shooter who disappeared into the Warriors bench last season. Are all likely? Probably not, but neither is any wishful thinking. With rookies Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels, the Mavericks are at least two-deep at each of the five positions. Even little-used Tariq Abdul-Wahad has played impressively for France in the European Championships. The stockpiling of talent is important for the multiple looks that coach Don Nelson loves. If not the best team yet in the West, the Mavericks are among the deepest of the contenders. Their overall talent level is more than Minnesota and the top-heavy Los Angeles Lakers. They are no worse than even with San Antonio, despite the Spurs' additions of Hidayet Turkoglu and Ron Mercer. They've even narrowed the gap with Sacramento, the NBA's deepest team. The players also serve as valuable poker chips for the next hand. Sometime between now and February, the Mavericks will probably revisit the idea of improving inside ? regardless of how Raef LaFrentz and Shawn Bradley perform. No one knows when or how. But what happens if the rift widens between Jermaine O'Neal and the Indiana Pacers over the firing of Isiah Thomas? At $126 million, O'Neal is hardly a bargain. He's still worth a look, given his ability and what the Mavericks could possibly offer. Or, if you want to dream bigger, imagine if Minnesota's revamped lineup tanks two months into the season. Any team with Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell and Michael Olowokandi could implode any moment. Then, what if, Minnesota decides to shop free agent-to-be Kevin Garnett? File that possibility under "H" for hmmm. Or lower your expectations and pick one of the usual center prospects: Dale Davis, Antonio Davis or any one of 10 other names. Now the Mavericks can match offers with virtually any team. None of this is front-burner stuff. Unless they can move Mills, the Mavericks probably will go into training camp Oct. 1 with the same roster they have now. It's a luxury with a potentially big payoff sometime later. </div> http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/da...ncol.affda.html
