<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Barea Leaves Las VegasJul 13, 2006By: Walter Villa BAREA IS KEEPING BUSY. LAS VEGAS - With at least three teams interested in his services, Jose Juan Barea has some decisions to make.Barea concluded the Vegas Summer League with the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night with another strong effort. In five games, he had an excellent 3-1 assists to turnovers ratio (15 assists, 5 turnovers).Barea also averaged 6 points per game in Vegas, but NBA teams who followed his college career already knew he could score. After all, he averaged 21 points per game as the nation's Mid-Majors Conferences Player of the Year at Northeastern University.He was also second in the nation in assists (8.2) at NU. But because he had to do so much - score, pass, rebound - to keep his team in games, his turnover rate (4.9) was high.That may have been a concern to pro scouts then, but it isn't anymore. Scouts watched Barea win the MVP of the Portsmouth pre-draft tournament, getting 18 assists and 1 turnover in his signature game. He set tournament record for single-game and tournament assists and kept his turnovers low.In Vegas, it has been more of the same with just a 1.0 per-game turnover rate. This development and his overall game - driving to the hole, ability to run a team, toughness on defense - has convinced the Warriors that they want him in their training camp in October.However, the Dallas Mavericks feel the same way and also want him to fly immediately to Salt Lake City, Utah to play in their summer league.And a team from Spain still wants Barea very badly. Because of Barea's Spanish ancestry, he would not count against a Spanish team's limit of two non-European players per season."We still have strong interest in Golden State," said Richard Katz, Barea's agent. "We think Golden State is an ideal fit for Jose Juan. But we also have interest in Dallas. Playing for a great organization such as the Mavericks would give Jose Juan another opportunity to showcase his talents."A decision is expected soon.And on the horizon is the invitation Barea has received to play for his native Puerto Rico in next month's World Games, assuming that does not conflict with any NBA team's plans for him."He will play for pride and country," Katz said, "but it also showcases Jose Juan internationally."</div> If he does take an offer with us, I'm expecting him to be our third pg and pretty much ending our offseason. Unless we do indeed sign and trade Van Horn for Najera, since now Griff deal has fallen through.Possible roster:Terry/Harrs/BareaBuckner/AgerHoward/Stackhouse/Marshall or NajeraNowitzi/Croshere/PowellDiop/Dampier/Mbenga/PodkolzinWe basically would lose Griff, Daniels, Van Horn, Armstrong and gain Buckner, Ager, Croshere, and Barea. Possibly to add to Najera, lose Marshall. Buck > Griff, Daniels = Ager, Croshere > Van Horn, Barea > Armstrong(he's done). Not a bad offseason.
Yeah I guess the main concern is SF is more needed on Dallas than SG but Barea sounds like a great addition if we get him. Najera might be too slow to play the SF so I don't know if he is comfortable in that position.
Najera would be the 3rd SF...it's not like he would be starting or playing 25 minutes a game...he'd be quick enough, and play well enough at SF for 5-10 minutes a game, and it wouldn't hurt us too much.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>David Lord's take on this at DallasBasketball.com (posted on July 15):Re the Najera rumors...As a complement to fish's notes in blogfish, here is what we are guessing has happened:We think it all began not from the Mavs end but from Denver. (It is always easy for us to think that all Mavs trade talk begins in Dallas, but clearly that cant be the case.)Based on a few facts and some understanding of the process, here is our conjecture on what's been going on.It began with Van Horn - a Denver guy - working to get a contract with the Nuggets.The Nuggets - according to published reports in Denver - are bumping up against tax limits and trying to avoid more spending. They could use Van Horn, but dont want to add any more payroll for anyone. They tell him "we want you but cant afford you." The idea arises: what if Dallas will take back Najera, via sign-and-trade? That then allows the Nuggets to add Van Horn without adding salary.So the Mavs get a call - "want to trade us Van Horn for Najera?" Cuban calls Donnie (the phone call you saw reported) to discuss whether its something they have a use for.But there are problems with that idea from the Mavs end. The Mavs are themselves up against the tax limit. Najera's contract (almost 5M per year) is very expensive for the limited use they would get from him. He has a really bad knee. They dont even know where they would put him into their roster plans - who would he replace? Would he replace Powell, who is younger bigger healthier with upside? Marshall? Griffin, who is healthier? And he will cost 5M (plus an extra 5M in tax), whereas any of those others are probably 1M or less and not taxable.The Mavs like Najera. He was a team and fan favorite when he was here.So the Mavs dont turn down the idea completely. The easy alternative might have been to say something like "we will do it if you send us a #1 pick next year." The Nuggets have the Mavs #1 - so Dallas can ask for either or even both. Low #1s are typically worth about $2-3M cash, and the Mavs would be eating about $8-9M.But for Denver, is Van Horn worth adding - and sending away Najera - at the price of two #1s? Doubtful. Just one #1? Probably not that price either.So then the talks veer to: Are there any other players on the Denver roster that make the SNT make sense? Dallas gets Najera, Denver gets Van Horn, Dallas gets the tax bill, how do we balance things.We think ultimately this is going nowhere. Its a major long shot at this point, as you can see from the outline above. The Mavs have a team full of players lined up that Avery likes, and we doubt they will be wanting to alter that at this point unless Denver wows them (which looks very unlikely).</div> Ahh, I hate to read that. Cubes is really thinking about money/luxury tax now. Preventing us from landing some players, but I understand it from his viewpoint. It'll help in the future but are you guys feeling Rawle Marshall getting some burn again this year? Najera does make a lot for one player the next 2 years. Didn't realize that.
