The Dallas Mavericks received their annual reminder of where they stand in the NBA pecking order Sunday, as other teams made a dizzying array of moves at the start of free agency.
Doing a lucrative contract extension with Kristaps Porzingis (5 years, $158 million) was expected, and it appears the Mavs weren’t able to build in any insurance against the 7-2 unicorn’s worrisome injury history. This is one of those grin-and-bear-it deals a team like Dallas has to do to stay somewhat relevant in the Western Conference.
All the talk about “big fish” like Kemba Walker, Al Horford and even Tobias Harris was quickly silenced despite our local team’s bountiful salary cap space. It will be another offseason of keeping the powder dry while teams such as the Brooklyn “frigging” Nets, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers threw haymakers. Even my beloved Utah Jazz, who are normally shut out in free agency, were able to land sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic to go along with Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell.
Bogdanovic is the type player the Mavs have desperately needed the past few years. Instead, they were able to acquire Heat castoffs Derrick Jones and Kelly Olynyk, briefly. Apparently there was some misunderstanding, and the Heat never meant to include Jones. What a disaster.
It was widely reported the Mavs had landed veteran guard Goran Dragic from the Heat, but it was too good to be true. Even a 33-year-old Slovenian with some health issues was way too big of a name for the Mavs to hook. Olynyk and Jones would have been the smallest of consolation prizes on a day when teams across the league, such as the mighty Indiana Pacers, were making big moves.
The Pacers signed Malcolm Brogdon, a 42.6% three-point shooter the Mavs had targeted. I know paying a 15.6 points-per-game sharpshooter $85 million over four years sounds like a lot, but that’s the price of doing business in this league. The Mavericks threw down a similar contract on Harrison Barnes a few years ago.
Mark Cuban mentioned last week how this is the time of year when he goes to work, but the fruits of his labor weren’t evident Sunday. He seems to have friendships with players across the league, but they’d rather party with him than play for him.
The Mavs believed having two potential superstars in Doncic and Porzingis would be a magnet for free agents, but it didn’t happen. Now, it’s time to check the bargain bin. Patrick Beverley is seeking a three-year, $40 million deal. He’s a solid defender who can knock down threes. I have zero confidence the Mavericks will sign him.
The Warriors were closing in on a sign-and-trade deal Sunday night that would land them D’Angelo Russell. The Nets are obviously thrilled to land both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, but Russell is a budding superstar. The thought of watching him with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson is captivating. This is how a great organization responds to losing a superstar.
The Mavs had a brief shot at getting involved in the free-agency party, but they whiffed. Let the apologists step forward and claim this wasn’t a bad day for the Mavericks.
They will be wrong. This was the same old sorry showing in free agency. But hey, at least the Olynyk era has arrived.
