Oct 15, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Darren Collison (4) and center Chris Kaman (35) before the game against the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Rockets 123-104. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Mavericks are in serious danger of missing the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 1999-00.
Currently with a record 16-23, the Mavericks sit five games out of the eighth and final playoff in the West. They’re fourth in the SouthWest division (12.5 games out of first place) and 12th in the Western Conference.
Owner Mark Cuban is none to happy with the teams performance thus far, and is promising drastic changes in order to improve the roster before the February 21st trade deadline.
"“Every day I’m going through rosters trying to come up with ideas for Donnie,” Cuban said. “We want everybody to know that the Bank of Cuban is open and if it’s the right deal, we don’t mind taking back money.“But we’re not going to just do a trade just to do a trade. It’s got to be really worthwhile.”"
After failing to acquire current Nets point guard Deron Williams this past offseason, the Mavericks now find themselves with tremendous financial flexibility. They are under the salary cap and have the ability to take on larger salaries in return, which may be enticing to some teams around the league.
With superstar free-agents Chris Paul and Dwight Howard expected to stay with their respective teams this upcoming summer, Dallas will have to explore the trade market in order to acquire more talent.
As predicted, Mark Cuban will not be trading away franchise cornerstone Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk has a no-trade clause in his four-year, $80 million dollar contract that expires at the end of next season. He’s only played in 12 games (underwent knee surgery this past summer) and is putting up his lowest scoring (13.3) and rebounding (5.0) numbers since his rookie year (1998-99)
"“I told Dirk we’re not going to trade him. He was happy. I think,” Cuban said, laughing on Saturday. “I wanted to make it clear to him. I said, ‘We’re in this through thick and thin,’ and so there’s no way I would trade him, no matter what.”"
Cuban is certainly no stranger to making big trades, as he helped orchestrate the deals that brought Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler to Dallas.
Two players who could easily find themselves on the first plane out of town are Chris Kaman and Darren Collison.
Kaman is working under a one-year, $8 million dollar deal. Teams that are looking to shed some payroll and add some size down low could look to take a flyer on Chris.
Through 37 games, Kaman is averaging 13.0 points on 50.1% shooting. He’s also grabbing 6.4 rebounds a night.
Collison has struggled to find his niche with the Mavericks to start the year, and could very well be running on borrowed time. Lest we forget, management had to bring in veteran point guard Derek Fisher for a stretch earlier in the season, which was a huge vote of no confidence to Darren.
His season averages of 13.0 points and 5.1 assists aren’t terrible numbers, but his inconsistent play and lack of leadership intangibles at the point guard position are definitely major knocks on his game.
Teams could refuse to offer Collison a qualifying offer at the end of the 2013-14 season, thus making him a free-agent.