Mavs have a non-bird exception on WCS, so they can sign him without touching the MLE

WCS was a big bag of nothing last year - I don't see any value there.

Now that FA is basically over (pending a surprise trade). I feel like I can put a bow on the Mavs moves.

Overall, between the draft and FA, I give the Mavs a solid B.

• Draft Grade: A
• Free Agency Grade: C-

Draft Night:
The draft I gave an A for the overall night that included Josh Green, Tyrell Terry, Tyler Bey + JR. The Mavs biggest weakness heading into the year was wing depth and the Mavs absolutely attacked that position by adding 3 3&D wings that can each guard 3 positions. I wish the Mavs had been able to get Desmond Bane at the 31st pick b/c I think he's a day 1 starter but Tyrell Terry should definitely fill the void left by Seth and Josh Richardson is a lab grown perfect fit for what the Mavs need.

On these moves alone, the Mavs should be in contention for homecourt in the playoffs.

Free Agency:
As for the Free Agency period; I was a little disappointed. It started off beautifully for the Mavs when they unloaded 2 of their 3 worst contracts (Delon Wright + Justin Jackson) for an expiring James Johnson (a badass PF enforcer). If nothing else, he adds toughness and size. However, this move was 100% a cap friendly maneuver for the mavs to free up even more money for next summer in the Giannis sweepstakes (more on that later).

After that it was all downhill. The Mavs basically retained 2 guys they already had that nobody else wanted (WCS and Trey Burke) on team friendly deals and then picked up a DFS clone in Wes Iwundu for the league min. While these aren't 'bad' moves, they are certainly lackluster and are the types of additions at the margins the Mavs MUST be better b/c when Luka's max extension kicks in, it'll be the only real FA adds they can make.

My biggest concern is that the Mavs seem fully committed to maximizing cap space for next summer. Why is that a concern? B/c the Mavs have NEVER been a FA destination. We've done this song and dance a thousand times and what ends up happening is the Mavs whiff on the top tier FAs so instead they just hand out bags to overqualified role players like Wes Matthews and Jose Calderon. If the Mavs aren't able to get a Giannis or Kawhi, I'm terrified we're going to end up giving huge contracts to guys like Dinwiddie and Otto Porter (good, but not great players).

Speculation and Missed Opportunities:
I was listening to the Zach Lowe podcast and he said the Mavs were extremely active during the past week.

Specifically it looks like the Mavs came in 2nd to Portland for the RoCo deal (we weren't willing to toss in a future first).

Also, Zach said that the Mavs were offering everything they could since pick #8 to get Tyrese Haliburton before he got picked at 12. Thought that was interesting.

EDIT UPDATE: Apparently the Rockets wanted Seth Curry+18th Pick+31st pick for RoCo and Dallas said no. I'm glad they turned that down.

All in all, the Mavs have an exciting team that should be able to compete with anyone (if KP is healthy). Can't wait for the season to start in ONLY 1 MONTH!!! LESSSGOO!!

Oh also, i should add that the Mavs currently have 16 players with offer sheets if you include reports that the Mavs intend to keep JJ Barea.....so that means someone will have to be the odd man out. I'm guessing that either Barea or Iwundu are giving the cut.

Guitarsoup said:

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Nerlens Noel signed a 1y 5mm deal with the Knicks.

Since 2017 when he turned down a 4y70mm contract, he has signed:

1y4mm
2y/3.75mm
1y/2mm
1y/5mm

5 years, 14.75mm

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Also, I made a mistake.

It is 4y/12.75mm

So even worst

Kind of strange considering that we paid 4 mil a year for WCS. Didn't we prioritize gasol over him?

awrollins said:

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Kind of strange considering that we paid 4 mil a year for WCS. Didn't we prioritize gasol over him?

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Yea but

a) Gasol preferred LA (understandable for a variety of reasons but especially since his brother played there forever so he's familiar with it).

b) Gasol's $5m is guaranteed for 2 years whereas WCS is only guaranteed for 1yr with the Mavs having a second year team option (Odds are that the Mavs will not elect to renew WCS at the end of next season).

M.C. Swag said:

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awrollins said:

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Kind of strange considering that we paid 4 mil a year for WCS. Didn't we prioritize gasol over him?

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Yea but

a) Gasol preferred LA (understandable for a variety of reasons but especially since his brother played there forever so he's familiar with it).

b) Gasol's $5m is guaranteed for 2 years whereas WCS is only guaranteed for 1yr with the Mavs having a second year team option (Odds are that the Mavs will not elect to renew WCS at the end of next season).

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Aahhh, that makes sense.

Icy

Goodness, those are terrible.
The NBA consistently puts out the absolute worst sports uniforms.

You have awful taste. These have been well received. My friends who aren't Mavs fans have said these are sick.

They're cool, but what does the gold represent? It would be like A&M going green for a week or something

Certainly better than the trash bags. But not fantastic.

Saw this on Reddit

Carlo4 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Nerlens Noel signed a 1y 5mm deal with the Knicks.

Since 2017 when he turned down a 4y70mm contract, he has signed:

1y4mm
2y/3.75mm
1y/2mm
1y/5mm

5 years, 14.75mm

---

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Between Nerlens and Chandler Parsons- and you could make the argument not signing DeAndre Jordan to a multi year deal- the Mavs have really done an amazing job of avoiding ****ty deals

NoahAg said:

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Goodness, those are terrible.
The NBA consistently puts out the absolute worst sports uniforms.

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The NBA as a whole is fine. It's the Mavs who are one of the teams that are woefully behind the times

See the Miami Heat's city edition jerseys as a perfect example of stellar design

EconAg18 said:

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You have awful taste. These have been well received. My friends who aren't Mavs fans have said these are sick.

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They're not the worst city jerseys the Mavs have had, but they're not exactly attractive either. The best thing they have going for them is nothing is overly offensive. There's not an overbearing amount of gold or silver, but gold and silver don't belong on a jersey. They could have/should have done a lot better.

The Pegasus jersey posted on this thread is better. And the Miami Heat "Miami Vice" jerseys are better. The classic Mavs jersey they'll be wearing this year is also better.

They're still better than the City edition jerseys from last year, and that is what I'm using as a measuring stick here haha

Those new jerseys are Luka approved and possibly an attempt to recreate his 13 year old Real Madrid years.

I think they're just ok. The font bothers me a little. The "A" in Dallas in particular looks squished and weird.

Mavs vs Lakers on Christmas?

Luka is pretty clearly going to be the face of the NBA once Lebron is gone. Christmas day in the prime slot.

He was just joking around unfortunately haha. If you watched the interview you could tell he was joking and just having fun, but quite a few places ran with those lines to drive clicks

Finally got word from our ticket rep (MC Swag check your email), and the team's gonna make a decision about fans at games by December 12th.

Just saw that!! I hope we get in!!!

EconAg18 said:

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You have awful taste. These have been well received. My friends who aren't Mavs fans have said these are sick.

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What would they know about them being good jerseys for the Mavs?

I'm not a Heat fan, but I love their City edition unis past couple seasons. I think the Suns City editions are nice. Since when do you have to be a fan of that team to think the jerseys are good? Weird take.

Who wore it better?