The lockout. The raising of their first championship banner to the rafters of American Airlines Arena. The decision to overhaul their roster after bringing back the city of Dallas it's first NBA Championship. Whatever the reason, this team is a far cry from the one that beat the Miami Heat six months ago. In today's re-match between those two teams, the Mavericks looked out-of-sync and old against a younger, hungrier Miami team. Down by 31 points after three quarters, it was clear the Mavericks had no answer for LeBron James, who ended up with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists in the game.
For the first time in his tenure as Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban appears to be concerned about passing the luxury tax threshold, as he allowed key role player J.J. Barea to sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and starting center Tyson Chandler to sign with the New York Knicks. I can definitely understand not wanting to maintain their $86.8 million salary figure from last season, but to allow two players that were vital to their championship run. The Chandler decision was particularly perplexing, as he is still one of the best interior defenders both while guarding his man, as well as rotating for weakside help. Instead of allowing Chandler to sign elsewhere, why not use you the Amnesty provision in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to get out from under either center Brendan Haywood (5 years, ~$50 million) or small forward Shawn Marion (3 years, $26 million), both of who were less vital than Chandler to winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
The Mavericks were able to acquire a couple of veteran players to try and fill the voids left. Vince Carter joined the club this offseason, and is now taking the starting shooting guard spot formerly held by DeShawn Stevenson. While Carter is no doubt a more talented offensive player, Stevenson was a much better on-ball defender, and was able to hit the spot up three-pointer when called upon.
Lamar Odom was acquired from the Lakers for a future second round pick and trade exception, and is a very talented all-around player. Like Carter, the problem with Odom is that he really needs the ball in his hands to be effective offensively, and neither really space the floor in a way that can make teams pay for double-teaming Nowitzki.
Of the current players on the Dallas roster, only Delonte West (28), Sean Williams (25), Ian Mahinmi (25), Brandan Wright (24), Rodrique Beaubois (23) and Dominique James (23) are under age 30, and outside of West, none have really proven themselves as consistent role players on any team they've played for. For me, that's where the problem lies. All of the players on this team expected to contribute are aging. As an example, the average age of their starting five (Kidd, Carter, Marion, Nowitzki, Haywood) is nearly 35.5 years of age, easily the oldest starting lineup in the NBA, and they average 13 years of experience. The Mavs will also be relying heavily on top bench players Jason Terry (34, 12 years experience) and Lamar Odom (32, 12 years experience).
Despite Dallas having made some very difficult decisions this past offseason, it faces an ever tougher offseason in 2012, with Jason Kidd, Delonte West and Jason Terry hitting un-restriced free agency, as well as whether to exercise an $8.2 million team option on Lamar Odom. Throw in making a decision on whether to Amnesty either Marion or Haywood, all while still trying to keep a playoff-caliber team for Dirk Nowitzki, and that will surely cause Mark Cuban and the Dallas front office nothing but headaches.
Like the Celtics, this is a team with an expiration date. Unlike the Celtics, this team doesn't have enough of a defensive identity, or a young All-Star level talent (Rajon Rondo) to give them hope for the future. If they can't find a way to play better team defense than they did today, that expiration date could be Summer, 2012.
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