By David Lord -- DallasBasketball.com
      Maybe you want Greg Ostertag (unless you view him as nothing more than a more hefty Shawn Bradley). Or maybe you want Mehmet Okur (unless you view him as nothing more than a Raef LaFrentz Starter Kit).
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FISH ON RADIO
      Can you get what you want? And do the Mavs want what you want?
      Del Harris and Donnie Nelson have dropped hints about the offseason focus, Donnie saying, "Internally, we've started targeting free agents. Now, it's time to roll up our sleeves and see what's out there and what we can do."
      Such comments would seem to eliminate the splashy trade scenarios that we all love to create and debate.
      As to free agents, whom might they be targeting?
      If they were somehow able to retain Marquis Daniels by using the "$1 Million" Exception (which has a starting salary this year of $1.6 Million, and is also known as the Lower Level Exception or LLE), their options would be much greater. However, the presumption is that it will take a chunk of their bigger Mid Level Exception to retain Daniels. That would limit them to looking for an outright signing for an amount probably below $2 Million, or for a center that can be obtained by using available talent in a sign-and-trade transaction.
      If they use cash, and pursue an outright signing, that would seem to allow for a shot at a cheapie with uncertain potential, or for a vet at the end of his career who is willing to play here for bargain wages. Does anyone fit in this category? There is only one obvious choice this year in this category.
      Greg Ostertag.
      Ostertag, a Duncanville native, has been long reported to have a desire to one day play back home in Dallas. It would seem that he could attract offers bigger than $2M per year from various teams. But would his dream of playing back home be enough to persuade him to take less than he might get elsewhere? We say he would seem to make a lot of sense, if the price could be worked out.
      The other direction for the Mavs (and the more likely one) would be to acquire a free agent center in a sign-and-trade. Such a move would require the Mavs to outbid everyone else, and then have a willingness from that player's original team to work out a deal. They would use existing personnel as the tool to obtain the center, rather than using their almost non-existent cap room.
      However, this is a tricky procedure under the NBA Salary Cap rules. Complex technical rules often come into play in these scenarios, and those rules can make otherwise desirable players totally unobtainable.
      For example, if the new contract for the free agent in the sign-and-trade includes a large raise over his prior salary, then "Base Year" rules come into play. Essentially, the free agent signee in such a trade has his contract size (for trading match purposes) counted as different amounts for his old team and his new team. This varying calculation makes it difficult to match contracts and complete a trade. The bigger the raise, the bigger the problem. Kenyon Martin likely will fit into such a category.
      So under the sign-and-trade umbrella, which players might seem to fit the Mavs in terms of desirability and also be accessible to them under the rules? For starters, Ostertag is a logical candidate in such a scenario, as a cheap sign-and-trade target by offering Shawn Bradley to the Jazz. He would fit easily, if they were so inclined.
      A few other names that could work here might be such players as Mark Blount (Celtics), Erick Dampier (Warriors), and Adonal Foyle (Warriors).
      The Mavs probably would also love to pursue several others that would be helpful here, but will be prohibited by factors outside their control. Marcus Camby (Nuggets) has played well, but the Nuggets want him back and would be unlikely to trade him to a competitor. Also, if Denver is open to that much added salary on their roster, then they no doubt want to pay Camby rather than accept a similar amount of payroll back from another team like the Mavs (as a sign-and-trade would require them to do).
      A similar situation applies to Rasheed Wallace with the Pistons, whom the Mavs would also figure to love to have. The Pistons appear to have prioritized Wallace as the big man they prefer to keep, if they are forced to choose between him and Mehmet Okur (due to cap restraints). Detroit does have Bird Rights on Wallace, allowing them to offer him more than any other team can offer.
      This would seem to leave Mehmet Okur as a possible odd man out in Detroit, but even though a local DFW report has proclaimed him to be "at the top of the Mavs' wish list," cap rules make him a virtual impossibility for the Mavs. (The explanation for this is very technical, but will be included at the end of this article for those who are curious.)
      There are a slew of other big men that are potentially available as free agents, but none seem to fit the Mavs very well for one reason or another. Some of these would be Chris Anderson (not a defensive presence at all and still quite raw), Marcus Fizer (too small), Chris Mihm (not talented enough), Zeljko Rebraca (age, health, and talent issues), Stromile Swift (Memphis is likely to keep him), Vlade Divac (age and skill questions), Michael Doleac (skill questions), Stanislav Medvedenko (skill questions), and Brian Skinner (too small).
      Karl Malone is another name that is intriguing - he has the ability to opt out of his contract after the season, and has publicly scolded the Mavs for not pursuing him last summer. If he becomes a free agent again, it would make sense for the Mavs to take a close look at him. However, the guess here is that he is only blowing smoke and would prefer to play again in LA or to accept a big contract with someone who has lots of money to offer.
      On July 1, teams can begin to court and pursue their targets. Until then, we have plenty to guess about in Mavs FanLand.
      Now, for that Technical explanation: why Okur is virtually impossible in Dallas.
      1. Detroit has contractual commitments for next year totaling approx 33.6M, for 7 players. The cap is expected to be about 44M. Leaving slots for Wallace and Okur, the Pistons will be given a cap hit for 2 more salaries at the minimum (to total 11 players), bringing their total commitments to 33.4M. That could leave them with working cap space of 9.6M, which is likely to be far less than needed to sign both Wallace and Okur, as it is readily assumed that each player will likely command as much as (and probably more than) the Mid Level Exception salary, expected to be around $5M.
      Wallace will be an unrestricted free agent with Bird Rights. Okur will likely be restricted (assuming Detroit makes him a qualifying offer), but without Bird Rights. Thus Detroit can't go over the cap to sign Okur unless it uses some other cap exception.
      2. As long as they retain Bird Rights on Wallace, the Pistons will be charged approx $25M against the cap. Once he signs, they are charged the contract amount (if he signs with Detroit). They have the ability to renounce their Bird Rights on Wallace, but they would be almost certain not to do so, since by so doing they would lose their ability to go over the cap to sign him.
      Obviously as long as they are retaining Wallace's Bird Rights, they have no cap room whatsoever for Okur (and thus will be using an exception to try to sign him).
      Detroit will be charged $1.375M on Okur's restricted free agent rights, until he is signed. Once he signs, they are charged the contract amount (if he signs with Detroit).
      3. The expectation is that the Pistons will retain the Bird Rights on Wallace. They will be over the cap as a result, so they will also have a Mid Level Exception (to use to try to retain Okur). The obvious scenario is that the Pistons sign Wallace for whatever amount, and then hope that the MLE is enough to entice Okur to stay.
      There is speculation that teams like Phoenix, Utah, and maybe Denver might have an interest in Okur and make him an offer over the MLE (for perhaps $6.5M-$7M?), which Detroit wouldn't be able to match.
      6. If Okur somehow became sold on Dallas, could the Pistons then sign-and-trade him to Dallas in the above scenario? In simple terms, no. The rules prohibit a player signed via MLE (or LLE) from being dealt in a sign-and-trade transaction.
      7. Could the Pistons sign him without using a cap exception such as the MLE? Not really. While Wallace has Bird Rights and is negotiating, they are far over the cap and have no cap room to make any non-exception offer to Okur. Once Wallace signs, they won't have a lot left, if they don't use the MLE. Wallace will undoubtedly sign for more than an MLE amount, leaving Detroit with non-exception money of perhaps $4M (and more likely less than $3M). That won't be enough to offer Okur, especially when other teams will be offering the MLE of $5M and perhaps much more.
      The Loophole Scenarios that leave the door barely ajar:
      SCENARIO 1
      Could Detroit renounce the Bird Rights on Wallace, thereby freeing up cap room to sign Okur first, then sign-and-trade Okur to Dallas (or some other team of Okur's choice) for a draft pick or a very cheap player, then come back and sign Wallace to a deal? Maybe. But Dallas' cap situation could cause a roadblock, and there are a lot of huge "if's" that would have to be hurdled to make it all work.
      Let's say they sign Okur for $6M and go to trade him to Dallas for a draft pick. Because Dallas is over the cap, the Mavs cant take back more salary than they send away. So the Mavs would have to send Detroit (or someone) approx $6M of salary in that deal, in order to take on Okur's $6M salary.
      Detroit wouldn't want the salary, because they then would lack any room to re-sign Wallace. So the first order of business would be to find a taker for a pile of Dallas bodies that total $6M or more. Can you find a taker for a contract or two, in a budget-conscious luxury-tax-fearing world?
      The next step would be to persuade Detroit to offer Okur in a sign-and-trade. Would Detroit let anyonyone get Okur (whom they want) via sign-and-trade, or would they limit the field of competitors by forcing outside suitors to have and use cap room?
      Would Detroit let Dallas get a big man that may improve the Mavs' ability to get to a title?
      If you get past those, there would have to be an offer to Detroit that interests them. Would a Dallas draft pick be enough? Detroit might see low 1st rounders like Dallas can offer as being items of questionable value. The only cheap talent on the roster to offer would be Josh Howard. Is that too much?
      Since such a deal involves a free agent signing, such a deal would also require persuading Okur to choose the Mavs as his preferred destination. Money would be a deciding factor here it would seem. But there are no guarantees.
      So IF the Pistons were willing to renounce their Bird Rights on Wallace, and IF the Mavs could find a team other than Detroit to accept $6M+ in contracts, and IF Detroit is willing to do a sign-and-trade and let Okur get away, and IF Okur wanted to come to Dallas, and IF the compensation to Detroit is enough to interest them, then perhaps the Mavs could get Okur - unless I have overlooked additional restrictions for this scenario in the fine print of the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is always quite possible.
      Even if I have discovered and gotten past all the hindrances, just getting all those IF's to fall the right direction would seem to me to be way too much to overcome. As many IF's as exist in that outline, it is hard to envision the Mavs attempting to bother with Okur. It would seem that (particularly in light of their failed efforts last summer to acquire a big man) they would work this year to go for more of a sure thing.
      SCENARIO 2
      Detroit persuades Charlotte to take Williamson or Campbell off their hands in the expansion draft. The selection of either player would increase Detroit's cap room significantly, creating upwards of $14M. That should be enough to re-sign both players, it seems.
      With that much room, the Pistons would not have to use an exception to sign Okur, and thus could sign-and-trade him if they wanted to. But if they freed up this added space, wouldn't they just opt to keep him, as they clearly have wanted? With that much cap room and with a restricted tag on him, the Pistons should clearly be able to fend off all reasonable offers.
      The bigger question here would be whether the Pistons could persuade Charlotte to take either Williamson or Campbell off their hands. Williamson is due $18M over the next 3 years, which seems like much more than he is worth. Campbell only has a single year left at $4.4M, but it seems he has dubious on-court value anymore.
      How could and would Detroit sweeten the pot? Could they make an offer that Charlotte can't refuse? It would seem that neither player would hold much appeal to the Bobcats, but who knows what Detroit might toss into the deal?