Mavs-Kings Trade Talk And The News Within The News: Dallas Isn't Coddling Josh Howard Anymore

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   The Mavs continue to sniff around possible acquisitions such as Sacramento’s Kevin Martin. They recognize the need to attempt to improve a roster that, as is, puts them in the lofty No. 2 spot in the West. They are evaluating the one-in-the-hand options available to them before the Feb. 18 trading deadline against The DUST Chip possibilities of the Summer of 2010.

    But none of those developments – as weighty as they are – is as impactful as the open inclusion in trade stories of the name “Josh Howard.’’

   The Mavs baby Josh. They stroke him. They coddle him. They encourage him. Here’s my from-team-sources coat-tail contribution to Marc Stein’s scoop: The Mavs have an unofficial policy to avoid letting Howard’s name be printed into trade stories because they fear that will negatively affect his psyche.

    And as of today, that unofficial policy seems officially over.   

   ITEM: The most immediate and most important nugget mentioned in Marc Stein’s piece is what he terms a change in Dallas’ historic “reluctance’’ to part with Howard. We’ve argued that Dallas has overvalued J-Ho, we’ve argued that his body language looks all wrong, and we’ve argued – ever since “You can’t control what the ball do, man!’’ -- that the Mavs front office’s familial approach to Josh is good-hearted and maybe merited …

   But this is the first admission from the team that the approach hasn’t worked.

   (In fairness, we’ve also argued that Josh deserves another chance, and another chance … that “The Old Josh’’ is worth waiting for. … that he can be an X-Factor difference-maker. Our arguments, in fact, have yo-yo’ed almost as much as Josh’s performance.)

   Now, it’s out there. In full view … painted on the most high-profile canvas, by a writer in Stein who knows as well as I do about the “stroking’’ and about the concerns about Josh’s reaction.

   For the most part, Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson’s “We Are Family’’ handling of personnel has been effective. (10X50!) They’ve acquired players who respond to that approach, dating all the way back to Dirk Nowitzki’s arrival in the United States and the announcement that Nellie would be “like a second father’’ to the German.

   Cuban and Donnie believe in butt-pats over ass-kicks.

    Yet now, the Mavs are plowing forward … and it will be fascinating to watch Josh Howard’s on-court reaction.

   ITEM: Let’s understand that this isn’t all about talent-for-talent. It’s fake-deep to simply barroom-brawl over whether “Josh is as good as Martin’’ or “Josh is as good as Iggy.’’ It’s also about fit and about finance.

   ITEM: Fit? Kevin Martin solves a lot of problems on the offensive end as a true 2-guard and a true Robin to Dirk’s Batman. He is not, however, a defensive weapon.

    ITEM: Finance? Martin has $35 mil left on a deal that carries him through the 2012-13 season. Meanwhile, Andre Iguoldala of Philadelphia, who will almost certainly be the subject of similar Mavs talks, has four years and $56 mil remaining on his deal.

   Exactly how committed does Mark Cuban want to be to second-banana candidates? And how committed are certain high-paid professional basketball players to avoid growing fat while sitting on their wallets?

   (Interestingly, we get a look at how some of the principals will react right now, tonight, Mavs at Philly, Josh at Iggy.)

   ITEM: So the Mavs’ finger is at least brushing the trigger. What will cause the Mavs to take their finger off the trigger of a Howard-for-Martin deal?

   There are going to be other possible partners out there. Golden State will be sellers. The Wizards will be sellers. And as I say, the Sixers will be sellers. If Dallas doesn’t make a swap with Sacramento it might be because Dallas makes a swap with somebody else.

    Or. …

    ITEM: It might be because Dallas makes no pre-Feb. 14 swap at all. … due to the big score possibly available thanks to Howard’s expiring contract and The DUST Chip, Erick Dampier’s disappearing deal.

    ITEM: Another reason for there to be no Howard-Martin swap? Maybe the Kings are playing possum here -- and if so, are doing it better, so far, than the Warriors, the Sixers and the Wizards. Those three clubs don’t seem to be very coy about their intentions. Sacramento, on the other hand, has a legit position to take regarding a no-sale: They can argue that keeping Martin paired in the backcourt with stud rookie Tyreke Evans represents the future core of the organization. And consider this: If they gain cap room by making such a move (losing Martin and then later Howard) … which 2-guard are they guaranteed to sign who is vastly superior to Martin?

    ITEM: And that one-in-the-hand-is-worth-Bosh-in-the-bush is the same issue Dallas must grapple with. Keep Howard and pair him with Damp next summer and the Mavs have the mother of all Sign-and-Trade offers. But that’s betting on a mother that might never happen. So … do they take a good-enough-upgrade of Iggy or Caron or Martin or Monta Ellis when they can get it?

    Do you check your swing in anticipation of a grand-slam home run ... or do you go ahead and hit a double?

    ITEM: As is usually the case, there are many moving parts to these conversations (Stein educated-guesses that Sacto could swap Martin and a fat contract like Andres Nocioni’s or Beno Udrih’s to Dallas for, say, Howard, Gooden and JJB.) That’s the case with conversations about Utah’s Carlos Boozer and so many other notions that will be floated in the next month.

    But I say again that at the core of this story is the most simple and most important nugget: The Mavs’ willingness to expose Josh Howard to the harsh realities of the rumor mill.