Should The Mavs Three-Way Their Way To Gortat?

   We’re all a-blush with Gortat Love (He Must Break You!) and while we plan the Polish Pride parade -- Stein says he's on the way to town to sign with Dallas -- we’re thinkin’ of a three-way. …

    The strategy that allows Dallas to top a Houston bid and to steal him from Orlando is to offer him a long-term MLE (about $5.6 million annually) that is too rich for the blood of other suitors. (Houston is said to be offering him less than the MLE; Orlando will get the chance to match Dallas’ bid, but the lux-tax makes it an $11-mil bite for them. … they’ll be all cotton-mouthed before biting.)

   It’s not a done deal. Gortat has accepted from the Mavs, and now the Magic must decline Gortat.

   But while we wait, there is another way – a cute way – for the Mavs to secure a starting center in Marcin Gortat while keeping their MLE in reserve for another free-agent catch.

   For fun, let’s play with a three-way swap that involves Orlando and Brandon Bass and Toronto and Hedo Turkoglu:

    Let’s assume Bass might like to land in Orlando. And the Magic’s Gortat might like to migrate to Dallas. It’d be nice for both teams to do a deal while retaining the asset that is the MLE. But. … too bad. There's really no Sign-and-Trade possibilities that work involving just Bass-for-Gortat. Each team would have to toss in $8 mil of trade-able value, and the Magic is short in that department.
   So how about a three-way?

   The Portland Trail Blazers are hot on Hedo Turkoglu. But the Toronto Raptors want in. The Raps have A Problem, Though. To Get Hedo A Contract In The $50-Mil Range, Toronto Would Have To Clear Additional Salary-Cap Space (As Noted In The Toronto Paper) By Renouncing Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker And Carlos Delfino.

   That would seem to be one step forward but two steps back for the Raptors, who are scrambling to make the squad more appealing to Chris Bosh.

   So Realistically, Portland has the easier route to Turkoglu.

    Unless. …

    The Mavs trigger a three-way swap that cockblocks the Blazers while providing two Mavs non-rivals what they’re shopping for, anyway.

     On DB.Com Boards, a sampler trade:
    Orlando gives Gortat (Signed At $5.5M) and Turkoglu (Signed At $8M). … gets Bass for ($5.5M) and The Stack Chip.
    The Mavs give Bass ($5.5M) and Stack ($7.25M) … And get Gortat, Reggie Evans and Patrick O’Bryant.
    Toronto give Reggie Evans and Patrick O’Bryant … And gets Back Turkoglu.
    Thoughts?

     *In this scenario, the Raptors seem to get off awfully cheap.

     *The Magic would love it. If they are gonna lose Gortat anyway, at least they get Bass in return. … and they keep their MLE.

      *The Mavs? They get their center, they retain their MLE, they still have Dampier to deal, they keep rival Portland from improving … but they sacrifice The Stack Chip.
     In Summary? It’s easier to simply sell Gortat on your program and win the recruiting game. But a three-way would be cute and clever, a game of Risk/Reward.

      But the Stickler is The Stack Chip and. … wait a minute. … I just got a phone call.

    And a smarter way to use The Stack Chip. … wow … it might’ve just become even more valuable than ever before.

    Coming up: A cute, clever and NOT risky way of using The The Stack Chip in a non-traditional way that would turn the Mavs roster and the NBA on its ear. …

    The three-way is clever. This is better.

    Stay tuned.