A Scoop: Cuban/Donnie Know What They're Doing

   While the Mavs and Raptors continue to play Negotiation Chicken with “The Stack Chip’’/The Matrix, we’re still peeling back more layers of the Mavs management onion … the cleverness of the aforementioned trade first reported here. … the cleverness of The DUST Chip with Erick Dampier that we revealed today. … and guess what? Bashers of the Triangle of Trust may be in for even more crow-eating lessons.

     We’ve taken a closer look at the way contracts beyond those Dallas gave to Stackhouse and Dampier were structured. And we’re prepared to theorize that Mark Cuban’s Mavs have been slyly positioning themselves in this way for many years by burying one Stack-like provision after another in their players’ contracts.

       One analysis of all this comes from Jake at MavsMoneyball:

     Thanks to David Lord for a stunning bombshell. I don't think people realize what this (The DUST Chip) means. This amounts to the Mavs having done the impossible via Dampier's contract: Creating the equivalent of max-contract level cap space heading into 2010 while signing free agents in 2009. No, wait, this is BETTER than max-level cap space because the deal can actually be LARGER than a free agent deal for a player.
    Let me repeat this: The Mavs have somehow engineered a scenario where the S&T possibility with Dampier gives them the ability to offer any free agent in 2010 MORE money than any of those teams clearing cap space, no matter how much cap space they make available.

    Turns out, the Mavs may have made a science of this sort of thing, as our David Lord notes:

    *In summer of 2011, Jason Terry's deal will be Stack-like with a partial guarantee only.
    *In summer of 2011, they tried to write Kidd's deal to be be Stack-like with a partial guarantee only. (But apparently failed.)
     *In summer of 2010, Damp's deal will be the ultimate Stack-like deal with no guarantee, no deadline, and a big number on paper.
     *In summer of 2009, Stack's deal is ready to be used now.
     *In summer of 2009, few remember … but Mavs management wrote the Greg Buckner deal in a similar fashion to expire this summer as well.

     Now, we understand this gets complicated. So you can just believe us that it’s all “bombshells,’’ read no further, and go go hide in your bathtub underneath a mattress and wait for it! J  … or you can follow along while trying to understand that, for instance, in the case of Damp:

     Dallas gave him a lucrative deal that, in the 2009-10 season is non-guaranteed, featuring incentives the Mavs knew he wouldn’t achieve (All-Star appearance, 30 minutes a game in 70 games, etc). Damp got his big contract … but management held all the cards for the final two seasons of the deal.

    Does all this cleverness guarantee success? Of course not.

    In the case of “The Stack Chip,’’ Eddie Sefko notes a sticking point in Raptors-Mavs talks though we would argue that all that is just talk … Toronto trying to get something … but with no leverage to get Dallas to do something it doesn’t wish to do, because in that event, Marion walks anyway.
    Before that happens, Dallas works to get a third team involved. If that doesn’t work, they maybe tell Toronto to go piss up a rope. … and then when Marion is renounced, they remind him how hard they tried to get him and take another (much cheaper) stab. Or Dallas turns around and starts talking with a different team about its teat being in a wringer, and “The Stack Chip’’ is presented to them.
     In the case of “The DUST Chip,’’ there are certainly other teams that next summer will offer their own versions in trade. Our research shows us that the Mavs are probably more successful than others, though.

    Example from the work of The 75-Member Staff here at DallasBasketball.com, showing other NBA players who have Damp-style-structured contracts:

    Cavs - Delonte West - 4.5mil
    Griz - Greg Buckner - 4.27mil
    Heat - James Jones - 4.65mil 
    Wolves - R Gomes - 4.39mil
    Nets - K Dooling - 3.83mil
    That seems to be it. None of those five even compares to the value of “The DUST Chip,’’ which is worth three times the relief more than what those contracts provide.
    Again, the Mavs still need to use the chips correctly. They still need to win the game of Negotiation Chicken. And when it’s all done, they still need to catch up with the Lakers.

     You've always known my view. Hey, all I do around here is "Wash Donnie's Truck.''

     But it’s becoming increasingly ridiculous to hear bashers say Mavs management – not just with the annual 50-win level but with the clever tricks designed to move up from that level -- doesn’t know what its doing.