Mavs Talk To Lamar Odom - And Yes, We've Amateur-GM'ed Our Way To A Trade Scenario

   Mavs owner Mark Cuban, in a Monday night interview on NBA TV, said that Dallas has been in contact with the agent for Lakers free agent Lamar Odom.

   “There are a lot of guys who haven’t been signed,’’ Cuban told David Aldridge, “so we’re talking to everybody. We’re talking to Lamar Odom’s agent in case he decides not to go back to LA. … which, who knows if there’s an opportunity there. …’’

   Now, Mark mentions this in a throwaway manner. It’s almost as if he simply using Odom as an example of the most fanciful of the possibilities that are still out there.

    But let’s play Amateur GM again here: When it comes to the Mavs and Lamar Odom, there is definitely an opportunity there.

     We break it down:

ARE WE PIPEDREAMING?

     Let’s get this out of the way first: In our pursuit of Mavs transaction news … in our anticipation of Mavs transaction news … we chase both what they are doing and thinking and what they potentially could/should be thinking. We are not chasing rainbows here, but rather examining pathways. And we do so with the belief that Dallas has a keen awareness of the availability of such scenarios.

    That doesn’t mean such a transaction will happen; heck, it doesn’t even mean such a transaction is being explored. It simply means we’re pointing out a pathway worth exploration – and in this case, a very specific way to navigate that pathway.

   ODOM’S PRESENT SITUATION

     He made $14 million last year. He apparently wants $10 million. The Lakers are reportedly offering $8 million. Odom is an unrestricted free agent and negotiations are going poorly enough that the Lakers GM is saying he is less “hopeful’’ than he’d been previously.

    Of course, usually these sort of things get worked out, but. ...

   THE MAVS AVAILABLE ASSETS

  The Mavs started the summer with their MLE, BAE, and The Stack Chip as their prime assets.
  In the first week of free agency, they've kept Kidd (an incredibly important but now-overlooked move) and added Shawn Marion, who helps fill their need for long athletic talented players. Ross (a fine defensive wing), Jawai (a young athletic center who may or may not be worth something), and Humphries (a forward who was a No. 1 pick a few years ago) were added as well. None has an expensive contract.
    Marcin Gortat was a mulligan so he doesn't change a thing from last year's roster -- except perception.
    But with all that behind them, here's the important point: they've barely expended any assets at all.
   MLE? Still available.
   BAE? Still available.
   The Stack Chip? It wasn't used up; it was merely replaced by The Buck Shot.

    THE BUCK SHOT

   The Buck Shot? We know, we know, our cool nicknames are getting to you!

    To the nitty-gritty: What few realize is, the Mavs didn't have to take Greg Buckner back in the Marion trade. The numbers and the trade angles were virtually identical with or without his inclusion, and it could have been a CBA-legal deal with or without him.

    So why did they do so? We believe this: They did so because Greg Buckner's contract is just a slightly smaller version of Stackhouse's. By getting him included, as they used their Stack Chip they were getting back The Buck Shot to replace it. With Stack's contract they were able to potentially instant-erase up to $7.1 million in salary; with Buckner's contract they can take back up to $5.1 million in salary and the other team can erase it by paying only $1 million this season, instantly saving them $4.1 million off their payroll and salary cap.

   He's The One-Million-Dollar Buck Shot.
   How helpful could The Buck Shot be in this current market? Way more than Mavs fans yet realize, we think. Let's put a working example on its use.

 A SPECIFIC PLAN TO ACQUIRE LAMAR ODOM

   Cuban mentions the Mavs, in the wake of the Gortat thing, are now talking – however casually -- with Lamar Odom. (Here’s the video interview.)

     LA wants to keep Odom, but money is an issue to them, because their payroll is already bumping $85 million with the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax collected on everything spent beyond $69.9 million and scheduled to start much lower next season. Odom wants $10 million per year and the Lakers want to pay $8 million. Meanwhile the Mavs have their MLE ....
    So what if the Mavs can find an angle that motivates LA to do a Sign-and-Trade, like they did with Toronto and Marion? If so, with The Buck Shot the Mavs could send an incredibly small amount of salary to LA to meet the rules in a Sign-and-Trade.

    Amazingly small. 

    Just for an example, if Dallas and Odom agreed on a $9-million-per-year deal, the Mavs could use The Buck Shot and send LA nothing additional besides JJ Barea (with his $1.66 million salary) to meet the trade rules. What does LA need the most? Arguably a young up-and-coming PG who can run the show as Derek Fisher ages.
   Is that enough? Who knows? (Obviously, in our role as Amateur GM, we’re starting the bidding low.) Is this specifically Dallas’ thinking? We don’t know that, either. But if all it takes is adding JJB's relatively tiny salary to The Buck Shot to marry up a $9-million-per-year deal with LA or someone else, the Mavs clearly retain tons of flexibility to get their next upgrade.

   They are still awaiting the official loss of Gortat (paperwork, one more conversation with the Magic?, a super-secret S-and-T?) but at the same time the Mavs should be talking with the “lots of guys’’ Cuban mentions and with the plenty of teams we know that are still needing to reduce payroll.

    The Mavs still have the ammo. And as a complement, they'll still have their MLE and BAE to fill in any talent holes that remain afterwards.  

   Dallas has the wherewithal to still be in the hunt for talent … Lamar Odom or whomever ... with The One-Million-Dollar Buck Shot.