Mavs-Magic Preview: Will Dampier Start?

   So I’m exchanging information with the boys from Third Quarter Collapse and they make an interesting observation: Tonight’s Magic-at-Mavs match -- as preseason games go – figures to include more drama than most. In fact, we’ve got Four Dramatic Scenes in previewing the game:

    SCENE 1: Getting Kicked In The Gortats. There is the perception – nationally, and certainly in Orlando – that (as Third Quarter Collapse puts it to me) “the Magic pillaged the Mavs this summer by retaining Gortat and swiping Brandon Bass.

   The Mavs have a different view, of course. Gortat was a restricted FA, Orlando always had the right to match and did so, so Dallas didn’t “lose’’ its prospective starting center because Dallas never “had’’ him. Think of it like this: Gortat is somebody else’s wife. You wanted to marry her. She said yes … but then her husband said no.

    Is that being “pillaged’’?

    More interesting to me is how well Gortat plays, how much he plays, whether he’ll be allowed to play some 4 … and of course, how much the Mavs suffer from Non-Buyer’s Remorse.

   SCENE 2: More ‘Pillaging,’ Bass-Style. Many observers lump Gortat and Bass into the same package. It’s handy to do so, given that the transactions involved Dallas and Orlando. In reality, for the Mavs, one had nothing to do with the other. Bass was wanted … but not at the price Orlando was willing to pay. The Mavs opted instead to give his job to Drew Gooden, at a fraction of the cost.

    I’m not insisting that was wise; Bass is a self-made player, an asset in the right position (which he will be in with Orlando), and a good kid. I’m just insisting that in the Mavs’ mind, they swapped a roster spot, Bass out and Gooden in … and hope they can toss Kris Humphries onto the pile of physical/hustling 4’s as well.

     Dirk says Bass was like a “little brother’’ to him. Bass says he and Nowitzki stay in touch via texting. Tonight, the brothers get to touch up-close and personally.

   SCENE 3: Damp's dirty work. As the boys in Orlando said to me: “Last year, a collision with Erick Dampier ended Jameer Nelson's regular season. That forced the Magic to make what amounted to a franchise-altering trade (for Rafer Alston, of all people...)’’ … and of course, the rest is Orlando history, as the Magic represented the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

    We’d like to see Damp do some more damage tonight. I don’t mean turning Vince Carter upside-down or anything. I just mean I want to see Dampier battling for his playing time/starting job at center by cranking up the intensity. Is the starting job a carrot that can be dangled by coach Rick Carlisle? If you’re playing against Dwight Howard, is Damp a better counter than Drew Gooden?

    My bet? Tonight’s starting center – despite all the things Carlisle and GM Donnie Nelson have said over the course of the last week – is Erick Dampier.

    SCENE 4: Point Guard stuff. In addition to the Nelson/Alston thing, once upon a time, Jameer Nelson used ex-Mav Devin Harris’ contract as the basis for his own demands. Meanwhile, Orlando has now added to its roster a couple of older PGs including another ex-Mav, Anthony Johnson. Another PG issue: I assume the starting backcourt tonight, with Josh Howard (ankle) out, will be Jason Kidd and JJ Barea. Once all the stars and the front-liners get their minutes in, though, the familiar names and the old connections between the two clubs might just be usurped by a new name: The guy who I’m hoping might be worth the price of admission tonight: rookie guard Roddy Beaubois.