Anatomy Of A Mavs' Non-Trade

  It was never a fit. Not from last week’s start of the discussions, not during a published report about an impending Dallas trade, and not in the LeBron James-chasing aftermath of the Mavericks’ “opportunity’’ to acquire Zach Randolph. New York asked for a piece Dallas didn’t want to fit into a trade, Dallas discussed a piece that didn’t fit into New York’s plans, and this was a non-trade before it ever really got started.

  Nevertheless, because Mavs/Knicks/Summer of 2010 has such legs, we decided to inquire about, research and examine The Anatomy of A Non-Deal: Why Zach Randolph Isn’t A Mav (and Who The Mavs Were/Are More Likely Targeting) in 10 easy steps:

  STEP 1: The Knicks, with salary-dumping for 2010 in mind, accelerate their casual trade talks into a real deal. First they move Jamal Crawford to Golden State for disgruntled Warrior Al Harrington.

  STEP 2: Then they start shopping their other leading scorer, Randolph – not because he lacks ability, but because his contract of three more years and 48 million more dollars – clogs up the Knicks’ long-range plan of making that LeBron-level free-agent splash in the be-all/end-all summer of 2010.

  STEP 3: The Mavs throw their two cents in. Consider this our educated speculation: Dallas’ idea almost certainly involves a three-way deal that would rid the Mavs of Jerry Stackhouse (maybe attractive to NY because his deal expires before 2010) and that would send Randolph somewhere else but Dallas. It is driven, as much as anything, by Stack’s delusional belief that he should be somewhere “playing 20 minutes a night, every night’’ (rather than working as a end-of-bench tutor in Dallas.) It is nothing more than the “two cents/idea/casual-talk’’ stage. … but it’s out there.

  STEP 4: A potential three-way partner emerges in the Clippers. Would Dallas be interested in a Clipper player? Of course: center Chris Kaman. But that this point, for the Mavs, this isn’t about dumping cap space (because the Mavs want in on that 2010 Sweepstakes, too – and don’t forget that!); this becomes just as much about adding a standout player who can help Dallas contend now.

  STEP 5: Someone in NY leaks (or manufactures; these are, after all, the NY papers) the Randolph-to-Dallas notion. The Mavs have some respect for what the hefty forward can do as an offensive player, as much of a black hole as he can be. Now, they aren’t especially enamored with his contract. And there is attitude baggage, though Randolph has performed in NY as if he left most of that in Portland. (We think it’s worth noting, though, that Portland got better as soon as Randolph left.) And the Mavs aren’t at all in love with a lineup that would include both Dirk and Z-Bo, two relatively defenseless 4’s.

   And there is one more thing about Randolph: Why NY is trying to make room, the Knicks are also wanting to keep some of their pieces in order to build around the centerpiece they add in 2010. Why aren’t they considering Randolph as a candidate to be LeBron’s running mate?

  Randolph at the 3 for the Mavs doesn’t make any sense. Nevertheless, maybe that’s what the Knicks are thinking when they wonder whether Josh Howard is available.

  STEP 6: J-Ho for Z-Bo? Howard certainly works for the Knicks; he’s a great value with a contract that won’t screw up the 2010 plans. It’s rather dreamy, really: LeBron and Bosh and Josh in Madison Square Garden!

  But the Mavs’ high opinion of Howard remains: They won’t give him up for Randolph, just as they won’t give him up for Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace.

  So the Mavs counter-offer – or, at least, “counter-discuss.’’

  STEP 7: We do not know the exact nature of the counter-offer. We’re left to believe that Dallas was willing to discuss a “starting-caliber’’ player the Mavs could “afford to lose’’ but one with a contract that does not expire pre-2010. If we can also assume that the contract is rather unwieldy, we’re left thinking either Jason Terry or Erick Dampier.

  Let’s imagine it this way:

  Stack and Damp to NY, Randolph and Mardy Collins to LAC, and something from LAC to Dallas?

  Yes, we’re still committed to believing that Donnie Nelson was trying to engineer a way to give the Knicks the Stack salary room and one of those players while ending up with a commodity.

  Not Randolph from the Knicks. And not Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley from the Clippers.

  Another guy from the Clippers. Kaman.

  (We’ll frame the following as purely speculative – and hope that you’ll notice how we, unlike the NY papers, differentiate between “sourced fact,’’ “educated guesses’’ and “purely speculative’’: We wonder if whether “starting-caliber’’ could include DeSagana Diop, the center who has fallen a bit out of favor in his MLE return to Dallas. Whether the Mavs could move Diop in a three-way that would net Kaman depends largely on whether LAC wants in return talent or financial savings. We are quite certain that coach Mike Dunleavy has no desire to lose Kaman. But if ownership instructs him otherwise. …

   If LAC wants real talent in exchange for Kaman, we assume the Mavs won’t be involved. But if it’s about money: A match can be found by giving up Diop and Stack for Kaman (who has a tricky trade-kicker) and a throw-in. Scrubs Steve Novak or Paul Davis?? Here’s a more intriguing idea – and again, this is just us playing with concepts – how about Ricky Davis, who is lined up at Donald Sterling’s pay window for two more years but who has been awful on the court? If we’re Dallas, we don’t want to be the burial ground for Randolph’s nuttiness. But we’ll happily dig a plot for Ricky Davis if it means we get Kaman, too.

   Diop cannot be traded until after Dec. 15. Same with Ricky Davis. Oh, and Kaman has a foot problem right now. Remember, purely speculative.)

   STEP 8: The various attempts at dealing, though, do not fit. Not even close. The Mavs and Knicks end discussions, leaving the Knicks and Clippers to deal directly.

   (A clip-and-save sidebar: The silliest part of this bogus Mavs-like-Randolph gossip is yet to come. A year or two from now, as this angle self-perpetuates when he is again on the Clippers trading block, we'll read “Dallas has tried unsuccessfully to get Randolph in the past, so they will be one of the suitors this time.’’ Thanks to the NY papers, this is an angle that won’t be retired until Zach himself is – despite our firm belief that the Mavs never really wanted him and never really tried to acquire him.

  STEP 9: Assorted news outlets report that a Mavs-Knicks trade “fell through.’’ But that is not accurate. Dallas is among the many teams trying to maintain financial flexibility for the summer of 2010, but was not talking about this to be in the market for expirings, was not really in the market for Z-Bo and was not interested in forfeiting Howard. New York would’ve taken Stack ‘s 7 mil but has no need for an expensive supplementary player like Jet (who in 2010 will still be on the books) or like Damp (who in 2010 might or might not be on the books) who don’t fit in long-range plans.

   And the Clippers? They now employ three low-post “name’’ players – Randolph, Marcus Camby and Kaman – who this year alone are due $35 mil. (As noted by Kevin Arnovitz, in 2010-’11, the Clippers have $41.6 mil alone committed to Baron Davis, Zach and Kaman.) So no one can quite figure out what they’re doing.

  STEP 10: Step 10 is coming. Dec. 15. The first day last offseason’s signees can be traded. And almost certainly another round of overblown rumors out of New York, three-way proposals out of Donnie Nelson and Clippers trade talk involving Chris Kaman.

1159am nov 28 2008