DALLAS — Gamblers are accustomed to the position the Dallas Mavericks were in Thursday night.
In the past two years, the Mavericks acted like they were on the final table at the World Series of Poker. They went all in.
They lost.
The 2009 NBA Draft was their first attempt to rebuild their assets. It should be noted that anyone who believes Rodrigue Beaubois from Cholet in France is the final card of a winning hand at the final table likely believes that a poker championship is winnable with a pair of twos.
When the Mavericks traded for Jason Kidd 16 months ago, their stated goal was to win a championship. They didn’t. The gamble failed. Now they have to move on.
One direction they should avoid is re-signing Kidd, who will be a free agent. If people close to Kidd are to be believed, he doesn’t want to come back to Dallas, either.
Kidd wants to win a championship and at age 36, he’s no longer a franchise player. He’s still very good and he did a nice job for the Mavericks last season. But he’s not the key player to winning a title, and you can be sure he knows that.
So it only makes sense for him to go to a team that, perhaps, has a franchise player and dominant center. LeBron, Shaq and JKidd?
If Kidd is not back, the obvious question is what can the Mavericks do to continue to be competitive at a playoff level in the Western Conference?
They’ve done little so far, which is irritating to some people with short attention spans. Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson pointed out, however, that in recent years, Dallas has made trades on draft day (Devin Harris), but also made a trade the day before training camp opened (Antoine Walker).
There is plenty of time, yet it’s difficult for fans to be patient when they watch San Antonio improve exponentially by adding Richard Jefferson, a career 18-point-a-game scorer, and giving up only two players who are 37 and another who is 34.
That’s a fleecing. And if Manu Ginobili returns healthy, the Spurs have four players with major offensive abilities and a coach who demands defense.
From a Mavericks’ perspective, that’s not good.
Nelson said, however, that fans should not be depressed by their team’s inactivity thus far.
"We’re fully aware of what’s going on out there," Nelson said, "but this is our ship and we’ve got to run it the way we think best. We don’t feel a sense of urgency to do something based on what someone else does."
Well, perhaps they should. Otherwise, they could find themselves in a position immortalized by former Knick Micheal Ray Richardson, who once noted about his team: "The ship be sinking."
Again, training camp is more than three months away so until the free-agent signing period begins on July 8, the Mavericks deserve a little slack, especially because Nelson said: "It’s going to be a very active summer for us."
The Mavericks can get better with creative trades and salary cap maneuvering that would allow them to sign a free agent or two. But you have to wonder if the best plan isn’t simply to mark time until the free agent class of next summer.
It is unlikely the Mavericks can sign LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, but players such as Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson would be possibilities. Team a premium free agent or two with Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks could compete with the elite teams in the league.
There is little doubt the Mavericks have dropped a little from the glory days of the 2006 Finals. Still, the Kidd trade was a good gamble. The Mavericks went all in. They simply did not have enough to challenge for a title and certainly were hampered by Josh Howard missing 30 games and Jerry Stackhouse missing 72 with injuries.
Those who continue to fixate on the loss of Devin Harris should check the standings. The Nets were 14 games worse than .500 last season and after trading Vince Carter to Orlando on Thursday, they will be worse next season. Harris is excellent, but he’s not a franchise player.
If anyone wants to focus on the loss of a point guard, then talk about Steve Nash. Losing him for nothing was far more damaging to championship chances than losing Harris.
The argument could be made, however, that the losses of Nash and Harris should give Mavericks fans hope. After Nash left, the Mavericks made the Finals. That demonstrates good management.
And in trading Harris, the Mavericks weren’t afraid to make a bold move. To become relevant at a championship level again, the Mavericks at some point — perhaps soon — again will have to go all in.
It’s a good bet they will have no problem doing that.
