Word out of Dallas is that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will not include MVP Dirk Nowitzki in a trade for Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.
I think the Lakers brass are approaching this the wrong way. The person they need to convince isn't Cuban—it's Dirk.
Let's pretend you're Dirk Nowitzki. Wouldn't you rather play in a frontcourt with Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Co.?
What's more, Phil Jackson and Jerry Buss give the Lakers an edge in attracting high-profile free agents. The Mavs have never been able to pair Nowitzki with a quality big man.
Odom and Dirk would be an unstoppable tandem—they'd complement each other perfectly in a small-ball lineup, and would present huge matchup problems for opposing big men.
You could also go big with Bynum down low and Dirk on the wing—where he could help Bynum be a great post presence the same way Robert Horry helped Shaq.
Horry's ability to hit threes spread the defense and opened up the middle—both for the big men and the guards. Dirk is Horry times ten.
Then there's the situation in Dallas.
Beyond Dirk, the Mavs' frontcourt—Erick Dampier, DeSagana Diop, et. al.—provides no offense and only slightly more defense.
Avery Johnson is a novice coach compared to Jackson, and Mark Cuban spends more time dancing with the stars and annoying referees that he does holding onto winners like Steve Nash and Don Nelson.
If Dirk weren't so loyal, the trade to Los Angeles would be a no-brainer.
In Dallas, he's flanked by inefficient scoring guards who can't shoot from the perimeter—and thus don't attract the attention of opposing defenders. In LA, the Lakers' depth and versatility in the frontcourt would help Dirk thrive.
Even better, a trade would save Dirk from being an undeserving whipping boy in Dallas. As it stands, Dirk takes all the blame for the Mavs' problems and gets little praise for their success. Cuban, on the other hand, gets no blame for the failures and all the credit for the success.
Imagine how different that equation would look if Kobe came to Dallas.
The real irony in all this is that most critics claim Dirk lacks the killer instinct of an American-born star. The American thing to do here, of course, would be to demand a trade to the Lakers.
It's time for Dirk to earn his US stripes by finally looking out for No. 1...er, No. 41.
Kobe Bryant Rumors: Why Dirk Should Demand a Trade to LA
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12 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
Thats the greatest trade I heard in my life. Dirk goes to the lakers and gets a good frontcourt while kobe goes to Dallas and gets a good point Guard
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Josiah Hager about 1 year ago
I'm absolutely astounded that Cuban would even consider not making this trade. Simply put, they are trading a very good player for a truly great one. It's an upgrade in every way. I think Dirk is about as much value as the Lakers could hope to get, but the Mavs would clearly come out on the top of this, I think.
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Max Fischer about 1 year ago
I think you are under-estimating Dirk, Josiah. People don't really understand how unique Dirk is. His impact on a game.
Dirk is a revolutionary player. A player unlike any player to ever play the game. He creates mismatches all over the court for the inefficient scoring guards on the Mavs to exploit making them look better than they are.
I believe Dirk is more unguardable and dominant by the players at his position(7 foot power forwards) than Kobe is at his position. He can drive by them more easily than Kobe can the players at his positon. The problem is the Mavs tema isn't built well enough to force these 7 footers on Dirk.
Dirk's dominance at his position forces the opposing team to put smaller players on him.. which turns Dirk into a dominant post player requiring double and triple teams on the post. Dirk's problem is that he has never had a team built properly to complement him. Dirk needs perimeter shooters to spread the floor when he posts.. and a post player to work off of Dirk when Dirk is playing the perimeter. Dirk has never had a post player of any value. Until that happens Dirk will never be the best he can be.
Kobe has the same problem. He needs a post presence to be his best again too.
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Erick Blasco about 1 year ago
With a handful of exceptions during the 2006 playoffs against San Antonio, find me any examples of Dirk dominating smaller defenders in the post. Stephen Jackson and James Posey are both shorter than Dirk and both dominated Dirk while on defense. Udonis Haslem also played excpetional defense when defending Dirk in 2006.
It's hard to call a player unguardable when said player allows good but reckless defenders like Stephen Jackson have their way with him. I know you said at his position compared to Kobe at Kobe's position, but there are only a handful of guys who have a prayer of playing sometimes adequate defense on Kobe in a pressure situation. Most generally good defensive players can contain Dirk if they have enough time to prepare for him, and if their teammates keep Dirk's suporting cast from going crazy.
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jordan iverson about 1 year ago
your a idiot kobe should not get traded for dirk he should go to the chicago bulls
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Obviously Kobe>Dirk, but I don't Cuban is going to straight up trade him for a drama-laden superstar. Also Kobe has a no trade clause, and most likey he isn't coming to a Mavs team without Dirk...the remaining players are, yes, an upgrade over the Lakers squad, but a favorite to win it all? Hardly..not with Spurs and Suns still going strong. Mavs only have one "maybe" allstar in Howard and some quality players in Harris and Terry, but their weaknesses have been exposed by the GS series where Baron Davis was pretty much able to do whatever they hell he wanted over them.
Look at the Chicago situation...as of now, they're not even willing to part with Deng. The whole problem with this Kobe trade is that though undoubtedly he is probably the best player in the nba, teams are not willing to dismantle or ship their superstar for him b/c 1. kobe would probably veto that trade himself, he wants to win a ring if he's going to be traded, 2. obvious risks, i.e. kobe's future contract, chemistry, drama?, etc.
As for Dirk "demanding" a trade to LA, I seriously doubt that he would ever consider that. Why? He's the franchise in Dallas, why would he leave a great situation, minus the two playoff flameouts, for a huge risk in LA. The owner, his coach, the team and fans are still mostly behind him. I say unless there's another embarassment this year, no will be no major changes for the mavs.
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Max Fischer about 1 year ago
Erick, if what you are saying was true then no one would have to double team Dirk on the post.
No they don't have to double Dirk on the perimeter when smaller players are guarding Dirk. Of course Dirk can't out-quick them. The problem is that when Dirk takes these smaller defenders on the block he is getting doubled and tripled. He creates tons of shots for his teammates that they miss. Avery also doesn't let Dirk shoot jumpers. And never sets screens to get Dirk open shots.
And Avery can't punish teams for doubling and tripling Dirk. So Dirk ends up on the perimeter trying to play guys far faster than him.
Avery couldn't even get Dirk the ball in the Warriors series because players were fronting Dirk.. then when Dirk caught the ball they would double and triple him.. again.. if Avery was coaching properly he would punish teams for that.
Kobe doesn't post up for the same reason. Dirk just doesn't take bad shots like Kobe from the perimeter because he can't post up.
But the real problem was that Dirk had no centers with any kind of offense to take pressure off him.. and no small ball power forward to help him on the boards. Dirk's smallball power forwards were Josh Howard and Devean Geroge. Devean was terrible.. and Josh was undersized to play power forward. If Dirk had ANY kind of support on his frontline they would have punished the Warriors on the boards for defending Dirk the way they did and boxing him out so agressivley.
The other thing Avery didn't do is use Dirk's three point shooting to spread the floor for his teammates to attack the basket. Avery doesn't believe in shooting jumpers.. if your team can't shoot jumpers, dirkcan't post up and you aren't going to be able to attack the basket. teams just zone you up. Avery's offense was just too predictable and one-dimensional. The Warriors doubled and tripled Dirk.. took the ball out of his hands and dared everyone else to beat them, They couldn't keep pace scoring wise with the Warriors without Dirk.
You claim Dirk can't score on small athletic players on the post yet he dominated Bowen and Marion the playoffs before when they did cover him single coverage. Dirk had 50 points on Marion in a playoff game last season when they tried to single cover Dirk. Dirk broke Jordan's freethrow record in a playoff run and Dirk wasn't even getting the calls of other superstars like Kobe or Duncan or shaq, or Wade.. it pays to foul dirk for this reason. Steve Nash goes through the same thing.
For some reason Dirk and Nash can't buy calls in the playoffs when other superstars get constant phantom calls.. this is why Dirk needs Phil Jackson and the massive LA fanbase behind him. That's the only way he's going to get the respect from officials he deserves.
Think about it.. eveyrone says the Mavs are so deep.. yet what do the Mavs have to offer in a Kobe trade other than Dirk? Bigmen? Nope.. Dampier and Diop are terrible. Josh Howard? Jason terry? Stackhouse? Devin Harris? These are just average NBA players.. the Lakers don't want these guys. These guys are a dime a dozen. So why should Dirk be expected to win anything? he doesn't even have a true all-star playing with him. And the pl;ayers he has around him don't complement his game in any way.
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Max Fischer about 1 year ago
"""As for Dirk "demanding" a trade to LA, I seriously doubt that he would ever consider that. Why? He's the franchise in Dallas, why would he leave a great situation, minus the two playoff flameouts, for a huge risk in LA. The owner, his coach, the team and fans are still mostly behind him. I say unless there's another embarassment this year, no will be no major changes for the mavs."""
If you look at the 2 playoff disasters Dirk had Cuban caused both of them. Cuban let Nash, the 2 time MVP go, then Nash and the Suns knocked Dirk out that next season. Cuban letting Nash go for nothing caused Nellie to finally say he had had enough of Cuban's antics and decided to go someplace he felt welcome. Then Nellie knocks the Mavs out in the first round.
Cuban has also failed in building the team properly around Dirk. How is Dirk's situation any different than Kobe's? In fact, Dirk's situation is worse. And that's the point I was trying to make in this article. Dirk would have more playoff success with Phil Jackson as his coach and Odom as his second best player. The Lakers have a far superior frontline offensively and probably defensively, too.
People say Kobe is better than Dirk.. I don't think he is.. because he doesn't make his teammates better. When Kobe's "on" he's spectacular.. when he's off he's atrocious. And becaus he doesn't play a team game, offensively or defensively, he makes his team worse. It's just like that 81 point game.. yeah.. he won that game. But what did that do for his team long term? It hurt them. Because that's not the way your team is going to win games. The reason he had to score 81 points to win that game is because he had been so selfish in the past which hurt his team. The same way he wanted no other scorers on his team because he wanted to do all the scoring himself.
Dirk is such a weird matchup.. such a unique player.. he wreaks havoc on teams defenses. He pulls the bigs out opening up the paint for rebounding and penetration. Kobe doesn't do thius. 7 footers aren't coming out to guard Kobe. And if a asmall player is guarding Dirk then the big that should be guarding Dirk has to guard someone else on the floor.. such as another guard or a big that could post him up and foul him out of the game if Dirk had a post player playing with him.
This is why Dirk makes such a huge impact on the game. I think it's the equivalent of a running quarterback in college. It's such a huge advantage that teams simply can't defend it. The only way to counter it is to get your own.. and there are no other Dirks. But the problem with Dirk is that not only do the opposing coaches not know what to do with him.. right now his own coach doesn't either. Dirk isn't a player for a novice coach lacking in creativity like Avery. Avery is just wasting Dirk's talents. Cuban had the perfect coach for Dirk and pushed him out because Cuban couldn't think outside of the box either.
But yeah.. I don't expect Dirk to demand a trade. It's not his personality. But the point is he should demand a trade. And if he could be convinced of that this Kobe deal would go through. And I believe that could be a good thing for both teams. I don't think it will hurt them because as they currently are they aren't going anywhere. So his is why I am doing my darndest to convince everyone here who is a fan of the Mavs and the Lakers to do the same. Maybe if the media made a case for Dirk being a Laker he might have a talk with Cuban.. you never know.
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Erick Blasco about 1 year ago
The game where Dirk scored 50, he was being defended---and taunted---by Tim Thomas. Props to Dirk for stepping his game up in the face of Tim's "fugazy" (Knick fans will remember the reference) toughness.
And that game 3 was ridiculous with a lot of ridiculous calls on Duncan. But at least Dirk was being aggressive, so I wont punish him for his fortune.
But Dirk was hit or miss throughout that series with the Spurs, most notably in the fourth quarters. Here is the account of what happened that series:
During Game 1 @ San Antonio, Dirk scored 20 points in a 2 point Mavs loss. Dirk only scored 2 of those points in the final quarter however, and committed a turnover with the Mavs down 3 and a minute left.
During Game 2 Dallas blew the Spurs out so we didn't get to see how Dirk would perform in the clutch. He put up 21 solid points.
Game 3 saw Dirk make a number of clutch plays in one of his best moments of his career as he scored 27 and grabbed 15 boards. Dirk was only 3-9 from the field but went 21-24 from the line as Dallas shot 18 more free throws than the Spurs.
Game 4 in Dallas also saw a Mavs win in overtime. Dirk's lone clutch moments came in regulation as he hit 3 big free throws, as Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse dominated the 4th quarter and overtime. Nowitzki finished with 28 points and 6 bad turnovers.
Game 5 in San Anotnio saw San Antonio squeak out a victory. Dirk had a chance to win the series but saw his jumper with 8 second left get tied up by Bruce Bowen. Dirk played great in Dallas, but that was his 2nd goatish road performance in the series.
Game 6 saw the Spurs pull out a close victory against Dallas. Dirk hit a layup with 16 seconds left that cut a deficit to 1, but airballed a game-tying 3 on his next possession.
An airballed 3 is no way to leave your mark on a game. Dirk did have 26 points, but only 4 in the 4th quarter.
Game 7 is the only game of the series where that Dirk really was "great." 37 points, 15 rebounds, and a game-tying 3 point play with 22 seconds left. It should be noted that Dirk was an ordinary 1-5 in the 4th quarter before the play, and only scored 2 points on free throws in the overtime period---but still, Dirk made a great play when his team needed it.
And unlike the Spurs and Heat, the Suns have nowhere near the help defenders to react to Dirk.
Dirk is great at starting at the right wing, spinning left, and hitting his trademarked elbow jumpers. If a team concentrates on overplaying his spin, Dirk becomes just an average shooter.
Most of the rest of the Mavs are inept in the clutch too (excpet sometimes Jerry Stackhouse), so Dirk isn't the only one making mistakes, but trust me, it isn't the fault of Johnson.
Dirk doesn't move hard enough without the ball to come off screens for jumpers, and Dallas doesn't have much team strength to play pick and roll with Nowitzki on the outside.
When Golden State (Stephen Jackson) fronted Dirk, he was never forceful enough to seal Jackson and give himself a window to the basket on the back side of the front. And since Dirk isn't a good enough passer, he's unable to catch a lob, have a help defender collapse, and then make a quick pass to a cutter, or the guy who the doubler left open.
AJ is right when he wants Dirk shooting less jumpers. If Dallas wants to win a champion, they need Dirk posting and driving to the basket as much as possible.
Devean George's defense and rebounding are mitigated by Golden State's warp speed. Josh Howard is a three, while Dirk is a four. If Dirk was being fronted, it should be easy enough for him to get in perfect position to box the fronter on and grab offensive boards. Once again, Dirk was timid and Jackson was able to shove him around.
Dirk doesn't get the respect of the refs because he's all finesse, and he doesn't react to what the defense does to him. If he was forceful and assertifve ALL the time, he'd force the refs to call fouls on opponents. If he'd make plays under ridiculous pressure, he'd start getting calls. Refs don't like bailing players out if they are being nuetralized. It's up to Dirk to stop whining to the refs and to start picking up his game.
Dampier is an average defensive center while Diop is one of the best defensive centers in the league and the only tough guy on the Mavs aside from their coach. If Johnson stuck to his guns and showed confidence in playing Diop from the start of Game 1, the Warriors would never have gotten the huge psychological boost they received, and the series might have progresses differently.
Howard is a valuable jack of all trades who can defend, fill a lane, rebound, and is becoming an improved all around shooter.
Stackhouse is a powerful streak scorer, while Jason Terry is unguardable in screen/rolls. The problem with Terry is that he's a shooting guard playing the point, and he's even less clutch than Dirk.
Devin Harris needs to bulk up desperately, but his energy and jets make him a valuable player.
None of these players is a superstar, but their ability to fill the basket and get enough defensive stops complements Dirk perfectly---if only Dirk would play consistently. Lets not forget where Dallas' defense was before Avery came in. With Howard, Stackhouse, and Diop (and against other quick and lithe point guards, Harris) the Mavs at least have a few guys who understand how to play defense. They also have scorers de jour. Dirk just needs to do what a team's superstar needs to do: Make plays. And if Dirk is truly unguardable, then a few games a series isn't enough.
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Max Fischer about 1 year ago
It doesn't matter how unguardable you are.. if youa re being doubled and tripled on the post you can't score.
People say Amare is unguardable, right. Well go back to the series a few seasons ago when the Mavs faced the Suns..
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=250515006
Amare scored 15 points. He was being guarded EXACTLY like Dirk has been guarded in all his playoff losses. Epsecially the Warriors series.. and the Heat Finals series.
Guess who was guarding Amare all through that game? Michael Finley. Michael Finley was such a bad defender Avery waived him and the Mavs atre his contract and are currently paying him 10s of millions of dollars to play for the Spurs right now. That's is how bad a defender Finley is.. he's also 6'6.
So how could he have shut Amare down? The same way Ryan Bowen, Stephen Jackson and Udonis Haslem can guard Dirk.. with a TON of help from their temamtes when they post up.
But then look at the box score.. Amare scored 15 points.. guess how many points Nash scored.. 50!
And this is the key. This is why teams are unable to guard Dirk the way they do.. because the Mavs don't have the players to complement Dirk and to punish teams for guarding Dirk so agressively the way Nash punished the Mavs for guarding Amare so agressively.
If you look at Duncan's box scores through all his playoff games you will see tons of subpar games too.. and then you will see guys like Tony Parker or Manu with 35 point nights..
Kobe would be the same way.. but he takes tons of bad shots from the perimeter with 2 guys in his face.. Dirk could do that too and make a lot of them but Avery doesn't want him doing that.. Dirk can shoot over guys easier than Dirk can.. but Avery doesn't want to live by the jumper. If Kobe didn't take those shots he'd be in the same boat as Dirk with the same poor numbers because he doesn't have the personnel to take pressure off him on the post either. But Kobe gets far more star calls than Dirk as well.
But I digress. That's the key though. Teams couldn't guard Dirk the way they do if the Mavs were vuilt right. Just totally uncomplementary players.
Because Dirk is essentially a guard.. he needs an inside player to play off. Because the Mavs can't get one they just got a bunch of ineffecient guards to play with him. Dirk makes these guy better but they make him worse.
It would be like getting bunch of guards to play with Kobe. If ytou were defending that team all you would have to do is take the ball out of Kobe's hands and let the rest of them try to beat you. They just do the same thing Kobe does but worse.
If youa re going to beuild a team that way you can't expect Dirk to lead it. He isn't being put in a position to lead. He is in the position of a facilitator. And what youa lso have to relaize is how good Dirk makes the players around him look. Much better than they really are. Look who is guarding Dirk? the best perimter players usually. That alone is reason enough that the other guards around Dirk should be scoring off the charts. Imagine how poorly they would be scoring if they were being guarded by these guys if Dirk wasn't around.
So Dirk has the best perimeter defender on him..
doubles and triple teams..
the center waiting in the paint because the Mavs centers are terrible offensively..
and the other Mavs can't score.
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Dave Metrick about 1 year ago
I can't think of anything Dirk would want less than a trade to LA. Think about it.
Dallas - Perenial playoff team. Was actually some bad calls (and some choking) away from winning it all.
LA - Made the playoffs twice in 2 years, got bounced in the first round.
Dallas - Has an owner who will spend whatever it takes to win.
LA - Buss never wants to go over the cap.
Dallas - Always out there dealing and trying to make the team better.
LA - Wouldn't part with a 19 year old center so that it could aquire Jason Kidd.
As for LA's allegedly great front court? Bynum's raw. Probably 3-5 years away from being legitimately good. Odom has a lot of skills, but he's a head case and an injury waiting to happen.
And Kwame's one of the biggest busts in the history of the league. He's horrible. And another example of how bad the Laker front office is. They traded Butler for him. Butler was an All-Star last year.
You also mentioned "and co." in regards to the Lakers front court. What other awesome players do the Lakers have that I'm not aware of? Brian Cook? Chris Mihm? Radmonovic?
I'm a Laker's fan, and I think they've done a god-awful job of surrounding Kobe with talent. They're front office is a joke and has been ever since Jerry West left. If Kobe gets traded, Jackson will be gone and it'll be a good long time before they're a legitimate playoff team again.
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Max Fischer about 1 year ago
The Mavs have a ton of guards.. Stackhouse, Terry, Howard, Devin Harris and Dirk himself who is essentially a guard.
The Lakers have all frontcourt players. Let's compare.
Lakers: Bynum, Odom, Radmanovich, Cook, Turiaf, Mihm and Walton
Mavs: Dampier, Diop, Devean George, Frazekas, Bass and DJMbenga
I would much much rather have the Lakers Frontcourt. Odom is better than any of the guys on the Mavs roster combined. Dampier and Diop literally could not stay on the floor in the playoffs. Bynum has more offense than Diop and Dampier combined.. literally. And this is much more important to a player like Dirk.
The whole reason the Mavs lost in the first round of the playoffs is because they didn't have one big player that could provide ANY offense over 6'6. So you had to play a lineup of Dirk and 4 guards. If Dirk had an offense big it would have taken all the defensive pressure off of Dirk and allowed the Mavs to rebound well enough to stay in that game. They literally had 2 or 3 guys boxing Dirk out and the Mavs had no one to pick up the rebounding slack.
Also.. Radmanovich, Cook and Mihm would complement Dirk very well because of their ability to shoot from the perimeter as bigs.
Odom would complement Dirk because he is so big and maneuverable. Just like Dirk. Odom would be the ideal smallball power forward with Dirk. The Mavs wouldn't have gotten out-rebounded by the Warriors with Odom and Dirk on the floor.
Then you have Bynum. Dirk's ability to shoot the three from the perimeter so well would open the floor up completely for Bynum to operate down low. Just like Horry has for all the bigs he's played with. Except Dirk would be art least ten times better. Right now Dirk has no post player to work off of.
The Mavs glut of talented guards makes them a good regllar season team.. because they have a lot of scorers so they can beat a lot of bad teams.. and Dirk takes all the pressure off of all the Mavs scoring guards because of all the attention he draws.. so they rack up a lot of wins in the regular season.
But the Lakers have a much deeeper, more versatile and complementary group of bigmen for Dirk. Frontcourt depth leads to playoff success.. especally for Dirk because he is a bigman that can score so much and from the perimeter. This is why I think the Lakers bigmen would be so perfect for Dirk. If the media can convince Dirk of this mabe Dirk would be compelled to push Cuban over the edge to do the Kobe deal. Maybe Dirk could apply the pressure needed from the other side to get it done.
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