Bleacher Report - Dallas Mavericks

Mavericks' Guards Battle for Minutes

Damian Jackson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:01:03 -0500

You want players to compete with one another in order to improve. Competition provides a challenge, a challenge proving worth and value. NBA teams witness this very spectacle in training camps, practices, and even games.

The Dallas Mavericks might have a competition of their own brewing at the moment. It’s not hot news in the way the Golden State Warriors make headlines recently, but Dallas’ young guards Jose Juan Barea and Rodrigue Beaubois seem to be on the teeter-totter when it comes to Mavericks fans .

Barea and Beaubois show zero signs of proving one is better than the other, but surely both want to see the floor as much as possible. Barea, a four-year veteran, eased his way in gaining the coaching staff’s confidence to handle steady minutes, including closing out games.

Rookie Beaubois already starts at shooting guard in place of the injured Josh Howard .

But thus far into the early season, Barea receives more minutes off the bench than Beaubois does starting. Here’s a breakdown of the minutes in the five games when Beaubois starts:

Nov. 4 at New Orleans – Beaubois (13:31) | Barea (28:27 )

Nov. 13 at Minnesota – Beaubois (15:19) | Barea (19:59 )

Nov. 15 at Detroit – Beaubois (19:08) | Barea (21:21 )

Nov. 16 at Milwaukee – Beaubois (24:05) | Barea (26:46 )

Nov. 18 vs. San Antonio – Beaubois (16:34) | Barea (30:58 )

With the exception of the game against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, a trend is obvious: The time gap shrinks between the two guards as the season progresses.

Rick Carlisle knows the rookie will make mistakes and miss defensive assignments from time to time. Carlisle also understands the young player possesses smooth, athletic talent and needs minutes to learn on the fly. The same process took place with Barea over the past few seasons and he’s shown tremendous improvement.

The Mavericks’ roster contains four to six guards, all capable of playing 30 solid minutes per night. Jason Kidd , Jason Terry , and Howard (when healthy) consume the bulk of the minutes. However, it’s impossible to satisfy everyone, which remains one reason Barea and Beaubois compete for playing time.

Both bring different elements to the game.

Beaubois fills the shoes of Howard by launching the team off to quick starts with his lightning speed, scoring ability, and length on defense.

Barea enters and orchestrates the offense when Kidd rests, and looks for his shot when playing in the three-guard lineup Carlisle favors during games.

Beaubois shows glimpses of excellence and he’s impressing fans and his teammates. “He has really impressed me so far. He is very quick off the dribble and he has a nice little touch in the paint. He can finish, he is athletic. He looks really, really good to me,” said Dirk Nowitzki .

Barea is no stranger to praise either. He received lots of it when his constant hard work translated to the court.

For now, Dallas has itself a positive dilemma. Having two young players who possess the ability to play either guard position provides the Mavericks with depth and confidence. Barea and Beaubois go hard at one another in practice and even harder against opponents on game nights. If they both continue to improve by fighting for those minutes, I say let the battle continue.

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What Could Have Been: If Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki Were Still Teammates

Courtzide Seatz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:56:33 -0500

Watching Steve Nash direct the Suns offense is a thing of beauty.

The way he maneuvers between defenders reminds me of a skilled touring car driver swerving in and out of traffic, interchangeably switching his dribble from left to right so as to keep the defense unsure of his next move.

His head is constantly on a swivel, hair wildly fluttering about, as he surveys the entire floor for the open man.

He is seemingly calculating the outcomes of every possible decision before he actually takes action, and not coincidentally, he usually chooses the single smartest option available to him.

He reminds me of Peyton Manning in the way he commands the flow of the offense, orchestrating every play with absolute confidence and control.

When he entered the league in 1996 with the Phoenix Suns as the 15th overall draft pick, fans were understandably skeptical. He was a relatively unknown player out of a small, private college amid a powerhouse draft class consisting of big names like Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Stephon Marbury.

Nash was traded to Dallas in 1998 when his long-time friend Donnie Nelson convinced his father, Dallas GM and coach Don Nelson, that he was being underutilized in Phoenix.

It was in Dallas that Nash was paired with the young German prodigy, Dirk Nowitzki. The two almost immediately became close friends, and despite some early struggles in the strike-shortened season, they gave Dallas fans reason to believe there was hope.

When Mark Cuban bought the Mavericks from Ross Perot Jr. in 1999, he instantly changed the culture in Dallas and created an environment that would allow Nash and Nowitzki to thrive.

Before the 1999-2000 season, Don Nelson decided he could better capitalize on Nowitzki's unique talents by utilizing him more within the flow of the offense as a "point forward."

This allowed Nowitzki to move away from the traditional power forward mold, a role in which he had struggled the year before, and almost as soon as this change was made, Nowitzki began to blossom.

Nowitzki's combination of size, mobility, and raw scoring ability proved to be almost impossible to stop, and with the steadily improving Nash at the point, the Mavericks became an elite Western Conference team within two years of being together.

From 2000-2003, the Mavericks posted at least 50 wins in each season, and qualified for the playoffs in consecutive years in an extremely tough Western Conference.

They won a franchise-best 60 games during the 2002-2003 season, where they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before ultimately being beaten in six games by a Spurs team that would go on to win the NBA championship.

Before the 2003-2004 season, the Dallas Mavericks acquired forwards Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker to add more versatility and firepower on the wing.

This is where this Mavericks team on the cusp of greatness began to go south. In acquiring Antoine Walker from the Celtics, Dallas traded away their starting center Raef LaFrentz, leaving a glaring hole in the middle that could not be filled by aging center Shawn Bradley.

As a result, Dirk was often expected to man the center position, and for the first time in his career, his numbers declined. The Mavericks would qualify for the playoffs that year, but would again fall short, losing in the first round to a potent Sacramento Kings team.

It was after this disappointing season, that Mark Cuban decided to take the Mavericks in a different direction. Not wanting to sign an aging Nash to a long-term deal, Cuban allowed Nash to explore the free agency market, where he would eventually land a lucrative deal with the Phoenix Suns.

By allowing Nash to leave, Cuban demonstrated his full-fledged commitment to Dirk as his franchise player.

Since the dispersal of this promising Mavericks team, both Nash and Nowitzki have gone on to win the league MVP award. Nash won it twice (2004-2005 and 2005-2006) and Nowitzki won it once (2006-2007).

I realize that we live in a world of salary caps and luxury taxes, and sometimes tough decisions have to be made in order to remain financially sustainable, but the success these two players have had since parting ways begs the question about what could have been.

What could have been if Nash hadn't been allowed to leave in free agency? What could have been if Antawn Jamison would have never been traded to the Wizards? What could have been if the Mavericks still drafted the same players but didn't trade Devin Harris to the Nets?

Can you even begin to imagine a lineup with Steve Nash at the point, Josh Howard at the two, Antawn Jamison at the three, Dirk at the four, and Shawn Marion, Devin Harris, and Jason Terry coming off the bench?

It almost sounds too good to be true, and in all reality it probably is. I'm sure that the salaries are impossible to fit together. I'm sure that under different circumstances, different outcomes are almost assured, and that every previous decision impacts each personnel decision moving forward making this massive compilation of talent nearly impossible.

I realize this. But, it sure is fun to think about how good they could have been.

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Dirk Nowitzki: From MVP To Under-the-Radar Superstar

Taylor Smith — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:50:02 -0500

Let's go back two-and-a-half years to April 2007.

To the objection of many (myself included), Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki appeared to be a mortal lock to win the MVP award.

(Steve Nash had the better season, and actually deserved the award more than he did in the previous two seasons that he had actually won it, but back to the relevant story.)

That season, Dirk averaged 24.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

While these are stellar numbers, Nowitzki had better numbers during each of the two seasons prior.

Nowitzki essentially won the award by default, as he was the best player on the best team.

The Mavericks had just finished the regular season 67-15 as they headed into a first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors.

Shockingly, the 67-win Mavs came out and were baffled by the high-energy Warriors, and lost the series decisively in six games.

Dirk's numbers for the series: 19.7 points, 11.3 rebounds per game.

After that series ended, Nowitzki was awkwardly named the NBA's MVP, after having been jettisoned from the playoffs in embarrassing fashion.

This entire series of events was so terrible for Nowitzki that he went on a backpacking excursion through Australia for several weeks just after the season ended, in an effort to help him get away from basketball and everything that had recently transpired.

During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Nowitzki went out and put up the same old stellar Nowitzki numbers, but because Dallas had taken a step back, nobody really noticed.

Dirk's credibility had taken a massive hit because of the Golden State series, and he had gained the reputation as a guy that can't lead and carry a team by himself.

Because of his team's feeble exit from the playoffs that year, Nowitzki's MVP award seems hollow, as if that entire Mavericks season had never even happened.

This season, the 31-year-old Nowitzki has been better than ever, yet he's never mentioned in the same breath as guys like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, or Dwyane Wade.

However, maybe this is all for the better.

Nowitzki has never been one for the glitz and glamour, and I'm sure he's just fine flying with his team under the national radar.

So far this season, the Mavericks sit at 9-3, atop the Southwest Division.

Dirk Nowitzki's numbers have been gaudy.

He's averaging 27.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks through 12 games, including a season-high 41 points in Wednesday night's OT victory over the Spurs.

In that game, Nowitzki put in several key baskets down the stretch, including a swooping tip-in with 14 seconds to go in regulation that put Dallas ahead by two.

In overtime, he scored five points, none bigger than a three pointer with 1:15 to go that essentially put the game out of reach for San Antonio.

In the previous game, Nowitzki scored 32, including a game-winning fadeaway jumper at the buzzer in OT that rattled all over the basket before dropping right through.

Nowitzki has been carrying the Mavericks so far, without much help from a supporting cast.

Dallas' second-leading scorer is Jason Terry, averaging 17 a game.

Terry, a reliable three-point specialist, has struggled from distance so far, shooting a measly 32 percent from beyond the arc.

Several other key parts for Dallas, including Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, and Erick Dampier, have been battling injuries and have missed several games apiece already.

Despite all this, Dallas has the second-best record in the West so far, a half-game behind 10-3 Phoenix.

Nowitzki and his Mavericks are flying high, while still managing to fly well below the radar.

And I'm sure Nowitzki is just fine with that.

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Dallas Mavericks' Fab Four Point Guards Leading the Way

Alex McVeigh — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:49:23 -0500

Even as the Dallas Mavericks have made it deeper and deeper into the playoffs in recent years, they've had weaknesses at two key positions; some might say THE key positions.

Center and shooting guard have been two holes in the Mavericks' game, and one would argue having a superstar at either position is the quickest way to a championship.

I've already discussed the Mavericks' center woes, and believe you me, I'll get into that more as the season progresses.

Now let's take a look at what the Mavericks are doing with the shooting guard position. For next year, I hope they land Joe Johnson, but once again, we'll have to get into that later.

Let's look at what the Mavericks are doing this year. They have four point guards on their roster (Jason Kidd, JJ Barea, Jason Terry, Rodrigue Beaubois), and only one true shooting guard, Matt Carroll, who won't be seeing much of the floor this season.

The original plan was for a healthy Josh Howard to start alongside Kidd, Marion, Dirk, and Erick Dampier. Howard's ankle has put a kink in those plans, so the Mavs are left to figure out something else.

And that something has been a two— and three— PG lineup, making the best use of the four point guards the Mavs have on their roster.

The Mavericks are using point guards to fill in the shooting guard position, and are having a good amount of success doing so.

Jason Kidd brings Finals experience, Hall of Fame credentials, and a passer's eye that has rarely been equaled in NBA history. With shooters like Terry, Dirk, and Howard in the lineup, the more open looks they get, the better.

Kidd is also one of the best rebounding point guards to play the game.

While Jason Kidd brings a lot of little things into the mix for the Mavericks, he has two glaring flaws, namely, offense and defense.

Okay, that sounds a bit harsh. He can run an offense, he's just not a scoring threat. For someone who can rebound and pass as well as he can, there are nights like last night against the Bucks when the only thing keeping him from a triple-double was low scoring.

Jason Terry, on the other hand, provides scoring and not much else. The starting point guard (until Devin Harris took the reins) at the start of the 2007-08 season, Terry has found his niche coming off the bench as instant offense, a role for which he seems to be destined.

His defense is lacking and his passing isn't his strong suit (to be polite), but he's also the heart and soul of the team, connecting to his teammates and fans alike in a way many professional athletes seem incapable of doing.

J.J. Barea is the guy no one saw coming.

Who he bribed to be listed at six feet tall we'll never know, but the guy is a spark plug. Not to mention my inspiration for maybe one day playing in the NBA.

J.J. plays wherever he's needed, and in the past two seasons, he's done much to earn himself playing time with an ability to squeeze under and around big men to get through to the rim.

He's also developing a pretty good jump shot and decent passing skills. Sometimes he gets a little too reckless, especially when he's on the floor in crunch time, but he's exciting enough to usually make it worth my while.

The final member of this Fab Four is Rodrigue Beaubois, the X-Factor. He showed flashes of brilliance in summer league play and seems to be adapting to the NBA faster than anyone could have imagined.

Speaking of imagining, envision someone with Tony Parker's speed, Ben Gordon's range, and Chris Paul's defensive chops. Not only is that a distinct possibility, we're seeing it right now; he's playing less than 10 minutes a game.

He saved the game for the Mavericks last night against the Bucks, with an incredible block on Brandon Jennings as he tried to launch a go-ahead three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left in overtime.

Beaubois managed to get enough of a hand on it that Dallas was able to pull down a rebound and call a timeout, and Dirk sank the buzzer— beating game— winner (is there a sweeter combination of compound words in the English language? Methinks not) 3.5 seconds later.

So what, exactly, does having this fearsome foursome mean for the Dallas Mavericks?

Well, with the absence of Josh Howard, possibly until the end of the year, it gives the Mavs options at the shooting guard besides Quinton Ross, who can't shoot his way out of a paper bag.

It also gives them a deeper backcourt than anyone else in the league, and youth and experience in one package.

Call me crazy, but as Jason Kidd's skills inevitably decline over the course of his freshly-inked three-year deal, I really like the thought of him passing on pearls of wisdom to J.J. Barea (we can already see the benefit he's gotten from a little more than a whole season) and Rodrigue Beaubois.

Last year we saw coach Rick Carlisle roll out a three-guard lineup against smaller teams, and it played out pretty well.

Now, they have a well of three point guards who together offer a few different looks to opposing teams.

Kidd and Beaubois offer a nice pass— and— receive offense that has already produced a couple of highlight reel alley— oops. Because really, who expects a point guard— to— point guard alley— oop?

On the defensive end, I'm dying to see what Beaubois can do one— on— one against those quick point guards that have torched the Mavs for years.

He did pretty well against Brandon Jennings, who is about as quick as they get, so that could add another dimension to a Mavs defense that's experiencing a resurgence this season.

How about Beaubois and Terry, a combination that is sure to get plenty of time together as the seasons go on? Both players are great on offense, and as long as the team doesn't have a quick point guard and a strong, athletic slasher at the two, the Mavericks should be able to pull this combination off.

Beaubois and Barea give the Mavericks an explosive combo on the offensive end, and while J.J. is a weak link defensively, the team shouldn't be running it in crunch time too often.

Imagine Kidd, Beaubois, and Terry, alongside Dirk and Damp/Gooden. That's three very good offensive players, combined with some low-post bulk and a world class distributor.

You get the point. With a Fab Four of point guards, the Mavericks are wide open to throw some crazy looks at opposing teams, even more so than last season.

Throw into the mix Rick Carlisle's ability to find successful, unorthodox lineups, and the Dallas Mavericks are poised to do some major damage this season.

For a more in-depth look at what Beaubois is doing in Howard's place, click here. For more analysis on the NBA's Southwest Division, check my work out at FanHuddle.

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A Dirk Departure Destroys Dallas' Destiny

Aaron Navarro — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:47:59 -0500

The LeBron talks, Wade talks, and Bosh talks have been the main course of next year's offseason, but like every other restaurant menu, there are always the supporting dishes.

In this case, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, and Amar'e Stoudemire are solid players that make this cast of free agents shine.

But if there is one player to make a silent splash this coming offseason, it would have to be the 7'0" forward Dirk Nowitzki.

Being a veteran in the NBA for 11 years now, Nowitzki has been a part of the Dallas Maverick organization ever since he was drafted. Many questioned his ability, but he seemed to flourish quite smoothly.

The Dallas Mavericks have seemed to successfully keep Dirk Nowitzki in a Dallas uniform and this offseason’s priority appears to bring the same situation.

But with many teams on the rise, including the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Washington Wizards, general managers will be hunting for big time players to help their squad reach the next level.

Dirk Nowitzki is one of many players who have that bulls-eye target squared on the middle of his forehead.

Nowitzki is an unrestricted free agent next offseason, meaning that he has the freedom to sign with any team.

Of course, Dirk can still sign with the Mavericks if they offer him big time bones. However, the scene of a Dirk departure is not out of the woods yet.

If Nowitzki decides, "Hey, if I want to win a ring I need to leave Dallas," where does that leave the Dallas Mavericks organization?

It leaves the Mavericks in a deep hole.

Nowitzki is the main reason why the Mavericks are an elite team today. Not taking away from his teammates, but there is always a leader on a sports team and Nowitzki is that leader.

An aging Jason Kidd and an injured Josh Howard leaves Shawn Marion the captain if Nowitzki decides to depart. As we've learned from years past, Marion cannot function as a player without a strong leader. He was limited with Marbury, but busted out of his cage with Steve Nash.

The Mavericks have a strong team on paper, but as of now, injuries are limiting this team's ability to soar.

Drew Gooden and Josh Howard are recovering from injuries; two players who are essential in this team's success. Drew Gooden's injury means that Nowitzki has to log heavy minutes during the season.

If Dirk leaves Dallas, the Mavs lose offensive fire power. Twenty-five plus points come from the German sensation. Without his strength to score, the Mavericks would need players like Kidd and Dampier to score more.

If a Dirk departure is among us, the Dallas Mavericks are destroyed. There is the option of signing another big name player, but it will be extremely difficult to replace Nowitzki's style.

There is no doubt that the Mavericks will be a ninth or tenth ranked team if Dirk Nowitzki decides to call it quits with the Mavericks.

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Know Your Role: Mavericks' Offseason Acquisitions Paying Dividends

Damian Jackson — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:34:54 -0500

Over the summer and throughout training camp, the Dallas Mavericks stressed the importance of roster depth. So far in this young season, there has been a lot of pressure on the shoulders of German star Dirk Nowitzki and Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry. With teams focused on stopping the Mavericks’ two-man game, the weaknesses of the Dallas Mavericks have been exposed.

Jason Kidd has pushed the tempo, called the plays, and distributed the ball, but a lack of offensive weapons has taken a toll on one of the NBA’s greatest quarterbacks.

Luckily, Dallas spent the offseason adding pieces to the core of Nowitzki, Kidd, and Terry. The shopping spree brought in veterans Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, Tim Thomas, Kris Humphries, and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois.

Josh Howard continues rigorously to rehab his surgically repaired ankle after his return to the team lasted just three games before he was back on the sidelines.

Recently, center Erick Dampier became ill over the road trip in Detroit and has missed the last two contests.

Last year, Dallas did not have the supporting cast to pick up the slack when injuries kept core players out. However, one year later, the Mavericks turned the tables. Beaubois is starting for Howard, while Gooden handles the duties of center in Dampier’s absence. So far, the results have been very gratifying.

In four starts this season, Beaubois has been a quick, point-scoring starter, averaging 11 points and shooting 64 percent from the field, including 56 percent behind the arc.

Gooden brushed aside a slow, lackluster beginning to the season to make two consecutive starts for Erick Dampier. His hustle and hard work is apparent in the box score. He’s averaging 16.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over his last two starts.

“He’s had two monster games for us,” head coach Rick Carlisle said.

Monster games they were. The Mavericks are sure glad they signed a player of Gooden's caliber in the offseason.

Dallas faces San Antonio Wednesday night at home, the first of a three-game home stand. Marion is questionable after tweaking his left ankle on the first play against Milwaukee last night. However, another role player gets an opportunity to step up, as Tim Thomas is expected to make his season debut.

Injuries are something no team wants to deal with, but at least the Dallas Mavericks have the role players to come in and weather the storm.

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Erick Dampier: The Cause of and Solution To The Mavericks' Center Woes

Alex McVeigh — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:31:10 -0500

Erick Dampier. An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a headband. No Mavs player has caused fans more disgust, delight, optimism and pessimism in the past five years.

And now, as his tenure with the Mavericks comes to a close, he is in position to help the team more than he ever did wearing the blue and white.

You see, Erick Dampier is the most valuable commodity in the league entering the vaunted free agent summer of 2010. An expiring contract worth $16.4475 in savings.

The details can be found here , but allow me to summarize:

Due to a minutes clause in his contract, Erick Dampier's contract will not be guaranteed for the 2010-2011 season unless he averages 30 minutes per game in 70 games, which he hasn't done since his first year in Dallas.

What does this mean for the summer of 2010? Well, a team (say the Raptors, Cavs, Hawks or Heat) who is about to lose their superstar (Chris Bosh, LeBron James, Joe Johnson or Dwyane Wade) for nothing in free agency can instead exchange their superstar for a massive amount of cap space, perhaps to offer to one of the other premium free agents in the class of 2010.

So why would a free agent like James choose Dallas over New York (besides the obvious) when it appears Dallas was never in the picture for any of these free agents?

Simple. Since the superstar would be technically resigning with their old team in a sign-and-trade, salary cap rules for a max contract come into effect.

A max contract for a free agent next season will be something like five years, $96 million. For a team resigning its own player, a max contract would be worth something like six years, $125 million.

Quite a difference.

Add to the fact that Dallas has A) Jason Kidd, who everybody wants to play with; B)Mark Cuban, who has proven willing to spend to win, unlike a lot of other owners; C) Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, and a cast of other players that are vastly superior to (especially) the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, or any other team that would re-sign its own superstar.

Now, I'm not putting Dallas out there as a likely destination for James, Wade and co., but the Dampier factor sure makes it interesting.

But here's where it gets a little sticky.

More than any other player in sports, Erick Dampier defines the phenomenon known as the "contract year."

In 2003-04, Dampier was playing for the Golden State Warriors and entering the last year of his contract. He put up a career high 12.3 points per game and 12 rebounds per game on a then-career high 53.5 percent from the field.

His play that year made him one of the most sought-after free agents that summer, finally landing with Dallas with a seven-year $73 million contract.

Since then he's shown flashes of brilliance and been a serviceable center. But you would like more from a center who makes that much money, especially when you know he's capable of it when properly motivated.

Which brings us to this year, another contract year for Erick Dampier.

And, what do you know, he's been a machine this year, shooting a career-high 65 percent from the field (good for 2nd in the NBA), and averaging 2.22 blocks per game (6th in the NBA).

Last Tuesday against Houston, Dampier took advantage of the Rockets' lack of size, and submitted a 14 point (on 6-6 from the field, 2-2 from the line), 20 rebound, three block performance.

Sounds like Dampier's back in contract year mode.

Now here's where things get a little sticky for the Mavericks. With Drew Gooden's underwhelming start, combined with Damp's success, especially on the defensive end, what if the Mavs have to play him more than they were planning to, especially in a Western Conference where a single win can be the difference between a three-seed and a six-seed?

Before the season, it was made pretty clear that Rick Carlisle and GM Donnie Nelson were going to keep a pretty close eye on Dampier, but I hardly think they'll sit him just to save on his contract, especially if the Mavs are in position to make a deep playoff run.

Now, this could cost the Mavs a shot at landing a big fish this summer (though with Josh Howard, Drew Gooden and others expiring, they could still land someone, though not necessarily a top-tier guy), but stick this one in your thought-box and turn it over a bit:

What if the Mavs could get two contract years from Erick Dampier?

It's pretty clear that the window for the Mavs are currently constructed is going to be about two years. Jason Kidd probably has two seasons left where he can be effective as a starter, Dirk maybe three, and the Mavs only have three players under contract for 2011-12, Kidd, Marion and Carroll, adding up to a little less than $20 million.

For a long time, the holes in the Mavericks' lineup have been at center and shooting guard. Well, with Dampier playing motivated, the center position might be okay for the next two seasons.

At shooting guard, there's Joe Johnson (my secret hope for the summer of 2010), and the Mavericks have about $14 million in expiring deals this summer with Howard and Gooden to chase him with.

A lineup of Kidd, Johnson, Marion, Dirk and a motivated Dampier (for the second year in a row, because his contract is definitely done after the 10-11 season) isn't too shabby going into next year.

Dampier has been pretty reliable when it comes to staying healthy (he's only missed 17 games in his 13-year career), and since he's not particularly athletic, his game shouldn't decline too much.

Sure, I know many a fan has had their hopes crushed by counting on a player's motivation to help the team, but the possibility of getting two seasons of a motivated Dampier is reason enough to get optimistic.

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Dallas Mavericks Move On Without Josh Howard

Damian Jackson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:39:53 -0500

Dallas Mavericks fans anticipated what the addition of Shawn Marion would look like in the starting lineup. More importantly, they wanted to see how Marion and Josh Howard played next to one another with Jason Kidd running the show.

Preseason basketball came and went without the two touching the court together. Five games into the regular season, Marion was in uniform and Howard in street clothes.

Finally, less than 24 hours from a home game against the Toronto Raptors, the news broke that Howard would make his much-awaited season debut from offseason ankle surgery.

The team looked revived, hustling and running on its way to a dominating victory over the Raptors, 129-101. Howard helped the Mavericks to another win against the visiting Houston Rockets. However, in just his third game back, Howard left the floor in San Antonio after 19 minutes due to an obvious limp. He did not return.

Howard has since been labeled as "out indefinitely," which has become common in Dallas. The Mavericks must move on without their arguably second-best scoring option.

Where do they look to fill the role Howard's absence presents?

Dallas has several players to pick up the slack, and that's exactly what they will have to do. Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry, Jose Barea, Quinton Ross, and possibly rookie Roddy Beaubois will get time at the two guard spot.

Terry plays second fiddle to Dirk Nowitzki more often than not. The JET found his shooting touch recently and it couldn't have come at a better time. Terry's defense improved from last season and he's hitting the gaps with more efficiency.

Barea gives Jason Kidd rest as the backup point guard, but also plays alongside Kidd and Terry at times. His increased confidence only benefits the team. Barea excels when offensively aggressive and even more dangerous when he's finding open teammates.

Ross joined the club over the summer to be a defensive ace. He and Marion keep the team accountable on that end of the floor. Ross' defensive awareness makes opposing shooting guards work hard for every shot. If he can continue to hit jumpers on the weak side, his value simply improves.

At last, Rodrigue Beaubois. The rookie point guard possesses immense amounts of talent combined with his dynamic athletic ability. When given minutes, mistakes happen, but the upside has looked brilliant. Beaubois darts up and down the court with amazing speed and owns a 40" vertical leap. His 6'10" wingspan makes him a viable defensive threat and steal machine. Once RB3 receives consistent minutes in this league, he will produce.

So as the Mavericks move along with Josh Howard, his teammates seek to deliver in his absence.

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