Lamar Odom Parting Ways with Mavericks Proves Dallas' Offseason Was Huge Failure

The Dallas Mavericks' tumultuous offseason cannot be summed up with a better example than the departure of Lamar Odom—their marquee acquisition—from the team on Monday.

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the organization reached an agreement with Odom to immediately excuse him from the team without officially releasing him or buying him out of his contract.

Dallas is currently battling for one of the final remaining playoff seeds in the Western Conference and has struggled all year. They do not look capable of defending their championship and many of their post-lockout maneuvers can be attributed to this.

Let’s take a look at some other moves the Mavs made during the offseason and how it’s affecting them now.

Tyson Chandler Traded to New York Knicks

Chandler was the unquestionable defensive leader on the roster in 2010-11 and a major reason the team was able to win the Finals.

However, Dallas did not want to invest big bucks into this type of player and opted to ship him to NYC, as part of a sign-and-trade, in exchange for an $8.9 million trade exception and throw-in pieces.

The Mavs used that exception to acquire Odom and that turned out to be a complete waste.

J.J. Barea Signs with Minnesota Timberwolves

Barea was clutch off the bench during last year’s playoff run. He averaged 8.9 points, 3.4 assists and 1.9 rebounds over that stretch and had some truly impressive games.

In the Finals-clinching game against Miami, Barea put up 17 points, dished five assists and grabbed two rebounds in 25 minutes.

The Mavs have been unable to replicate type of instant offense off the bench and Delonte West isn’t the same type of player.

DeShawn Stevenson Signs with New Jersey Nets

Stevenson started 18-of-21 games during the Finals march and most of his impact did not show up in the box score.

He was the defensive stopper most often assigned to the opposition’s best player and he did a great job of locking his man down.

If Stevenson was not present, it’s unlikely LeBron James would have had such a poor performance in the championship series.

Mavericks Sign Vince Carter

Carter simply isn’t the same player he once was and is averaging just 9.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 2.2 APG in 24.8 MPG. Besides the assists, those are all career lows and Vinsanity is, without a doubt, past his prime.

He’s just another old, slow and unmotivated man on a team full of them.

Dallas needs to hope the free agents during the summer of 2012 are kind to them, or the franchise is quickly going to become irrelevant and have no shot at contending for another ring.