Dallas Mavericks Showing the NBA New Rebuilding Blueprint
In the NBA's perpetual cycle of rebuilds and roster-razings, the Dallas Mavericks stand alone.
Some teams bottom out in search of better days, hoping pre-designed atrocity yields superstar draft picks and inevitably shortens their rebuild. Other franchises meticulously sell off veterans piece by piece, stockpiling first-round selections while preparing for a more gradual rebuild. Then there are organizations that strip the roster bare, prioritizing cap space over all else as they wait for one free agent to change everything.
The Mavericks, now among the Western Conference's five best teams, have traveled down a different path entirely.
Controlled Mediocrity
Fresh off unsaddling LeBron James' Miami Heat and winning a title in 2011, the Mavericks resisted any urge to keep their core intact. They said goodbye to Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea that summer, and in the coming years, Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion would follow suit.
Owner Mark Cuban and Co. were guilty of placing premiums on cap space to that end. They have been among the most active free-agent players over the last three offseasons—each foray into the open market moderately successful at best.
Deron Williams re-signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2012. Dwight Howard chose the division rival Houston Rockets over the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and others in 2013. LeBron James returned to Cleveland and Carmelo Anthony to New York in 2014.
Misses of that caliber are enough to rattle any star-chasing franchise. Free-agency ventures and subsequent whiffs have the Lakers married to lottery purgatory, preparing for another offseason, hoping first-rate talent gravitates their way.
Not five years ago, the New York Knicks struck out on James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and friends. Their response, unlike the Lakers' now, was to invest elsewhere. They overpaid Amar'e Stoudemire, mortgaged the farm on Carmelo Anthony and brought in Chandler.
Call it Plan B.
And, well, Plan B has generated one second-round appearance and the idea that Phil Jackson will turn the perdition-pinned Knicks into a free-agency player once more.
Yet, while the Mavericks have faced similar obstacles these last few years, watching as first-rate talent eschews their overtures, they've responded differently, as Tom Ziller points out for SB Nation:
"What's changed in recent years is that the Mavericks were totally spendthrift and tried to buy their way to a championship. Cuban got religion sometime after the 2006 Finals loss to Miami and realized flexibility was more important than he thought in a league with transaction restrictions for the teams with the highest payrolls.
In the intervening years -- including the 2011 title run -- Nelson has focused more on cost-effective deals. What's notable about the way Nelson has built the current iteration of the Mavericks is how cheap it was to put together in both salary and assets surrendered. After the Rajon Rondo trade, the Mavericks' payroll stands at just about $70 million -- roughly $6 million under the luxury tax threshold.
"
Instead of tanking or employing also-ran placeholders as their fate continued to rest on free agency, the Mavericks went mediocre. Rather than panic at the first taste of failure, they took calculated risks.
Signing players like Vince Carter, Jose Calderon, Monta Ellis, Brandan Wright, Darren Collison, Chris Kaman, O.J. Mayo and others helped keep them competitive. They didn't finish under .500 once between their championship season and this one, and they made the playoffs twice. The lone time they missed out (2012-13), Dirk Nowitzki sat 29 games due to injury.
All the while, the Mavericks took steps in the right direction.
Ellis proved to be a worthy redemption prospect; he is now their leading scorer. Harris remains a rotational fixture. When they could, the Mavericks chased bargains, unearthing everyday contributors like Richard Jefferson, Jameer Nelson and Al Farouq-Aminu.
Mostly, though, the Mavericks waited, pouncing when the right opportunity came along.
This past summer they poached Chandler Parsons with an above-market contract that's paying him $14.7 million for 2014-15. They were able to pay him because 1) Nowitzki accepted a huge pay cut and 2) they didn't recklessly spend elsewhere when initial plans entered contingency.
Short-term, digestible contracts were their comfort food, which they later used as trade fodder. They turned Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin and second-round picks into a reunion with Chandler. Then they turned Wright, Nelson, Jae Crowder and a low-end first-rounder into Rajon Rondo.
Two All-Stars for lineup fillers.
Now, on paper, the Mavericks have the league's most formidable starting lineup, and an Association-best offense to go with it. And they're here without years worth of collateral damage.
Perfect Position
Seldom does an NBA team reach title contention without sacrificing seasons. The Mavericks may have sacrificed them to the extent they weren't title contenders, but they were always on the cusp of something.
Was there a little luck involved? Sure.
Luck's name is Dirk Nowitzki.
“All of it. This trade was Dirk’s trade," Cuban said of the Rondo trade during The Doug Gottlieb Show on CBS Sports Radio, per The Dallas Morning News. "Without Dirk doing what he did, we would’ve been unable to pull it all together.”
If Dirk would've demanded Kobe Bryant-type money, the Mavs wouldn't have been able to sign those three. Of course, there was also no way to know Nowitzki would be putting in 18-plus points per game on almost 47 percent shooting at 36 years old.
Plenty of franchises never have a player like Nowitzki who gives them a reason to take this route either. Think the Philadelphia 76ers go full tanker if Andrew Bynum became a healthy, transcendent talent they could build around?
For teams that do have a patented superstar, Nowitzki's patience isn't a given. Kevin Love didn't wait even longer for the Minnesota Timberwolves to assemble a contender around him. Having won a title with Dallas before, Nowitzki exuded trust Love, Anthony, James, Howard and Chris Paul all didn't with their first teams.
Still, what the Mavericks have done isn't easy. Their turnaround has been swift and painless. Most importantly, it hasn't compromised their flexibility.
Rondo, Ellis and Chandler are all slated for free agency this summer. Parsons has the option of hitting the open market again in 2016. One, two or all of them could inevitably leave.
But with Nowitzki on a below-market contract, a ton of expiring deals and an expected cap boon in 2016, the Mavericks have the requisite malleability to remain free-agency players moving forward. They, then, are the rare team that can contend now, without lacking the means to retool later.
Standing Alone
There are obvious perils and pitfalls to what the Mavericks have done, no doubt. They don't place stock in the draft anymore, and much about their approach rests on Dallas being a market free agents—incumbent or otherwise—want to play in.
At the same time, there is no such thing as a safe rebuild. The Mavericks have made theirs as safe as possible.
They never endured the drop-off the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2014-15 Miami Heat are enduring now, post-James. They were never driven to chase top draft picks the way Philadelphia is now. They never let their free-agency strikeouts and failed superstar pursuits drastically diminish the immediate product (see: Knicks and Lakers).
Their rebuild was—and continues to be—founded upon a unique blend of patience and smart investing. And the Mavericks, as a result, are exactly who they've tried to be: the rare team that has climbed in and out of contention without ever falling to, or flirting with, a point of no return.
*Salary information via HoopsHype.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
