If the Mavs Are Serious, Moves Must Be Made Now!

The Mavericks are six games into their 2008-09 season, and it is already becoming ever so obvious that this team is done. 

I was one of the believers, thinking to myself that with Rick Carlisle taking over as head coach, the Mavs could turn things around with this group of guys and give it one more shot.  After watching the first six games, that is not possible. 

While I still think that Rick Carlisle is a very good coach to have for this team, it's impossible to bake a cake that tastes good with stale ingredients. 

There are four players that the Mavs should keep, the rest should be completely on the market.  Dirk Nowitzki, Brandon Bass, Gerald Green, and Jason Kidd should not be moved unless something special comes along.  They are a good balance of talented veterans, with talented youngsters awaiting their prime. 

Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Antoine Wright, Desagana Diop, and Eric Dampier should be shopped around to every single team right now to see what the Mavs could get for them.  There are simply too many scars, and not enough chemistry with this group of guys to assemble a champion. 

There are three potential roster moves out there that the Mavs should, at the very least, try to get done.

SIGN ANTONIO MCDYESS

He is now a free agent, and the position the Mavs are lacking in the most is inside.  Especially when it comes to having two centers in Diop and Dampier who can't even catch the ball, or look like they are going to fall over while they have the ball in their hands.  There are about 6-10 blown baskets a game for the Mavericks because of that. 

Antonio Mcdyess would solve this problem.  No, he's not going to come in and put up huge numbers.  However, while playing off of Nowitzki, and having Kidd toss him the ball, he could easily put up 12 points and eight rebounds a game. 

He could also bring a little bit of defensive savvy down low, to a team that has lacked that consistently for decades.  There is no reason in the world that the Mavs should not make a run at Mcdyess. 

ATTEMPT ONE OF TWO TRADES:

Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh will become a free agent after the 2010 season.  It will be the same time as other superstars such as Lebron and Dirk. 

Toronto is not going to be able to keep him there unless a miracle happens.  They know this, and this could be a chance for them to help buffer that inevitable pain. 

The Mavs could trade Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Brandon Bass, draft picks and cash for Chris Bosh, Jason Kapono, and Roko Ukic. 

Howard would finally get the chance to be the No. 1 guy on a team in Toronto, Terry could continue to play his scoring role as a Raptor, and Bass is great young talent who is starting to blossom into a very good player.  The future draft picks would also allow the Raptors to continue to build.  The money in the contracts work for this trade to go through. 

If the Raptors would baulk at this, the Mavs have plenty of other options to throw in, either way they should try.  Having a front court of Chris Bosh and Dirk would be just plain devastating.  Multiply that by about 5 when you have Jason Kidd running the point, and Gerald Green at the wing. 

On a sidenote, Chris Bosh is from the North Texas area, so he would have no problem playing in Dallas.

Gerald Wallace

If the Chris Bosh trade wouldn't go through, a more likely one would be to trade for Gerald Wallace.  You could literally do the Josh Howard for Gerald Wallace trade straight up and the money would work. 

The Bobcats are shopping Wallace, and the Mavs have to be shopping Howard.  They are very similar players, with just a few differences. 

Wallace is a couple years younger, and possesses a little more athleticism.  Wallace is a player who does most of his damage from the mid-post on the left block, or in transition.  He is also a very good defender who averages 2.2 steals a game.  He would thrive in Carlisle's offense in Dallas. 

The Bobcats would be interested because Howard has a lot of playoff experience, and can shoot the ball slightly better than Wallace can at this point.

Those are just a few options that the Dallas Mavericks should seriously explore.  The team they have right now has showed that it simply cannot get it done together. 

There are still players on this team, such as Dirk and Kidd, who can lead a team to a championship.  They just need a different surrounding cast of players around them. 

It is sickening to watch a great player like Dirk, waste away his career because he can't get the right group of guys around him.