Dallas Texas: Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers Take Biggest Hit in Free Agency

2011 brought great things to Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Championship, and just months later, the Texas Rangers made their second straight World Series appearance.

For the first time in the last 50 years, the Dallas Cowboys are not the center of sports talk in the city. The other Dallas teams seemed to be picking up the slack and are becoming the faces of the city.

Unfortunately, many months later, a lot has changed, and things are looking grim.

Dallas Mavericks

There is a strong chance that the Dallas Mavericks will lose Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson in the next 10 days.

Each of these players provide a unique spark to a Mavericks team that has been struggling in recent years with poor defense, being soft and having a tendency to bow away when adversity came.

Tyson brought an incredible willpower and focus on defense, JJ was a key spark throughout the playoffs, Butler showed the Mavericks how lethal the team could be with an additional pure scorer and Stevenson, in typical Stevenson fashion, continued to remind his teammates that he was not going to take “no” for an answer.

These four players will be sorely missed.

The ultimate hope is that Dallas is able to sign Chandler and Barea, as it is clear that Butler and Stevenson are not as integral to the Maverick’s success.

The greatest disappointment in all this is that some or all of these players are being heavily courted by the LA Lakers, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and other Maverick rivals.

Regarding the ultimate Maverick, Dirk Nowitzki, let’s see if Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson can pull off a trade and land a Dwight Howard, Chris Paul or Deron Williams.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers are in a peculiar position these days because, although they have made back-to-back World Series appearances, money is still an issue, and management is more conservative than ever.

For all practical purposes, it seems like CJ Wilson is on his way out of town, which would leave the Rangers with Colby Lewis as their lead horse. Additionally, it is unknown where CJ is heading, and if he lands with a rival, it would be a double-whammy for the Rangers.

The other part of the puzzle is the opportunity to get Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols.

It is clear that the Rangers are not going for Pujols, and for all practical purposes, he has just signed with the Los Angeles Angels, another rival of the Rangers.

But Fielder is a different story, and he should absolutely be on the Rangers’ radar. Swapping Mitch Moreland with Prince Fielder will make the Rangers even more formidable. The Rangers must counteract the move by the Angels and grab Prince Fielder.

In a matter of months, fans in Dallas have been on an emotional roller coaster. Hopefully, it will not continue with a brutal offseason, losing a handful of players from both teams.