Dallas is probably in the lottery for the last time in a while (baring
trades). The co-GM's are:
Lawrence Wang and
Patricia Bender .
With the 12th pick, Dallas selects:
Mario Bennett, PF, 6-9, Arizona State
========================================================================
I. Team Needs/Summary
After a terrible season last year, the Mavs finally found the way up and
took their first steps toward the road to the championship.
Player and position reviews:
----
Point Guard
Starter: Jason Kidd
Backups: Scott Brooks
Can fill in if needed: Lucious Harris and Jim Jackson
Jason Kidd (Rookie)
One of the Mavs 3 cornerstones and a strong candidate for Rookie of the
Year. Jason revitalized the whole team. His stats probably won't blow
many people away, but his "intangibles" are amazing. Several times I
would start to get down on him for a blown play or mistake, but I'd
stop myself and say, "Hey, what am I doing expecting such a high
performance out of him, he's only supposed to be a junior in college!"
It was his strong performances that had me expecting such things in
the first place. Jason was also the 4th youngest player in the league
this season. His stats were impressive in several areas. In the
league he ranked 7th in steals (1.91 per game), tied for 9th in assists
(7.7), lead the point guards in rebounding, and lead the league with
4 triple-doubles (Chris Webber (Was) was second with 3). Jason's
obvious weakness this season was his poor shooting, but he stepped up
his offense in Jackson's absence and is expected to work on his shooting
and improve over the summer (Kidd is a gym rat). Obviously, Jason has
the starting position locked up.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
94-95 79 33.8 330 858 .385 70 257 .272 192 275 .698 11.7
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
94-95 607 7.7 151 1.9 250 3.2 24 0.3 16.6 152 1.9 430 5.4
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
94-95 2668 922 2 0 0 146
Scott Brooks (7th year)
Provides a solid back up to Kidd. He gives what the Mavs were missing
in the first half of the season - a player to maintain the energy
level when Kidd goes out. Has a nice 3-1 assist to turnover ratio.
He has two years left on his contract (I believe) and will be Jason's
backup next season.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 73 16.8 142 289 .491 23 61 .377 74 85 .871 5.2 (w Hou)
94-95 29 6.9 36 66 .545 8 17 .471 19 22 .864 3.4 (w Hou)
94-95 31 20.1 91 210 .433 17 52 .327 46 58 .793 7.9 (w Dal)
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 149 2.0 51 0.7 55 0.8 2 0.0 6.2 10 0.1 102 1.4 (w Hou)
94-95 22 0.8 8 0.3 14 0.5 2 0.1 3.1 1 0.0 14 0.5 (w Hou)
94-95 94 3.0 26 0.8 33 1.1 3 0.1 8.1 13 0.4 53 1.7 (w Dal)
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 1225 381 1 0 0 98 (w Hou)
94-95 200 99 0 0 0 17 (w Hou)
94-95 622 245 0 0 0 42 (w Dal)
----
Shooting Guard
Starter: Jim Jackson
Backups: Lucious Harris and Tony Dumas
Can fill in if needed: George McCloud
Jim Jackson (3rd year - but only 28 games in 92-93)
One of the 3 cornerstones for the Mavs and the team captain.
Also part of the one-two scoring punch from last season. Jimmy
would have ranked 5th in the league for scoring average, but he
did not qualify due to missing the last 31 games of the season
with a severe sprained ankle. He had a team record tying high of
50 points in a game. Jim out-scored the opposing shooting guards
by an average of 10 points and was only out-scored by the opposing
guard in a handful of games. His improvement between this season
and last was dramatic and placed him among the top 5 shooting guards
in the league. Jim has a lot of upper body strength and is great at
posting up. He also has a great work ethic and will improve
anywhere he feels needs improvement over the summer. Needless to
say, he has the starting position all locked up and will command
30+ minutes per game.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 82 37.4 637 1432 .445 17 60 .283 285 347 .821 19.2
94-95 51 38.9 484 1026 .472 35 110 .318 306 380 .805 25.7
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 374 4.6 87 1.1 334 4.1 25 0.3 16.8 169 2.1 388 4.7
94-95 191 3.7 28 0.5 160 3.1 12 0.2 21.2 120 2.4 260 5.1
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 3066 1576 2 0 0 161
94-95 1982 1309 1 0 0 92
Lucious Harris (2nd year)
Stepped up his game a level in Jackson's absence and ruined Motta's
original plan of giving Tony Dumas more minutes in Jackson's
absence. This season has shown a lot of promise for Lucious. He
had several games in Jackson absence where his play and shooting
kept the Mavs in the game. As a starter, Lucious averaged 14.1 points,
0.8 steals, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. His play at the end of
the year should have locked up that backup shooting guard position
for next year. If he keeps improving I may be able to eventually
forget that Buckner passed on Nick Van Exel to select Harris.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 77 15.1 162 385 .421 7 33 .212 87 119 .731 5.4
94-95 79 21.5 280 610 .459 55 142 .387 136 170 .800 9.5
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 106 1.4 49 0.6 78 1.0 10 0.1 5.7 45 0.6 157 2.0
94-95 132 1.7 58 0.7 77 1.0 14 0.2 9.8 85 1.1 220 2.8
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 1165 418 0 0 0 117
94-95 1695 751 0 0 0 105
Tony Dumas (Rookie)
What Tony does in the off season will decide his future in the NBA.
This season, he was Motta's whipping boy (Motta has to have someone
to pick on - and it's usually a rookie). Has played well in the
last several games, but has been non-existent for most of the season.
Did not get much playing time (and did not earn any) until the end
of the season. His practice habits were questioned at the start of
the season. Hopefully he is one of the several players staying in
Dallas to work out in the summer. But, Director of Player Personnel
Keith Grant does still believe that Tony will work out and that he
was just hindered by a weak college program where he could just get
by on talent alone. Tony has 3 years left on his contract and will
be on the bench somewhere next season - how far down on the bench
will be up to Tony. If he bulks up some in the off season, he can
fill in some as backup small forward. He was not (as the Mavs had
originally hoped for) strong enough to do so this season.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
94-95 58 10.6 96 250 .384 22 73 .301 50 77 .649 4.6
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
94-95 57 1.0 13 0.2 50 0.9 4 0.1 2.8 32 0.6 62 1.1
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
94-95 613 264 0 0 1 78
----
Small Forward
Starter: Jamal Mashburn
Backups: George McCloud
Can fill in if needed: Doug Smith, Lucious Harris, Jim Jackson, and
Tony Dumas
Jamal Mashburn (2nd year)
One of the 3 cornerstones and the main offensive threat. As expected,
Jamal thrived in Motta's small forward oriented offense. He officially
ranked 5th in the league in scoring. His excellent off-season program
from last summer reaped great benefits as he greatly increased his
upper body strength. Mark Aguirre was also around last summer to
teach Jamal the tricks of posting up. Again Jamal benefited as his
inside-out game became lethal and Jamal learned how to handle the
double-teams better without turning the ball over as much (he still
turned the ball over a lot, but that was more from sloppy passes to
others and occasional butter fingers than the double-teams). Jamal
set the Mavs single game record with 50 points (and it was against
Scottie Pippen; Jim tied the record a week later). From his first
season, he increased his field goal percentage, his free throw
percentage, his 3-point percentage, and his assists. His weaknesses
have been sited as defense and rebounding. The rebounding is not
much of a problem as the Mavs were second in the league in rebounding
difference and the main rebounders, Popeye and Lorenzo, actually
told Jamal, when he tried focusing on getting more boards, to stay
out of the way and let them take care of the boards. The defense can
use some work, though. Keep in mind that he was the 11th youngest
player in the league this season. He will again spend the summer in
Dallas working with strength and conditioning coach Bob King. Jamal
obviously has the starting small forward position locked up and will
command the majority of the minutes there.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 79 36.7 561 1382 .406 85 299 .284 306 438 .699 19.2
94-95 80 37.2 683 1566 .436 113 344 .328 447 605 .739 24.1
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 266 3.4 89 1.1 245 3.1 14 0.2 14.3 107 1.4 353 4.5
94-95 298 3.7 82 1.0 235 2.9 8 0.1 18.8 116 1.4 331 4.1
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 2896 1513 0 1 1 205
94-95 2980 1926 1 0 0 190
George McCloud (5th year)
Hey, look what we found! Great pick up from the CBA. Came in on
two 10-day contracts and made a huge impression. He seems to have
overcome the problems and loss of desire for the game that labeled
him a flop in Indiana (injuries and both parents died in a short time
span). George came in and provided one of the things we were sorely
lacking - a good backup for Mashburn. George started off on fire with
the Mavs making 18 of his first 25 shots and 21 of his first 23 free
throws. He did cool down some, but was still impressive and helped
out averaging 9.6 points in 19.1 minutes. He will be an unrestricted
free agent, but Motta has publicly said he wants George back and the
Mavs are going to try to do everything they can to keep him. George
also told the Mavs that they will have first shot at him as he
believes strongly in team loyalty. The Mavs should be able to keep
him unless some team with a lot of money to throw around (and there
will be a few especially with the anemic free agency market this
year) makes an offer that the Mavs just can't match.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
94-95 42 19.1 144 328 .439 34 89 .382 80 96 .833 9.6
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
94-95 53 1.3 23 0.5 40 1.0 9 0.2 9.7 82 2.0 147 3.5
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
94-95 802 402 0 0 0 71
----
Power Forward
Starter: Popeye Jones
Backups: Terry Davis, Roy Tarpley, Doug Smith
Can fill in if needed: Donald Hodge and Lorenzo Williams
Popeye Jones (2nd year)
Our surprise find of last year had a good summer and developed an out-
side shot. Popeye was 10th in the league in rebounding and in the
top 3 in offensive boards. And much to Motta's surprise, Popeye
had developed a nice 15 to 18 foot jumper and was able to make his
defender pay for cheating off of him to double-team Jackson or Mashburn.
Popeye is one of those players who do all the dirty work and play
all out all the time. He is also spending the summer in Dallas working
with Bob King. Popeye started almost all (all?) the games he played,
but shared minutes with Roy Tarpley. If his summer program continues
to work well and his improvement continues, he will have the starting
power forward position locked up.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 81 21.9 195 407 .479 0 1 .000 78 107 .729 5.8
94-95 80 29.8 372 839 .443 1 12 .083 80 124 .645 10.3
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 99 1.2 61 0.8 94 1.2 31 0.4 9.3 299 3.7 605 7.5
94-95 163 2.0 35 0.4 124 1.6 27 0.3 13.6 329 4.1 844 10.6
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 1773 468 0 0 2 246
94-95 2385 825 4 0 0 267
[Reviews of Terry Davis and Roy Tarpley listed under the center
positions as that is where they played a lot - though Tarp's
time was pretty equally divided between center and power forward.]
Doug Smith (4th year)
His contract is finally up and he can say good by to the Mavs. Bust
is the word to describe Doug. The one highlight for Doug from this
season: he blocked the ball at one end of the court and _took_it_
strong_to_the_hole_ON_SOMEONE_ at the other end of the court. The
first time in 4 years I had seen him do so. Inconsistency was his
middle name and this season I can't even recall a good offensive game.
His biggest weakness was that he never took advantage of his strength,
preferring to use finesse (thus being blocked a lot and blowing layups)
instead of power.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 79 21.3 295 678 .435 2 9 .222 106 127 .835 8.8
94-95 63 13.1 131 314 .417 1 12 .083 57 75 .760 5.1
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 119 1.5 82 1.0 93 1.2 38 0.5 7.6 114 1.4 349 4.4
94-95 44 0.7 29 0.5 37 0.6 25 0.4 4.0 43 0.7 144 2.3
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 1684 698 4 0 1 287
94-95 826 320 0 0 0 132
----
Center
Starter: Lorenzo Williams
Backups: Roy Tarpley, Donald Hodge, Terry Davis
Can fill in if needed: Doug Smith
Lorenzo Williams (3rd year)
At 6 foot 9 and a mere 200 points (Jason is 6-4 and 205), Lorenzo
was given a difficult task of going up against the NBA elite
centers night in and night out. And this former journey man performed
well and found himself a permanent home. He is one of the success
stories that people love to hear about. Since 1991 Lorenzo has
spent time with 6 NBA teams, 2 USBL teams, a GBA team, and 3 CBA
teams. This was his second year with Dallas. Lo was one of the
key ingredients to the Mavs' usual dominance on the boards, especially
on the offensive end as he was in the top 15 offensive rebounders.
He also set the team record for blocked shots in a season with 148
(old 144 by Kurt Nimphius). Although Lorenzo performed well this
season, the other centers usually took advantage of their height
and weight difference and the center position was the weakest
part of the Mavs. Lorenzo will make a nice backup center, but we
really need a stronger, more traditional center as a starter.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 34 19.9 48 102 .471 0 0 .000 12 28 .429 3.2
94-95 82 29.1 145 304 .477 0 0 .000 38 101 .376 4.0
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 23 0.7 15 0.4 21 0.6 41 1.2 7.1 92 2.7 209 6.1
94-95 124 1.5 52 0.6 105 1.3 148 1.8 10.0 286 3.5 685 8.4
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 677 108 0 0 0 87
94-95 2383 328 1 0 0 306
Roy Tarpley (6th year)
Roy missed a large chunk of the season due to injury, but did perform
well when he first came back. It has been an up-and-down season
for Tarp. He'd go a few weeks of playing great and then a few weeks
of playing very poorly. He had conflicts with Motta early in the
season and will likely be traded in the off-season, even though Motta
has said that the Mavs need a player like Tarpley to be successful.
He was hospitalized last summer and took a long time to fully
recover and regain NBA form. When he was on, you saw the Roy of
old - getting those Roy-bounds (rebounding Moses Malone style),
hitting the outside jumper, and playing decent/good D. When he was
off, you simply wanted him off the court. Roy definitely wants out
of Dallas and played this season to improve his trade value. His
16 game average of 15.1 points and 8.5 rebounds in about 20 minutes
fresh from IR helped. His next 7 game average of 4.7 points and 28.3%
FG hurt. How much are teams going to be willing to offer Roy is the
key to whether or not he'll be with Dallas next season. If he is
still here, look for Motta continue to use Roy in the same manner -
off the bench subbing for the power forward and center positions and
getting 20 to 30 minutes.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
94-95 55 24.6 292 610 .479 5 18 .278 102 122 .836 12.6
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
94-95 58 1.1 45 0.8 109 2.0 55 1.0 13.4 142 2.6 449 8.2
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
94-95 1354 691 0 0 0 155
Donald Hodge (4th year)
Mr. Wasted Space still has one year left of his contract, but the
rumors floating around sound like the Mavs might be willing to eat it
and use the salary slot on some talent. Hodge did have a few
shining moments this season, such as the game in San Antonio, but for
the most part he was ineffective on a team whose weakest spot is
center. Hodge was capable of occasionally hitting his 15-footer, but
more often fumbled the ball away and played lousy D. And what in the
world was Donald doing jacking up _14_ 3-pointers???
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 50 8.6 46 101 .455 0 0 .000 44 52 .846 2.7
94-95 54 11.7 83 204 .407 4 14 .286 39 51 .765 3.9
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 32 0.6 15 0.3 30 0.6 13 0.3 3.0 46 0.9 95 1.9
94-95 41 0.8 10 0.2 39 0.7 14 0.3 2.9 40 0.7 122 2.3
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 428 136 0 0 1 66
94-95 633 209 2 0 1 107
Terry Davis - power forward/center.
Terry received very little playing time and did not perform much in
games. For some reason Motta does not like playing him, thus the low
playing time. The best thing that could happen for Terry is to get
selected in the expansion draft (and of those left unprotect [and not
a free agent], he probably will be). Speed is not one of Terry's
strengths and that hurt him on a team that likes to run. His talent
is banging in the middle.
Year G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
93-94 15 19.1 24 59 .407 0 0 .000 8 12 .667 3.7
94-95 46 12.6 49 113 .434 0 2 .000 42 66 .636 3.0
Year AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR TR/g
93-94 6 0.4 9 0.6 5 0.3 1 0.1 5.2 30 2.0 74 4.9
94-95 10 0.2 6 0.1 30 0.7 3 0.1 3.2 63 1.4 156 3.4
Year Min Pts TC EJ FF PF
93-94 286 56 1 0 0 27
94-95 580 140 0 0 1 76
Coach
Dick Motta
What do you do when you are an old coach known for strict discipline
and a heavy hand joining a team that went a season under a dictator
who the players hated? Why you shock everyone and coach with a light
hand and take on a grandfatherly figure. Was this the same Motta
who coached the Mavs just 8 years ago and was in constant conflict
with star Mark Aguirre? I would have never had guessed it. How much
of a turn around was it for Motta: even Mark had nice things to say
about him this year and was hanging around the team! Motta did
deserve his coach of the year votes (though Harris and Fratello were
more deserving). The kids flourished under Motta's light hand and
actually enjoyed playing basketball again. And they have nothing
but praise for him. The long time fans kept waiting for the old
Motta to rear his head with a yelling match with a player or two
and see how the players responded. But the only player Motta ever
had a (publically known) conflict with was Tarpley, and the kids
were on Motta's side there. Motta also brought the inside-out
game instead of the outside-in game that Buckner used and Mashburn
flourished. And the coach known for the half court offense and
never fast pace again adjusted and allowed the players to run with
Kidd at the helm. As an added bonus, Motta loves to teach - that's
the real reason he coaches. And the youngsters have been learning
and will continue to do so.
Team Stats
Team Scoring Totals
Min FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTa PCT PTS TND AVG
Totals 19930 3227 7343 .439 386 1200 .322 1622 2210 .734 8462 108.69 103.2
Opponent 19930 3407 6981 .488 431 1179 .366 1454 1981 .734 8700 117.77 106.1
Team Rebounding Totals
AS PF ST TO BK TC EJ FF OR TR AVG
Totals 1941 1811 579 1325 347 11 0 3 1509 3942 48.1
Opponent 1991 1921 722 1228 501 28 2 3 1051 3432 41.9
Record 36 - 46 Home 19 - 22 Away 17 - 24
*note: TC does not include Ts on coaches and EJ does not include
ejections for coaches.
Needs:
The Mavs have a dire need for another front-court player. Their backcourt is
set with the Kidd at point and Jackson at the shooting guard. With Harris and
Brooks as backups, the Mavs have solid role players behind their starting
guards. With only one year behind him, the book is still out on Dumas; I
believe he has the potential to become a quality shooting guard.
The front court is where the Mavs need to work on. Mashburn is the starting
small forward and is untouchable. If the Mavs sign McCloud, there is less of
a need for a backup small forward via the draft. Jones is the starting power
forward, but there is no reliable backup. Williams has been the starting
center for the past year, and his lack of height and bulk at that position has
made it the definitive weakness for the Mavs. In order of greatest needs, the
Mavs will need a quality starting center, a power forward who can either come
off the bench or eventually supplant Jones at that position and a backup small
forward. Hopefully, the draft, the free agent market or subsequent trades will
satisfy these needs.
Summary:
The Mavs have found the way up and are going to keep on rising. You
have to love the chemistry of this team. Almost all the players
hang-out together and several of them are best of friends. Motta has
again scheduled two voluntary summer camps which were so successful
last summer. They will take place July 18-21 and September 6-9 and
Motta already has commitments from most of the players to spend at
least a month this summer in Dallas.
II. My selection (and why)
To fulfill the front court needs, I decided to draft Mario Bennett of
Arizona State.
Mario Bennett, Arizona State. At 6-9 and 225, Bennett played center
for the Sun Devils this year where they finished third in the talented
Pac-10. At the beginning of the season, he gained national
recognition at the Maui Invitational when he played Joe Smith to a
standstill and led Arizona State to an upset victory over then-top 10
team Maryland. Known mostly for his shot-blocking abilities, Bennett
showed an excellent post-up game which may not be there when he has to
compete against stronger opponents in the NBA. Bennett's shooting
range is poor, as evidenced by his 53% career free throw percentage.
His biggest asset - a tremendous leaping ability - has allowed him to
not only become an excellent shot blocker, but also a good rebounder.
In '92, Bennett suffered a devastating anterior cruciate ligament
injury to his knee, which apparently did not affect his numbers this
season, but may be a big question mark during the NBA season.
Essentially, the knocks on Bennett are his lack of strength and a poor
shooting range.
I believe that Bennett will be a welcome addition to the Mavs roster.
Though he played center in college, in the NBA, he will be playing
mostly power forward, with an occassional stint at center. In his
first year, he will be coming off the bench to relieve both Jones at
the power forward spot and Williams at center. If he plays well
enough, he may even supplant Williams at center. Personally, I don't
think he has the bulk to play starter minutes against NBA centers, but
then again I feel the same way about Williams. In a few years,
depending on his level of development, Bennett may even supplant Jones
at power forward. I don't think that will happen if Jones sustains
his current playing level. Jones finished in the top ten in rebounding
and was third in offensive boards. More importantly, he has developed
a nice 15-18 foot jumper, which lessened the double-teaming of Jackson
and Mashburn. For Bennett to evenually supplant Jones at the power
forward spot, he would have to develop a nice shooting range and be
able to sustain the transition of his post-up game from college to the
pros. More importantly, it is imperative that he bulk up so that he
can handle the power forwards and centers that he'll have to contend
with day in and day out. Judging by his comeback from a devastating
career-threatening injury such as ACL, I believe he will have the
motivation to bulk up and thrive in the NBA.
III. Others considered (in order of preference)
Kevin Garnett, Farragutt High School. A 6-11 center/power forward
with a very soft touch, Garnett recently garnered the MVP award for
the McDonald's All-Star game. He showed a good post-up game as well
as tremendous passing skills for a big man. I was most impressed with
his ball-handling skills, which were exceptional for a big man. I
would've liked to have seen him play some college ball and hone his
abilities before heading for the NBA. His most apparent weakness is
his lack of muscle, which will hinder his presence under the basket.
If he bulks up, I believe he will eventually be one of the best
players from this draft and I would've taken him if he was available.
The Mavs are a young team who can wait a few years for Garnett to
build up his frame and develop his skills.
Cherokee Parks, Duke. For a big man, Parks possesses an incredible
shooting range. He has an uncanny ability to step beyond the arc and
hit the three. Besides his shooting touch, his other main strengths
were his rebounding and defensive skills. Parks was also a good shot
blocker who uses his agility and leaping ability to alter shots. Even
though he possesses the height of a true center, Parks will get
manhandled by NBA centers unless he increases his strength. Another
weakness is his lack of a true post-up move. Regardless, I believe
that Parks will be a solid NBA player who will be in the mold of Bill
Laimbeer (w/o the attitude problem) - a good defensive center/power
forward with a deadly shooting range. He would've been my second
choice next to Garnett.
Gary Trent, Ohio. At 6-7 and 240, Trent has the strength of a power
forward trapped in a small forward's body. He possesses an excellent
post-up game and very solid rebounding skills. The only knock on him
is his lack of a shooting range. I have seen many accolades on his
work ethic and would not be too surprised if he eventually became a
solid go-to guy for an NBA team. I had him on my draft list on an
even par with Bennett. I decided to go with Bennett only because he
fit in with the Mavs' needs more nicely than Trent. There was the
possibility of drafting Trent and packaging him with Tarpley for a
power forward/center.
Alan Henderson, Indiana. During his four years at Indiana, Henderson
was a solid player for Bobby Knight's motion offense. He finished his
career as one of the top rebounders and shotblockers in Indiana
history. He will be a welcome asset on the defensive end of the ball,
as he learned good man-to-man defense from one of the best coaches in
the game. He also possesses a nice 12-16 foot shooting range. The
main knock on him is the severe knee injury he suffered during the
middle of his college career. Since then, he has played more
tentatively. If I was to draft him, I would be most concerned with
how he handles the rigors of the NBA season.
David Vaughn, Memphis. At 6-9 and 235, Vaughn has good size and
strength which has helped make him a good rebounder. Throughout his
college career, he has been plagued with several injuries - a stress
fracture in his left foot and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his
left knee. I would have preferred that he stay in school to work on
his average shooting skills, but due to the possibility of another
injury, it was probably best that he came out. I decided to stay away
from him because of his proneness to injuries.
Rashard Griffith, Wisconsin. Though he possesses the body and skills
of a solid NBA center, I have serious doubts about his motivation and
attitude. At 6-11 and 265, Griffith is a strong rebounder and good
shot-blocker. For a big man, he runs the floor pretty well. However,
while at Wisconsin, he has had problems with authority, getting into
frequent altercations with his coaches. Moreover, the biggest problem
I find with him is his selfishness, as he tends to take ill-advised
shots and does not respond well to the team concept. Though the Mavs
are in need of a quality center, I have no regrets about not taking
him with this pick and believe, as do others, that he will be the next
Benoit Benjamin.
IV. Who the team will probably take?
What will the Mavs do? I'd look for something big in the draft and
something big in exchange for Tarpley. Doug's salary slot will most
likely need to be used to sign our first draft pick, unless the new
collective bargaining agreement finally comes out and there is a
rookie cap. The Mavs may also trade a couple of their draft picks to
move up in the draft, but I haven't heard of any rookie they would
want and would be able to trade up high enough for that would be worth
trading up for. Talk has been that the two expansion clubs would
probably find more value in two lower draft picks than one at #6 or
#7. The Mavs can also trade some picks for another player. Who
knows? Right now, probably no one, not even the Mavs.
V. Other moves the team should make
George McCloud is an unrestricted free agent that the Mavs are going
to try to re-sign.Lorenzo Williams is a restricted free agent that the
Mavs will re-sign.Doug Smith is a restricted free agent that the Mavs
will not re-sign.
With the rules of the expansion draft (each team must lose one and
only one player, a team can protect up to 8 players, unrestricted free
agents are excluded, and restricted free agents become unrestricted if
they are selected), I see the Mavs protecting Jackson, Kidd, Mashburn,
Popeye, Dumas, Harris, Brooks, and Tarpley. Excluding the restricted
free agents (it would seem not to make sense to select one), that
leaves Donald Hodge and Terry Davis unprotected. Terry still has
a fairly good reputation from his first two years with Dallas and will
likely be selected.
The Mavs will have Doug Smith's salary slot of $1,950,00 to work
with towards signing a draft pick or free agent. If Terry Davis is
selected in the expansion draft, the Mavs will also have his
$1,560,000 salary slot to play with. Right now (pre-lottery drawing),
the Mavs will draft #12 and #24 (New York's). They traded their 2nd
round pick for Scott Brooks. They also have all of their own 1st and
2nd round picks from next year on; Minnesota's 1st in '96 (lottery
protected), '97 (top 6 protected), or '98; Chicago's 2nd in '96; and
New York's 1st in 97 (top 5 protected) or '98 to use as trade bait.
Roy Tarpley seems to be the only player worth something that the Mavs
would be looking to trade.
The Mavs are pretty set at the guard positions with 5 players under
contract (the usual number Motta carries). With Jackson, Harris, and
Dumas at the shooting guard, it is unlikely the Mavs will bring someone
in at that position. Jackson is an untouchable and Harris and Dumas
would bring little in trade value. Kidd is another untouchable and
Brooks also does not have to much trade value. The Mavs may decided
to bring in a 3rd point guard, but I doubt it.
The front court is where the Mavs need some help, especially at
center. For small forward, Mashburn is the starter and untouchable.
If the Mavs are able to re-sign McCloud, he will be Mashburn's
backup. Since the Mavs can not even try to re-sign him until after
July 1, the Mavs may go after a small forward in the draft or trade.
And if it looks like the Mavs are not able to retain him, they can
try the free agency market.
For power forward, Popeye Jones should have the starting position
locked up, unless he hits a 3rd year slump or the Mavs bring in
a star. I'd also say that Popeye will not be traded as he is a
key part of the team chemistry and everybody loves him - the players
hang out in his hotel room and Motta also loves his hustle. Beyond
Popeye, there are a lot of questions as what the Mavs will do at
power forward. If Tarpley stays, he'll get minutes at power
forward and center. The Mavs also hold the rights to 2nd round pick
Deon Thomas from last season. He played in Europe this year and will
probably be invited to training camp. But he'll have to try and
earn a roster spot. His rep coming out of college was as a banger
and a 5 foot shooting range.
With the talk of trading Tarpley, probably losing Terry to the
expansion draft, and eating Hodge's contract, it looks like Lorenzo
will be the only center on the roster left from this season. He
will have a spot on the team at either starting or backup center -
depending on what the Mavs do in the off-season.
To fill the Mavs front court needs, they have several options. They
could draft some. They could try the free agent market with Anthony
Mason being the jewel this season - but everyone is going to go
after him and he'll command a lot, plus with the problems he had
with Riley you have to wonder if he would fit in with the players
and coach. They could get a power forward or center in exchange
for Tarpley.
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Craig Simpson - Usenet Draft Commissioner