MVN - Most Valuable Network

Welcome back ‘Gana, and hello Gerald

As was reported yesterday, DeSagana Diop reached a verbal agreement with the Mavericks on a five-year contract worth the full midlevel exception, a move that should help shore up the interior defense.  This deal is defenitely better from Diop’s perspective (he cashed in by headlining a relatively weak class of free agent big men), but I’m not saying that Dallas overpaid to get him, unlike haters like ESPN’s John Hollinger.

At only 26, he’s still on his way up, and he’s already been to the Finals with most of this team.  He should usurp Erick Dampier’s starting spot and hopefully be a 20-to-25 minutes per game player.  I favor Damp’s strength and somewhat-better offensive ability over ‘Gana, but it looks like the team views Diop as “the guy” and wants him to separate himself in camp.  Hopefully he’ll take after his counterpart and his scoring numbers will also jump with him playing alongside Jason Kidd.  After signing this deal, there’s no reason why Diop shouldn’t come back to Dallas motivated and ready to prove himself.

Could the Mavericks have gambled by using the MLE on someone like a Corey Maggette and later pulling out a sign-and-trade to bring back Diop?  In an ideal world, yes.  I’m sure the Mavs at least inquired about Maggette before deciding to give all of the midlevel to ‘Gana.  But young seven footers that can play defense and don’t cause any problems in the locker room can sometimes be hard to come by, and that’s why teams are willing to pay a premium to get ‘em. If you’re having trouble remembering what Diop brings to the table, maybe this will jog your memory.

In other Mavs free agency news, Gerald Green made it official today by inking his new one-year deal with Dallas.  I guess because he was released by the Rockets before the end of last season and only signed a one-year deal for the minimum, he didn’t have to wait until July 9 to put pen to paper.  Green is expected to be on the Mavs’ summer league roster and will have to earn himself a roster spot for next season by proving that he’s got his head on straight.  The signing involves little to no risk from the Mavericks’ perspective, and with the potential addition of Foster on the roster as well, there’s a chance Dallas could have two up-and-coming Michael Finleys on their hands.

With the MLE now gone, the Mavericks have only two more places from which to pick up some players: either through a trade or via the summer league.  Once Diop signs next week, the roster will have ten spots accounted for, leaving five for the taking.  That means they aren’t done yet, and neither am I.  Stay tuned…

EDIT: Brush up on your español, because Jeff Caplan found a Puerto Rican news outlet that is reporting that the Mavericks have agreed to a two-year deal including an option for a third year with restricted free agent (and Northeastern alumnus) J.J. Barea.  Nothing from the team yet on this, but I suspect the report is pretty reliable.  I like Barea as our third point guard behind Kidd and Jason Terry.

So, assuming Diop and Barea both sign next week, the Mavericks will officially have 11 men on the 15-man roster.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 3:11 pm and is filed under DeSagana Diop, Gerald Green, Dallas Mavericks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.