Bah. Bah, I tell you. Coaches don’t sideline players who can contribute. They sideline bloated old players who can’t play defense or contribute points when necessary. If the coach wants him out, he’s out. It’s in the coach’s best interest to win, so he will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal.

Is there a trade out there? Possibly. It seems hard to believe that the Mavs could get anyone of any value for Stack, but stupid trades have been made before (Lakers DID manage to get Gasol for nothing, remember!). What would it benefit the Mavericks to buy out Stack’s contract? At least now he’s on the team, and can be reactivated for any game if someone gets injured.

If a trade can be made, make it. He’s not doing much here, and he may fetch a little something from a possible contender. But do it soon. No sense in keeping an unhappy player on the roster. More than anything, this team needs a solid dose of unity.

Stay tuned.

Another opportunity bites the dust. How did Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson manage to spend so much energy and money getting Jason Kidd to Dallas and fail so miserably to shop Josh Howard? It can’t be THAT hard to trade him. He’s still pretty talented.

Sure, another trade could go down during the summer. That is not an impossibility. But Artest for Howard made the most sense. Dallas would have gained a confident defender and scorer who would have fit the need here nicely. Instead, Houston just became a much tougher team. The triple threat of Yao Ming, Ron Artest, and TMac launches Houston backinto elite Western status. That’s not including Shane Battier or Rafer Alston.

So what’s left for Dallas? Is there even a shot at Josh Smith? Shaun Marion? Anyone? I know a LOT of Dallas fans who will be sorely disappointed if Josh Howard is still on this team in November.

As you know, the Seattle Supersonics are moving to OKC. They will NOT keep the Supersonics name or colors, in hopes that another team will move to Seattle once a new and updated arena is built.

Here are some teams you might see moving to Seattle:

Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets or the Sacramento Kings.

I don’t think my friend is going to suddenly become an OKC fan and betray his Mavericks (he could shock me though). Since he’s apparently too busy, I thought it would be fun though to come up with some team name and color possibilities. Some of these ideas were borrowed from other sites and articles***

Option one for colors: crimson red and white with burnt orange accent. You get a mix of OU and OSU.
You could call them the OKC Soonerboys. Or the Clay Bennett Bandits. How about the OKC “Semi Sonics”? Perhaps the OKC “CashCows”?

How about using the state bird as the logo and name the OKC scissor tailed fly catchers. Hmm.. Then again, they could honor the #1 coach in Oklahoma and call the team “The OKC Stoops.” Doesn’t quite fit..

The state flower as team name? The OKC Mistletoes? The teams colors could be Green and Red….although a mistletoe is actually a parasite that feeds and sucks the life out of trees. Kind of like what Clay Bennett did to Seattle. Huh. Would be fitting.

Speaking of Seattle, they could pay their respects and call them the “OKC Starbucks” and the team colors could be green and white. I read some where that Clay Bennett is actually leaning toward “The Thunder” or “The Barons.” The colors would have to be blue, black, and silver if they were the Thunder. Kinda standard.

How about the “OKC Big City Wannabes”? I’ve also read several suggestions in support of “OKC Tornados.” What about the “OKC Outlaws”? There are so many possibilities.

What do you think the team colors and name should be?

To allay your concerns, all other reports including quotes from Dallas Mavericks front office indicate that Gerald Green is a Dallas Maverick. Don’t worry about San Antonio. They have a good chance of picking up Corety Magette. Gerald Green isn’t even on their radar.

Example. #2 draft pick Michael Beasley was injured during his first practice with the Miami Heat. All we heard up front was that he took an elbow to the chest and went to the hospital? Do what?

PR nightmare for Beasley and the Miami Heat. With rumors swirling that Pat Riley didn’t like Beasley as a fit for his team, the Heat have some BS to navigate too.

But on top of the embarrassing trip to the hospital, Beasley “wrote” a blog post relating his side of the story. Except, he uses the terminology of a PR guy trying too hard to sound good.

“By that time the very slight fracture will have healed.” Very slight? Really? When was the last time a jock used the term “very slight”? That’s hidden PR guy overdoing it on the downplaying of the injury.

“Freak thing. But no worries Heat fans, it’s no big deal.” Really? Michael Beasley says “no worries, Heat fans”? Does any athlete talk like that? I don’t think so. This whole post was written by someone else. So why not release it as a statement to the press from the trainer or coach? Why mask it so much by disguising it as an informal blog post from the athlete itself? Simple. This could have meant months or years of a bad reputation. Some PR guy had the insight to tell them that they need to nip this in the bud immediately, and that the best way to diffuse the situation was to have it come from the horse’s mouth.

The concept of the PR guy/girl’s move is sound. The execution comes off as forced and fake. Kudos for the insight. Thumbs down on the blog. Write your own response, or publish it threw another medium.

There is speculation that Dallas and New Jersey will try to work out a sign and trade apparently this benefits both teams…why you ask? Well Diop has already made it clear he wants to be in Dallas sign and trade benefits new jersey because they will get something back and it benefits the Mavericks because they wouldn’t have to use the MLE on Diop instead they could use it to sign a free agent….Maggette and Posey seem to be high on the Mavericks wish list…will this happen I will be thoroughly surprised if either of those guys sign with Dallas..Posey will stay put with the Celtics and Maggette is going to sign with the Spurs but that’s just my gut.

Bonzi Wells he could be some one the Mavs could lure with the MLE. And then there is Ron Artest the Kings could just release Artest and the Mavs could try to pick him up with the MLE (which I seriously doubt would happen). But this could definitely happen and man if Dallas and Sacramento would go for it would be real nice for both teams Carlisle says he has a good relationship with Artest and I am pretty sure the Kings are ready to be done with Artest…Cuban and Donnie should really look at this scenario.

Then there is Josh Howard and the pot smoking and him leaving a skunky taste in the Mavs mouths. But trading Howard would almost be doing it just to shake things up…I don’t know how you would structure a deal like this but Lamar Odom for Howard or Mike Miller for Howard… but I’d rather keep Howard. So in my GM fantasy world (where the numbers would actually work) this would be the Mavs team I would put together.

Starting 5
Point Guard- Jason Kidd
Shooting Guard- Ron Artest
Small forward – Josh Howard (if traded, Lamar Odom or Mike Miller)
Power Forward - Dirk Nowitzki
Center- Diop

Bench
Point Guards- Tyron Lue and JJ Barea
Shooting Guards – Gerald Green and Stackhouse
Small Forwards – Devean George and Bonzi Wells
Power Forward – Brandon Bass
Center – Dampier

Developmental Players
Shan Foster, Reyshawn Terry, and Atoine Wright

Coaching Staff
Head Coach – Rick Carlisle
Assistants- Paul Westphal, Dwayne Casey, Terry Scotts and Mario Ellie

Dallas will be Green’s fourth team in as many years. He was drafted by the Celtics in 2005. He was then traded to Minnesota in the Kevin Garnett deal. Then he was sent to Houston, where he played one game before being released.

According to his agent, Green is hungry to perform well and earn his time on the court. He better be. With all the old men likely limping up and down the court for Dallas, they need some more youth to keep the team from flatlining.

I’ve never seen him play, so I can’t offer any insight on just how promising this acquisition could be. But Gerald Green has agreed to a one year deal for the minimum pay. He has one shot to prove himself.

Mark Cuban isn’t an idiot, despite what some of you have said over the past few months. Jason Kidd frees up a lot of salary cap in the next two years, positioning the Mavericks to make a play for some serious talent. Devin Harris’ contract locked them into a long-term gig, and I’m betting the Mavs have their sights set on one or two players they know will be available around 2010 or 2011. Gerald Green’s one year contract allows the Mavericks to maintain their loose and flexible future stance. If he doesn’t perform, well, he filled a necessary slot for one year. If he does perform, well, he could potentially be the third cog in the Dallas wheel.

Answer: No. It was obviously not worth the lost draft pick if nothing else. Devin will be an excellent 2nd tier point guard in the league as he perfects his slash to the basket. He’s not a team leader or a playmaker, though, and that’s what Avery Johnson and Mark Cuban realized. Harris needs to be led, and the Mavs can’t afford to not have a leader at point.

Jason Kidd is still obviously not the right man for the job. And to lose Diop in the deal was the final blow. But there were rumors that he would return over the summer, and now he’s back. The only problem is, he shouldn’t have left in the first place. Now that Dallas is stuck with Kidd and Kidd’s salary, regaining Diop uses up the only mid-level exception the Mavs have, and their team development may well stop here.

Make no mistake about it. Mavs fans are relieved to have Diop back. He brings energy and hustle to a position too often bogged down by slow, unmotivated, and overpaid centers. Erick Dampier is one of a series of bad center choices Dallas has made since the great Sam Donaldson so many years ago.

DeSagana Diop is not a complete center. He does not have all the tools. But he has most of what Dampier lacks, and for that reason alone, he is a breath of fresh air. He is shot blocking, rebounding, fast break hustle. He could also be a serious offensive threat given the right coach at the right time.

Diop is a fan favorite, and he will help Mavs fans enjoy watching another season. Let’s hope it’s enough.

Jason Kidd ($19.7 million)
Dirk Nowitzki ($16.3 million)
Erick Dampier ($10.6 million)
Josh Howard ($9.5 million)
Jason Terry ($8.9 million)
Jerry Stackhouse ($6.75 million)
Devean George ($2.3 million)
Eddie Jones ($1.8 million)
Antoine Wright ($1.6 million)
Brandon Bass ($770k)
Malik Allen ($770k)
Juwan Howard ($761k)
JJ Barea ($687k)
Jamaal Magloire ($231k)
Tyronn Lue ($199k)

Jason Kidd is seriously over paid. Based on salaries around the league, he’s worth $7 million tops. Dirk is probably paid fairly. Erick Dampier should have to forfeit $8 million dollars just for being a colossal disappointment. Josh Howard and Jason Terry are both making a couple million more than they deserve. Stackhouse should be around the $1.5-2 million mark, so cut his salary by 4 million+.

Two players are definitely underpaid: Tyronn Lue and Brandon Bass. You can expect Bass to collect when his contract comes up for renegotiation. Lue will make a million or more somewhere.

Everyone else is probably where they deserve to be. Obviously, you can’t look at player performance and just wave a magic wand to make things equitable. Players get more than they earn often enough.

Makes you wonder who will still be here at the beginning of the ‘08 season. Then again, based on the sparkling record the Mavericks’ front office has with trades and drafts, we’ll probably see the same mess next year.