Okay, so we missed out on DWill. I think I'm in the minority here, when I say that our roster had so many holes to fill, that maybe the $ we would have spent on DWill can now go towards multiple players and we can still be players in the big FA class next year. Blessing in disguise? Maybe...

(Following is assuming Hay is amnestied soon)

Since he's gone, that leaves three marquee FA PG's in my opinion: Nash, Dragic, and Lin in that order of preference for the Mavs.

It seems that the Knicks and Suns are nearing a sign-and-trade for Nash, which means two things: Nash will be off the market an din NY, and NY will most likely NOT match any offers towards Jeremy Lin. Since Lin spent a long visit with the Rockets yesterday, and they are most likely going to shop around Kyle Lowry, let's assume Lin signs with the Rockets and we get to see him regularly aginst our MAVS for many years to come.

That leaves Goran Dragic. A super quick, developing young PG who deserves starter minutes, and reminds a lot of basketball heads of Steve Nash. The good thing about Dragic is that he's young (26 and not near his prime) and decent sized - 6'3". The PG offers being thrown around this free agency period are driving his price up, though. By signing Dragic to a contract starting at about $8 million, the MAVS should be able to snag him up.

Dragic is a proven backup, but will need someone to help groom him into a starter. Who better than our old J-Kidd? It's the logical choice guys. I know he's old and slow, but the Knicks will not want to have two old timers as their PGs and since Kidd has bird rights here, we can max out the rest of our cap space on needed positions and sign Kidd to a 2-year $3 million salary and his 1st year salary will not count against oru cap.

So sticking with this scenario, so far....

PG - Dragic, J-Kidd, Dojo

SG - Roddy, Carter, J-Flight

SF - Marion, Jae Crowder, ?

PF - Dirk, Wright

C - Vet FA, Bernard James/Drew Gordon??

There are a few things wrong with the above depth chart.

1) Relying on Roddy to man the 2 guard spot is stressful.

2) Who is the Vet FA at the C? Wouldn't it have to be someone with good size since we don't have much anywhere else?

3) If Matrix goes down, we're pretty screwed at SF!

4) There are 13 players here. NBA active rosters allow a max of 12.

My proposal is to offer a sign-and-trade to Phoenix for their UFA Shannon Brown. Some people love him, some hate him. Regardless he's a quick, athletic 26-year-old SG who can shoot the rock and hasn't hit his prime either. Last year he averages 12ppg and shot 36% 3p in only 23mpg. If given starter's minutes, who knows? I don't think 17-19ppg is too much of a stretch.

We could offer PHX Roddy and Dojo, plus a trade exception and maybe a future 2nd rounder for Brown signed at $6m base on a 3 yr deal (he only made $3m last year). They are in a rebuild mode and getting two healthy youngsters with small contracts who haven't played that much some PT may be exactly what they're looking for. I don't think that they are going to resign Shannon Brown since they are pushing hard at Eric Gordon,and whether or not the Hornets match their offer to him doesn't change the fact that they are in a youth movement and Brown is not 20-23 years old.

This deal would alter our depth chart, shown below, freeing up some positions and only add ~ $2m to our cap (Shannon $6 - Rpddy $2.7 + Dojo $1.3).

This means out of the $17.1million we were to offer Dwill, we would have given only $10 million to gain 3 valuable roster spots: startingn point guard, backup PG (Kidd's salary not counting), and starting shooting guard. [Dragic $8 + Shannon $2 "net"].

New depth chart:

PG - Dragic, Kidd

SG - Shannon Brown, J Flight

SF - Matrix, Carter (moved down to SF since we have vet at SG now), Jae Crowder

PF - Dirk, Wright

C - Vet FA, Bernard James/Drew Gordon,

I know this squad isn't a contender, but it's very competitive IMO and full of tradeable assets. Plus, we have an empty roster spot that we can fill anywhere we want, ~ $7 million left of cap space, and our full MLE and BAE.

Who is the vet C? I'll let you guys decide that and where that last roster spot could be plugged in at what cost. I would personally love to see Kaman there for $5-7 base and Delonte signed with $3.5-4 million of our MLE and he can backup either guard spots.

Thoughts????