Most of us know by now that the Mavericks have a very spotty history when it comes to attracting free agents to the metroplex. I guess guys aren't impressed with guaranteeing half their game checks to be state income tax free. Maybe they don't like the shadow of the big star. Maybe they don't want to play for a big vocal ego in mark cuban, i dunno. They certainly get offered money. Lots of it. Seems like a lot of guys that have had good to great careers go to Dallas and let their careers end in a wimper off the bench (Alex English, Walt Williams, Eddie Jones, Hot Rod Williams, Danny Manning, etc...)

Anyway, how do all the free agent signings stack up? I look at players that played at least 48 games and that got me 41, I took the better of the two to make it an even 40. Looked at games played as a Mav, PPG, RPG, APG, winning % as a Maverick and winning% the season preceding their signing. For guys currently on the roster I cheated and added 2 % for this season, being optimistic i guess. Also, I skipped the very first season in franchise history (1980). Re-signing a player does not count as a free agent pickup.

Yesterday I posted on top draft picks of all time previous post on draft picks found here.

Now, free agent rankings:

1. O.J. Mayo 2012- The former 3rd overall pick is having a comeback of sorts as a Mav so far this season. With the Mavs in danger of not making the playoffs for the first time since Mayo was in the 8th grade, he's proven to be one of the top 2 or 3 players on the team averaging 17.5/3.7/4.4 and 1.3 SPG He has a player option next season for just $4million, he's likely to take his talent to the open market. Will the Mavs think he's worth it to bid on him?
2. George McCloud 1994- the Mavs were pathetic when McCloud was signed. Like near historically bad. He helped turn them into bad to mediocre. The NBA moved up the 3-pt line and McCloud went bezerk going from benchwarmer to scoring 19 points per game. The Mavs later packaged him with Sam Cassell, Chris Gatling, Jim Jackson and Eric Montross for Shawn Bradley, Ed O'Bannon, Robert Pack and Khalid Reeves.
3. Gary Trent 1998- The Mavs won 20 games in 1997-98. The did even worst in Trent's first season with the club (18 wins!). Next season they welcomed Mark Cuban and just missed the playoffs (thanks Dennis Rodman!). In Trent's last season with the club the Mavs made the playoffs for the first time since O.J. Mayo was 2 years old. During his 3 seasons, Trent put up 11.2/5.6/1.2. The team improved greatly with him providing relief off the bench for Dirk, Juwan Howard and Michael Finley.
4. Kurt Nimphius 1981- Draft and then cut by the Nuggets, the Mavs got him a year later. He hung around for over 4 seasons. He came along in '81, the season after the 15 win inaugural year. The team improved 4 straight seasons He played about 25 mpg on 2 playoff teams giving the Mavs about 6 ppg, 5 rpg and a block and a half at the center position.
   
5. Erick Strickland 1996- Undrafted, Strickland came about 2 months after Harper. He'd stick around 4 seasons though. 3 more years of decline for the team and a surprise 40 win season would define his tenure. He logged tons of minutes for the team and played 30 minutes a game for the 40 win team as he finally became a starter. He gave the guys 9.8/3.3/2.6 as a Mav.
   
6. Terry Davis 1991- Unfortunately Terry Davis was a Maverick for what may be historically the worst 5 year run of any franchise in NBA history, top 5 at minimum. He led the team in rebounding in his first 2 seasons and was in the top 4 in scoring as well averaging about 11/9.6. Injury marred his other 3 seasons.
7. Derek Harper 1996- D-Harp's second go-around with the club was only 1 season (he would be traded for Denis Scott). This was the second of 4 straight years of declining win totals for the team. 27 players (!) would play for the team that season. Harper stuck around the whole year and provided 10 points and 4 assists per game.
   
8. Marquis Daniels 2003- Another undrafted free agent. The team dropped a bit his rookie year, but then improved each of his last 2 seasons, culminating with the 2006 NBA finals many Mavs feel were cheated out of (and Daniels was largely absent from the playoffs). Daniels was certainly a pleasant surprise, a great spark off the bench, he averaged over 9 points a game along with 3 boards and 2 assists and solid defense.
9. Lorenzo Williams 1993
10. Vince Carter 2011
11. Jose Barea 2006
12. Hubert Davis 1997
13. Elton Brand 2012
14. Adrian Griffin 2001
15. Brandon Bass 2007
16. Alex English 1990
17. Tim Legler 1992
18. Walter Bond 1992
19. Walter Williams 2002
20. Alan Henderson 2004
21. Dexter Cambridge 1992
22. Tracy Moore 1991
23. DeSagana Diop 2005
24. Brandan Wright 2011
25. Greg Buckner 2006
26. James Singleton 2008
27. Devean George 2006
28. Brian Howard 1991
29. Steve Alford 1989
30. Ian Mahinmi 2010
31. Terry Tyler 1988
32. Greg Dreiling 1993
33. Raja Bell 2002
34. Evan Eschmeyer 2001
35. Travis Best 2003
36. Didier Ilunga-Mbenga 2004
37. Anthony jones 1988
38. Brian Cardinal 2010
39. John Shasky 1990
40. Juwan Howard 2007

Clearly the Mavs, for some reason, is not seen as a destination team. It would not take much to crack the top half of this list...