Grading the Mavs' season: Jason Terry

After looking at our last poll, most of MMB gave Shawn Marion 6’s. Adding Marion’s grade to the mix, this is what we have so far:

Dirk – 9/10 (too close to call either way)

Kidd – 8

Marion – 6

Moving along, we’re going to take a look at the JET – Jason Eugene Terry.

Now that Damp has been traded, Terry is now the 2^nd longest tenured Mav on the roster. Furthermore, he remains one of the last links to the team that reached the Finals and lost to the Heat. When he arrived in Dallas, Terry was a solid starter; however, he has changed roles and now comes primarily off the bench to add scoring punch as shown by his capture of the 2008-09 NBA 6^th Man of the Year Award. Terry has had his moments with the Mavs (including in the playoffs), but has drawn the ire of Mavs’ fans on certain occasions, especially during the playoffs this past season.

Positives: Terry’s main attribute throughout his time in Dallas has been his scoring punch. Starting only 12 games in the regular season, Terry remained the primary force off the bench as he finished 2^nd on the Mavs in scoring. Furthermore, his leadership was also solid as he, along with Dirk and Jason Kidd, was one of the main leaders on the team (granted, one can take that in whatever way they feel).

Negatives: As I said before, Terry’s main attribute is his scoring. However, his shooting and points per game each dropped this past season, despite playing in roughly the same amount of minutes per game as he had in 08-09. Furthermore, he absolutely disappeared in the playoffs, shooting below 50% in every game while only scoring above 17 points once in the San Antonio series. Moreover, he was on the court in a crucial stretch of Game 6 in which the Mavs would have been far better off playing Roddy Beaubois, which drew a lot of criticism from a lot of fans and media members. On another note, Terry continues to get older and his numbers are due to decline, especially considering his stature. At this point, only time will tell.

My Grade: I’m going to give Terry the lowest on I’ve given a player so far, a 5. Although it wasn’t his fault that he was on the court for the crucial stretch in Game 6, the fact of the matter is that he deserves a good portion of the blame in the series for absolutely disappearing. Combine that with declining stats and I think Terry probably deserves a low/average grade.

Outlook: Terry’s contract, which runs until 2012, continues to look worse and worse as the days pass by. The Mavs will probably keep trying to move it, but the fact of the matter is that most teams aren’t going to be interested, which means he will be a Mav for the foreseeable future, especially considering the Roddy B injury and its impact on the team moving forward. At this point, all Mavs’ fans can hope for is a return to the old JET.