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1. MARION TAKING THE MINIMUM?: Here's an interesting conundrum. The Mavericks ruled out bringing back Shawn Marion because of the money -- we all knew he wasn't going to take the minimum. He was saying it ever since the offseason ended, and clearly he deserved $2 or 3 million a year. But now, because of lack of interest or something else, Marion appears to be thinking about taking the minimum to play for Cleveland.
This leads to an obvious question: why can't the Mavericks just sign him for the minimum? Well, they can. They technically still have a roster spot open, and Gal Mekel could be traded for peanuts if needed.
I'm not Shawn Marion and have no idea how he feels, but I'd imagine signing for Cleveland at the minimum is a much different situation than signing for Dallas. We all know pro athletes have egos, and the problem is that Dallas could have offered him more money earlier in the offseason and chose not to. It's obvious both sides are appreciative of each other, but not offering Marion the $2.7 exception probably hit him pretty hard.
Could he swallow his ego and rejoin the Mavericks? Sure. But even though Dallas is his home, don't underestimate how tempting of a situation Cleveland is. LeBron James is a huge draw. And lastly, again, we have no clue if Dallas is actually interested in bringing him back. They obviously weren't for any amount of money over the minimum. Al-Farouq Aminu is a close to a rebounding/defense replacement as you can get, and Parsons and Richard Jefferson probably wouldn't leave much room for another small forward in the mix.
Minimum or no, I don't think Marion will return to Dallas. But of course, that doesn't change our appreciation for what he's done.
2. PARSONS SURVIVES TEAM USA CUTS: USA Basketball churns on after the gruesome Paul George injury, and Chandler Parsons is on the 16-man roster. Not making the cut: John Wall, Bradley Beal and Paul Millsap. I have an article in the works about Parsons' Team USA odds a little later this week.
3. BRANDAN WRIGHT IS A GENIUS: And more efficient on offense than, well, anyone.
4. RANKING THE MAVS' OFFSEASON: NBA.com's David Aldridge takes on the task of ranking offseasons, and unsurprisingly, the Mavericks are top 10. Aldridge doesn't seem to be much of a Parsons fan, because he puts Dallas at no. 7 -- behind teams like the Raptors, Celtics and Nuggets.
5. CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK: It's over, and fun was had by all. Seriously, go back through and make sure you didn't miss any stories. Every single one is well worth your time.