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May 11--The Dallas Mavericks have become like everybody else, except that they're not everybody else. Getting dumped out of the first round is a big deal, and having the Jason Kidd trade go splat is a very big deal as they run out of options for a solution.
The real problem is, it's not just a bad moment. It's a three-year run for the ages of playoff-red asphalt. They blew a 2-0 lead in the 2006 Finals and a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 3, finished 67-15 the next regular season and lost to the 42-40 Warriors in the '07 opening round, and went 51-31 the next regular season and lost 4-1 to the Hornets in the '08 opening round.
Coach Avery Johnson, predictably, was fired. Any chance of coming off in the sympathetic role as fall guy because players failed to deliver ended the moment the Golden State series began and he changed his starting lineup to match up with the smaller Warriors.
Johnson allowed the huge underdogs to dictate to him.
The news of the moment is that Rick Carlisle, the former Pistons and Pacers coach, will replace Johnson. The real Mavericks development of the offseason, though, is whether they take a hammer to the roster as well, with a new man in charge and a new atmosphere in the locker room but also enough evidence after three seasons of massive letdown to suggest the problem wasn't just on the sideline.
It's just that they don't have many more substantial moves to make.
Although a team that has lost 12 of its past 15 playoff games can't afford to have untouchables, dealing Dirk Nowitzki or Kidd seems highly unlikely. The Mavs will want to see how they operate together with the benefit of the new coach and a training camp, and they still retain the financial flexibility of Kidd being a free agent next summer.
That leaves Josh Howard, the 2007 All-Star at forward, as the only chance to get a big return. But he's also the only Mavs starter who will be under 30 when camp opens in October, making parting with him after dealing young point guard Devin Harris to the Nets in the Kidd blockbuster a bigger risk than ever. Deal Howard and fail in the next playoffs, and they'll really be going over the falls.
Beyond Howard, Dallas has only lesser pieces to dangle: Jason Terry, 30 and on the books for $38.8 million the next four seasons; Jerry Stackhouse, 33 and $14.25 million over two seasons; and Erick Dampier, 32 and $36.75 million the next three. Furthermore, the Mavericks have no current ability to offer first-round picks for the immediate future, with 2008 and '10 already sent to New Jersey.
The Kidd trade opened Dallas to another barrage of criticism, as if the loss to the Warriors in arguably the greatest playoff upset ever wasn't being pelted with stones enough.
And when the latest early elimination came with Chris Paul, Kidd's man, tearing through the Mavs, it looked even worse.
Short-term memory. What a thing. A year earlier, with Harris at the point and one of the best defenders at the position in the league, the Mavs lost to Golden State. The unstoppable Warrior then? Baron Davis. A point guard.
So the Mavericks, pushing to win now rather than waiting through Harris' uncertain timetable to develop, went for the proven Kidd and lost big. Getting Kidd was a risk -- in the timing of a major deal at midseason, in the smaller window of opportunity by trading younger for older -- but it was no reach. It just couldn't stop them from becoming like everyone else.
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