[外電] Sources: Mavs saving room for run at D

[popstarkirby (有梗的POP)]

http://tinyurl.com/875d4pz


Tyson Chandler's hunch that he'll be wearing a new uniform soon could prove
to be true. And it may have nothing to do with Chandler and everything to do
with Deron Williams.

With serious interest registered from the Nets, Golden State, Houston and
Sacramento, four teams with cap space and flexibility, the man who served as
the glue for the Mavericks' 2011 NBA title could be slipping away -- but for
reasons that go well beyond the uncertain free-agent market for Chandler
himself.

The Mavs are in no rush to pony up a max offer to retain Chandler, largely
because they want to maintain flexibility for next summer's free-agent class
-- which just happens to include Dallas' own Williams, multiple sources told
CBSSports.com. While much of the speculation in this five-day run-up to the
start of free agency Friday has centered around 2012 free agents Chris Paul
and Dwight Howard, Williams' situation is in many ways more intriguing.

"Everything is sort of stuck because of Chris and Dwight," one agent said
Monday.

Add Deron to that list.

The Nets traded Derrick Favors, Devin Harris and two first-round picks to
Utah for Williams in February and are in the process of trying to assemble
enough talent around him to keep him with the team when it moves to Brooklyn
next season. Like Paul and Howard, Williams has an early-termination option
that would make him an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Williams already
has indicated he will not sign an extension this season, just as Paul and
Howard will not. Howard remains intent on finding his way to Los Angeles to
join the Lakers, while Paul has his sights set on New York -- though he
remains open to a trade that would team him up with Howard in Orlando.

Williams spoke with members of the New York-New Jersey media Monday and
proclaimed in a radio interview on New York's WFAN that there's a 90 percent
chance he stays with the Nets. New Jersey has expressed interest in free
agents Chandler, Nene and Caron Butler, but the big prize that would make
D-Will's decision to stay on the East Coast a no-brainer would be a trade for
Howard -- a tantalizing scenario that could play out one way or another by
the end of the week.

New rules that dampen the home team's advantage in offering its own
prospective free agent a significantly larger extension -- and essentially
take away the extend-and-trade and sign-and-trade safety nets -- are expected
to force the Hornets and Magic to make quick decisions on how to handle
Paul's and Howard's impending free agency. The Nets, having given up so many
assets for Williams, are in a position to be more patient and do everything
possible to entice their star to stay put.

But if the Nets are unsuccessful in their efforts to land Howard -- Brook
Lopez, first-round picks and absorbing Hedo Turkoglu's contract doesn't
figure to be enough -- then Williams will have an interesting decision to
make come July 1. And the buzz among front-office executives Monday was that
Dallas owner Mark Cuban would be in a position to sell Williams on taking
less money to play in his hometown.

Once Williams becomes a free agent, he could get a five-year, $100 million
deal to stay with the Nets. Signing with Dallas would net Williams only a
four-year, $74 million deal. How much playing in his hometown is worth to
Williams would depend, in part, on what pieces the Nets surround him with
between now and then.

Of the teams expected to contend for a championship this season, only Dallas
would have the cap space to sign a max player next summer and still have room
to do more. If the Mavs used the amnesty provision on Brendan Haywood next
summer, they'd be more than $21 million under the cap -- with Dirk Nowitzki
still around, draining jumpers.

Jason Terry and Jason Kidd come off the books after the season, and the Mavs
will want their Hall of Fame point guard to pass the torch to a star in his
prime and keep Nowitzki in the hunt for more titles during the final two
years of his contract. In addition to Williams, Paul and Howard, the 2012
free-agent class is loaded with attractive restricted free agents, such as
Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, O.J. Mayo and George Hill -- not to mention
Derrick Rose, who nobody envisions leaving Chicago.

So the lackluster nature of this free-agent class compared to next summer's,
combined with confusion about the new rules and an unwillingness to be the
team that sets the market, have slowed the activity with four days to go
before camps and free agency officially open. Also, don't underestimate how
the shortened season provides an incentive for teams to pass on significant
moves now when July 1 is only a few months away.

The biggest impediment to the wheeling and dealing in 2011 has everything to
do with 2012 and beyond.

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