Mavericks Sign Familiar Face, Jack Squat, in Free Agency
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Mavericks made headlines, signing familiar face, Jack Squat, on Day 1 of NBA Free Agency.
For the fifth year in a row the Dallas Mavericks signed their all-too-familiar friend, Jack Squat, on free agency’s opening day. The inevitability of the signing became clear once both of the Mavericks top targets, Hassan Whiteside and Mike Conley, decided to re-up with their current clubs.
"“It helps when you set your sites unrealistically high,” general manager Donnie Nelson probably said. “One cannot sign someone like Jack Squat all by himself. It takes many people in many departments all working together in harmonious ineptitude. This is an organizational accomplishment.”"
Obvious Disclaimer: If it isn’t glaringly apparent, this article is clearly tongue-in-cheek, the quote is completely fabricated, and no such player named Jack Squat exists. This is a laugh/cry response to the repeated failures of the Mavericks front office and meant to serve as a wake-up call to both team and fans alike.
This all begs the question, when will they learn?
The 2011 NBA Championship seems like a lifetime ago and these first round playoff exits are becoming tired.
When will Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson learn that superstar players don’t want to join the Mavericks? The team is devoid of young budding talent (with all due respect to Justin Anderson and Dwight Powell) and the team can only offer a fraction of the money the hometown team can.
Hometown teams have a decided advantage in re-signing max contract players. Re-signing allows the contract to have an extra season and extra escalating dollars. In total, a player stands to make between $20-$30M extra to re-sign with his old club.
Additionally, most of these hometown teams have younger and more talented rosters. That means the players can stay home, make more money, and play for a more competitive team. Why again would they come to Dallas?
This is something Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson need to ask themselves because it’s pretty darn clear the plan is highly flawed and operating far outside of reality.
The 2011 NBA Championship seems like a lifetime ago and these first round playoff exits are becoming tired. It would be one thing if the Mavericks had a young roster to build and develop but this is an old roster with its top players regressing. It’s hard to be excited anymore. Especially since the roster has been a revolving door every summer.
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Summer after summer they spurn their current free agents in the hope that they can successfully entice a better player to join the team. And summer after summer the Mavs strike out in spectacular fashion. To make matters worse, those once-beloved former players leave the organization somewhat bitter and jaded for the way they were treated at the end.
Monta Ellis, Tyson Chandler (2x), and now Chandler Parsons have departed with varying amounts of bad blood.
All of these players where “Plan B” options when the Mavs struck out with “Plan A”. All of these players were told how much they were loved and appreciated until the opportunity to upgrade in free agency happened, of course.
Players talk. Eventually the Mavericks are going to struggle even luring their Plan B options. They see how the Mavs treat their Plan Bs. Money will obviously trump all but if all things are equal, players are going to be weary of joining a Mavs team with such a poor reputation.
Next: Why Deron Williams is the best the Mavs can do
If there’s one thing the Mavericks have proven success in, it’s getting Jack Squat on Day 1 in NBA Free Agency. It’s time for the Mavs to re-think their annual summertime strategy or they may soon find themselves unable to even pull off Plan B.