Houston & Dallas fans, what do you want to see your teams do this offseason to take it to the next level?

H- Find a way to communicate to YAO on going to the bucket all the time. He would be better utilized dunking on everyone rather than setting screens.

D- More time with AJ as the general. I would also like to see the mavs work on moving the ball more efficiently. I have my fingers crossed that MD improves this next yr.

Houston - Try and go after better guards to take some of the pressure off of T-Mac.

Dallas - Get rid of the "Next best center not named Shaq"

I agree with FW, they need more time together. This thing needs to gel more than it needs an overhaul. I wouldn't mind adding a backup type center like the Spurs did with Mohammed, a high energy type, maybe a Keon Clark or someone like him that can come in when Damp picks up his 2 quick fouls and keep the Mantis off the floor. That and another PG because I'm expecting Armstrong to be gone and I think we need something else there, not sure what but something different. I really like Devin Harris but he has got to step his game up.

watch spurs win championship and how to play as team.

Houston needs some young guards.

i think the coaches are telling yao to set those screens, so i don't think communication is the problem.

BMX..there was a little sarcasm in my houston opinion, but apparently it wasn't conveyed clearly. I realize van gundy and co are calling the screens but Yao would be better utilized dunking on every possession. They guy is huge and can play physical ball.

When Yao is taking it to the hoop and dunking, he is impressive. When they utilize him as a post is where I think they go wrong. Get somebody less talented to do that and free both T-mac and Yao up to do their thing.

H - Tell Yao to grow a pair over the summer and find some better roll players that are closer in age to their prime than they are to joining AARP.

D - Trade Dirk for a legitimate superstar and leader, develop the young 3 (Harris, Daniels, and Howard), pray somebody takes Finley's awful contract, inject the 2nd best center with some motivation and hand glue, and hire an assassin to take out the Mantis.

Houston needs a powerfoward plain and simple. We can talk guards, and shooting guards and small foward matchups all we want, but until houston goes out and gets a good defensive minded powerfoward we are going to continue to be a #5 or so seed in the western confrence.

Mavericks - sign Reggie Evans (or similarly effective backup center), convince Finley to come off the bench, really focus on the development of Devin Harris (especially as a passer) and Daniels, see if you can get something useful for Van Horn's expiring contract, and try to find a veteran third point guard to upgrade from Darrell Armstrong (if not, re-sign DA).

For both:

1. Stop sucking for long periods in the middle of games.
2. ????????
3. Profit!

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Mavericks - sign Reggie Evans (or similarly effective backup center)

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Reggie Evans is a 6'7 PF. In 11 playoff games he averaged 3.6 pts and 7.3 rebs.

Thank you Bullard!

Right now they have serviceable gaurds. They definitely aren't All-NBA, but as a rotation they are solid.

Their PF situation sucks, plain and simple. Add to the fact that Yao will probably never be a great rebounder or defensive presence in the middle, they need interior toughness and rebounding. Simien and Diogu would be nice additions at #24 if available. And it has to be through the draft. They don't have the $$$ to make a FA splash until the end of next season.

I dont think Simien or Diogu will be around when they pick although they could trade up.

Ive heard either one of wayne simeion, hakeem warrick, and the big kid from gonzaga are going to be on the board probably when houston picks. Thats going to be a pretty no brainer IMO when its our turn. Which ever one is left scoop him up.

As for other possibilites i like stromile swift as well as the johnson kid from seattle. I dont know the contract situations of any of these guys, but i do remeber hearing that swift is a serious option and is avaliable.

As for houstons guards, as you pointed out they arent all world, but that arent exactly bottom of the barrel either. Mike james and bobby sura compliment each other very well and are a good 1,2 punch. I honestly dont think we need to mess with the point guard situation at all.

If there was another area that "could" use improvment other than the obvious powerfoward spot it would be david wesley. He is a decent spot up shooter, but he and john berry cant create their own shots at all. If yao or tmac arent drawing a double team and finding them on the wing for wide open shots, both of them are virtually useless to us because of their lack of athletisim. Somebody like a nick van exel who is a perfect spot up shooter BUT can still create off the dribble is another viable option that we should consider. Again i havent kept up with whos going to be free agents etc, but im sure we could find somebody that fits that mold. Wesley is the perfect 6th man off the bench but i think hes days as a starter on this specific team are numbered.

Bottom line we have to get somebody who can get a ton of boards, play lights out defense and is a good shot blocker. I think all 3 of the kids(warrick, turioff, simeion) would fit that mold very well. Anything else we do this offseason or in the draft is running a distant second to our powerfoward delima.

[This message has been edited by bullard21k (edited 6/3/2005 1:01a).]

90% of the projections I've seen has both Simien and Diogu available between #22-#28. Warrick is a real wild card going as high as #8 in some mocks and as low as #26 in others.

Warrick's athleticism will probably keep him in the lottery seeing how drafts are all about potential now, and not defined skills. But I'd be happy with either of the other 2. Just give me a rebounder that is enough of an offensive threat to average 10-12 ppg and I'd be happy.

Dallas needs to develop the younger players of Harris, Daniels, MBenga and P-Pod (and the summer league is in doubt with the labor dispute). Avery needs to work with Terry on making him more of a PG than SG. Damp needs to learn to stay out of foul trouble and work on his quickness. Dirk could work on his strength some more. Finley needs to get his surgery that he postponed during the regular season.

All in all the Mavs ended up the season the 3rd best in the West and the 5th best in the NBA, so they are close. They still need the younger players to play some summer ball so the labor dispute could be a major setback. It wouldn't hurt Howard to play some summer ball too.

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90% of the projections I've seen has both Simien and Diogu available between #22-#28

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Yeah but now that Simien has started working out with his teams he is measuring out at a surprised 6'9-6'10 so his stock is going to rise. Most people thought he was smaller than that.

Diogu's wingspan has been measured at 7'5.

Really? News to me. Got a link? I've always been a big fan of Simien so I hope he does well in the NBA.

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Wayne Simien flying up draft boards

For a few weeks now we’ve been hearing about the excellent workouts that Wayne Simien has been having in every city he’s worked out in. That really didn’t come as a huge surprise, as Simien is clearly one of the most skilled players to be found in this draft, at any position. What did surprise, though, were the rumblings coming out regarding his measurements. Apparently he is indeed measuring out at at least a legit 6-9, and according to one team even taller than that. We’ve a hard time believing it ourselves, but this is coming from a number of places so there must be something to it. Perhaps NBA teams want to see it with their own eyes, because he was one of the first players invited for the physicals only portion of Chicago, meaning he will not be attending the draft camp.

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http://www.draftcity.com/viewarticle.php?mod=print&a=191

Houston:

Needs: PF, wing to compliment TMac, PG, Toughness, Rebounding, Youth
Howard is a smart vet PF, but he isnt a solid, tough PF. With Yao's lack of toughness or killer instinct, Houston needs to compliment him with a solid PF who likes to do the dirty work. Time to find the next Ben Wallace.

Houston went through 142 starting PGs last year. Amazing in a 82-game season. They need someone who can be solid on both ends of the court, can play well off TMac and is young. Developing Sura or Barry into the right fit wont do much for Houston long-term. Both players are older than is ideal and are better suited for backups.

Houston was the oldest team in the NBA, and is getting older. Time to get younger. Time to get tougher.

Commodities:
Weatherspoon ending K (6.3)
Wesley ending K (5)
Baker ending K (3.8)

Houston has pretty much no cap room to work with now or in the future. After next year, Yao will get a max contract, and TMac will still have his. In two years, if the only people under contract are Tmac, Yao, Howard and Sura, there is the possibility of cap space. Houston has no real tradable talent (that they would trade), so they can hope for trading away future cap space (ending Ks) for talent and no hope of cap space.

Dallas needs:
better coaching (if you are gonna be a defensive team, be a defensive team), Dirk to improve more defensively - you arent a superstar until you make the big plays on both ends of the court, develop young talent and play as a team, cut deadweight/salary
Solid kids in Howard, Harris, Daniels.
Great unknowns in Pavel, Mbenga,

Commodities:
Trade Dirk?
KVH at 15.6mm
Terry at 7.5mm
Would anyone really take Dampier's contract from Dallas?

Must do:
Try to get Henderson back. He was a solid role player for dallas.
Deadweight: Tariq, Bradley, Eschmeyer
What would Dallas have to give up to get rid of Finley? Allan Houston has a 1 year shorter contract and Isiah Thomas is insane.

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What would Dallas have to give up to get rid of Finley? Allan Houston has a 1 year shorter contract and Isiah Thomas is insane.

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Is Allan Houston still going to play basketball? For some reason I was thinking he was done. Cant remember what his injury was.

Does it matter if he plays basketball again? Insurance pays for the contract and Dallas gets capspace earlier. If he plays, bonus.

Actually it would be an awful move if he never plays. You might as well have Finley. The Mavs aren't looking for cap space, Cuban has a backwards approach to free agency and he believes having cap space doesnt do much for you and actually having a lot of big contracts gives you a better chance.

Even if the Mavs did want cap space they are so far over the cap that they will never have cap space in our lifetime.

More on the cap space thing, the Mavs are like 47 million over the cap. If the Mavs had Houston right now and let's say his contract was up next summer along with VanHorn's huge contract then the Mavs would still be about 15 million over the cap. And that would be with the 3rd highest player in the NBA (Houston) and the 18th highest paid player (VanHorn) coming off the books at the same time. Obviously those guys contracts dont come off the books at the same time as VanHorn will be a free agent next summer and Houston the year after that.

The Mavs will not let VanHorn's contract come off the books, they will likely trade his expiring contract to a struggling team at the deadline and take on a pretty good player with a bad contract.

[This message has been edited by AgEfan (edited 6/4/2005 7:10p).]

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Cuban has a backwards approach to free agency and he believes having cap space doesnt do much for you and actually having a lot of big contracts gives you a better chance.

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This theory was thrown out the window when Dallas refused to resign Nash.

Cuban has said on his blog that he is concerned with cutting payroll, and that it played a huge part of the Nash deal.

Finley's production could easily come from a number of other players. In the last four games of the playoffs, Mike gave 11, 9, 7, and 7 while playing between 31 and 43 MPG.

I would rather develop guys like Howard and Daniels than play a hopefully-recovered-from-surgery-Finley. Fin has been a great player for Dallas, but his stats have declined from a high in 99-00 every single year. (Points gone down every year, assists have gone down every year and rebounds have gone down all but one.

Houston: Try and not lose by 40 in game 7

Fin has to accept a backup role this year. It shouldn't be an option for him, dont give him the choice.

Both teams should make big moves and clean out their riff-raff. I agree with whomever said Dallas should ship Dirk. You could get several quality team guys for him and you wouldn't be any worse off. Not trying to say Dirk is riff-raff, just that Dallas could do better with someone who will lead by example and won't disappear in overtime of big games. I think with their young talent (Harris, Howard, Daniels), the Mavs could take a "Chicago Bulls" approach and fill their roster with team-first young guys, then maybe shop for a superstar free agent this year or next.
The Rockets need to get some young guards on their roster. No more of these 10-year journeymen who can only produce in very specific situations. If I were a rocket fan I'd want to get rid of Jon Barry if only to get rid of that stupid hand thing he does after he hits shots. If Juwan Howards looks like he will make it back to the roster, I would think the guard/sf position is where Houston would want to focus.

My source close to the Mavs says that a top priority is getting a Bruce Bowen type player who can shut down or harass the other team's 2 or 3 all night.

I don't foresee any major changes though. I think the team you saw this year will for the most part be the team you see next year.

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My source close to the Mavs says that a top priority is getting a Bruce Bowen type player who can shut down or harass the other team's 2 or 3 all night.

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Not disagreeing with that, but I do wonder what the Mavs are thinking. Howard already fits that bill. Daniels is a pretty good defender as well.

Their top priority needs to be to develop a PG. A close second needs to be getting minutes out of the 5. If they don't do those two things, you can count on more outbursts from Dirk.

They don't necessarily feel Howard can be that Bowen-type player. My feel is that they love what he brings on the offensive end, but he's not a defensive stopper.

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Reggie Evans is a 6'7 PF. In 11 playoff games he averaged 3.6 pts and 7.3 rebs.

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Reggie Evans may only be 6-7, but he has enough size to guard just about anyone in the league besides Shaq or Yao. He did a great job against Duncan and would be a very good option against a guy like Stoudemire. I know he's not a real center, but he would be spelling minutes from Dampier at the center, not Dirk at the PF.

does this source have a player in mind? Or is he also planning on getting a "shaq like player" too?

He didn't mention a particular player. There's not a whole lot of Bowen types in the league these days. The conversation shifted to Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels...I'll try to find out more next time.