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In the likely event that the Mavericks have to go to Plan B to find a point guard, Jarrett Jack’s name should be at or near the top of the list.

There are a lot of things to like about Jack. He’s got a deadly midrange jumper and an effective floater, the kind of shots that come in bunches for guards who run pick-and-pops with Dirk Nowitzki. He doesn’t commit many turnovers. He possesses the kind of mental and physical toughness Rick Carlisle wants from his point guards.

Jack would be a significant upgrade for the Mavs, but he wouldn’t be a perfect fit. In fact, there are some red flags.

Start with the fact that Jack isn’t a pure point guard. He’s a combo guard who thrived as Golden State’s sixth man, often paired with Stephen Curry. He has never averaged more than 6.3 assists per game in a season, and his career assist average (4.4) is lower than Darren Collison’s. When he’s running the point, Jack has a tendency to over-dribble, a big don’t in Carlisle’s flow system.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Jack is a tweener defender, too. He struggles to stop a lot of point guards because of his lack of lateral quickness, and his height often puts him at a significant disadvantage against shooting guards. (Jack’s defensive issues were exploited during the playoffs, when Warriors opponents averaged 5.8 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor than when he was on the bench.)

And then there’s the money.

Jack, who made $5.4 million this season, has made it clear he would prefer to stay with the Warriors. Golden State wants to keep him, too, although the Warriors are in serious jeopardy of paying luxury tax. The Mavs – or any other team bidding on Jack – would have to make an offer out of the Warriors’ comfort range to get him.

How much are you willing to pay for a combo guard who turns 30 in October and has bounced around to five teams in the last six seasons? That’s a question the Mavs must be prepared to answer if they don’t hit a home run and sign Chris Paul.

Article source: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4696091/how-well-would-jarrett-jack-fit-with-mavs

The NBA Finals 2013 campaign, “Forever is Big,” is the first to celebrate current NBA players who are on their way to becoming legends because of successful Finals moments. In this commercial which begins airing Saturday, we see Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki make an incredible signature fade away jump shot in Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.

For more Trending topics, visit ESPN’s Playbook.

Article source: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4696085/dirk-nowitzki-is-highlight-of-new-nba-ad

DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki has half-joked that his German blood makes him pretty pessimistic by nature, but he’s preparing to play the salesman role this summer.

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Nowitzki has a month and a half to perfect his sales pitch for Chris Paul and/or Dwight Howard, but here’s what he has in mind.

“I think I’ve got a couple of good years left if I stay injury-free,” Nowitzki said Thursday after an event to promote ATT’s program to urge against texting and driving. “I feel like this is a great city. We all know that. I’ve said numerous times that this is one of the top five cities out of the 30 in the league to live in, to play in, for the owner, for the franchise. That’s definitely part of it. No state tax is nice. That’s always part of the pitch.

“And [Mark] Cuban and Donnie [Nelson] always found ways to make this franchise better, if it’s with deals or basically pulling deals out of the hat where nobody saw anything coming. I think Mark obviously has to be a big part of the pitch. And next year, I come off the books. We all know that as well. I’ve got only one more year of big money left, and then it’s pretty obvious I’m going to take a pay cut. If that helps us get even more talent in here, then that’ll be great.”

At that point, the big German broke into a goofy grin and added, “That’s all I’ve got. … I’m trying, I’m trying.”

Nowitzki, who will join Cuban, Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle on the Mavs’ recruiting committee, recognizes that it’ll be tough to talk Paul or Howard into taking less money to leave L.A. But he believes it’s a possibility.

“By now, I’m sure they’re starting to think about, ‘What’s my future looking like?’” Nowitzki said. “So that’s where we swoop in and hopefully get something going, hopefully get a meeting scheduled somewhere in July and hit it out of the ballpark.”

Article source: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4696075/a-rough-draft-of-dirks-summer-sales-pitch

Want a reason to feel a little bit better about the Mavericks’ long shot of landing Chris Paul this summer?

Here you go: The Clippers are seriously considering keeping head coach Vinny Del Negro, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne.

This would be a classic Donald Sterling decision. He’d rather pinch pennies than put his team in the best possible position to win.

Why not part ways with a clearly overmatched head coach and grant Paul the right commonly given to franchise players to help pick an upgrade? Well, Sterling is still bitter about paying the remainder of Mike Dunleavy’s five-year, $22 million contract when Dunleavy was fired in 2010, so the comically cheap Clippers owner prefers to give his head coaches short-term deals.

Heck, if Sterling gives Mark Cuban a call, he can probably talk the Mavs’ owner into paying a chunk of Del Negro’s salary. It’d be worth it to increase the Mavs’ odds of acquiring the NBA’s premier point guard.

Article source: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4696067/good-new-for-mavs-clippers-might-keep-vinny-del-negro

The Mavericks aren’t in the playoffs for the first time since 2000, so we have to find something to fill the time this spring. Might as well keep up with the players from the Mavs’ title team who are scattered throughout the postseason. We’ll have daily updates as long as Mavs championship alums are still alive in the playoffs.

Jason Kidd: The drought continues.

Kidd went scoreless for the eighth straight game. He’s 0-of-16 from the floor and 0-of-10 from 3-point range over 177 minutes during that span. The Knicks have been outscored by 25 points with the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer on the floor in those eight games.

Kidd’s numbers in the Knicks’ Game 4 loss to the Pacers: three assists, one rebound, one steal, two missed shots and a minus-9 plus-minus in 16 minutes.

Tyson Chandler: The Knicks gave him a lot more help, but Chandler more than held his own in the big man matchup after being dominated by Roy Hibbert in Game 3.

Chandler put up his first double-double of the postseason, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He also matched high during these playoffs with three blocks.

Hibbert’s line: six points on 2-of-8 shooting, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

Ian Mahinmi: Mahinmi gave the Pacers 10 energetic minutes off the bench, grabbing six rebounds, blocking two shots and scoring two points.

Article source: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4696064/title-mavs-tracker-another-scoreless-night-for-kidd

One of the silliest things you’ll hear this summer is that free agents don’t want to come to Dallas.

That’s become a meme that’s often repeated in discussions about Mark Cuban’s bold plan to create ample salary cap space by stripping down the 2011 title team. Never mind the facts.

The fact of the matter is it’s difficult to sign free agents if you don’t have salary cap space. That’s not exactly unique to Dallas.

The Mavs whiffed on Deron Williams last summer, although Cuban’s effort in that recruiting pitch resembled some of Josh Hamilton’s final at-bats in a Rangers uniform. Being 0-for-1 doesn’t constitute a trend.

The point isn’t to predict that the Mavs will land Chris Paul or Dwight Howard this summer. The odds are against Dallas simply due to the rules that allow for their current teams to offer an extra year and larger annual raises.

However, from weather to a winning culture, Dallas’ attractiveness as an NBA destination is an advantage to the Mavs. Being a top-five market without a state income tax is a bonus. The days of Kiki Vandeweghe refusing to play for the Mavs are ancient history.

The Mavs have earned a reputation as a first-class franchise during Cuban’s 13-year ownership tenure. That’s why Jason Kidd’s agent helped orchestrate a trade to bring the point guard back to Dallas in 2008. That’s why Shawn Marion’s agent played a key role in making a complicated sign-and-trade deal go down the next year. That’s why Tyson Chandler was crushed when Cuban declined to offer him a long-term deal. That’s why Howard had the Mavs on his very short list of acceptable trade partners when he was forcing his way out of Orlando.

That’s why there will be plenty of free agents who will want to talk to the Mavs in July, a list that perhaps includes the two biggest prizes on the market.

“Who wouldn’t want to play in an environment like this every night?” restricted free agent Brandon Jennings said during the Bucks’ trip to Dallas in February. “You’ve got an owner who’s so into his team and everything like that. Every time you see the Mavs, you see him cheering or going crazy. They won a championship. They’re about winning.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Mavs will win this summer. But if they don’t, it’d be foolish to blame a mythical aversion NBA players have for joining the Mavs.

Article source: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4696057/myth-mavs-not-attractive-to-free-agents