3 Years Ago Tyson Chandler backed up Theo Ratliff for a Bobcats team that got swept

[Findog]

And the Mavs decided to let him go so they could chase a fat, overrated PG and a "franchise center" who is now coming off a back injury, is a shell of his former self physically and mentally is an 8 year old shithead.

[Findog]

Deron Williams is shooting 41 percent from the floor. You definitely want to throw max money at that and lock that up.

[DMC]

But it was a good move according to some of the Mavs regulars. A couple of us knew it was a mistake, and knew Cuban wasn't interested in paying for another ring.

[mavs>spurs]

they should go after cp3 and bynum this offseason tbh

[Findog]

Zach Lowe says Tyson Chandler is one of the top 15 players in the league.

[Findog]

I defended the Mavs when Nash won his bogus MVPs over Kobe because they weren't worse off without him and keeping him wouldn't have gotten them any closer to a title. You could have rebuilt around Chandler and another star when Dirk's contract was up with Dirk's salary slot.

[HarlemHeat37]

Chandler isn't even close to being a top 15 player, but ya, one of the worst moves in recent history..even with Miami's subsequent improvements, particularly Lebron, Dallas still had the formula to expose their weaknesses..

The Mavs have always matched up well with OKC, I don't see any reason that they couldn't have defeated them once again..

[FkLA]

Brenda got a 6yr $55 mill contract, Erica a 7yr $75 mill contract. I think he was way more valuable this one year than those two players ever were for the Mavs. Cuban overpaying those two scrubs is what set this scenario up...Chandlers actual value might be in the $12-13 mill range but not in Dallas. I think $17-18/yr for Chandler would be reasonable and something he would agree to, wouldnt be surprised if Cuban gave him that tbh.

^everyone laughed at me tbh

[Findog]

Chandler isn't even close to being a top 15 player, but ya, one of the worst moves in recent history..even with Miami's subsequent improvements, particularly Lebron, Dallas still had the formula to expose their weaknesses..

At the very least he's a top 25 player. He's an All Star. I wouldn't call him a #1 guy by any means but he is a foundational piece you build around and he plays a critical position. There are lots of scoring shooting guards and small forwards but very few players that can anchor a defense without being a complete liability of offense like Chandler. I get that Cuban didn't want to end up in salary cap hell with the new CBA so I don't blame him for letting Butler, JJB and Stevenson walk. Those guys were not worth bringing back because you can replace their production for less than what it would cost to keep them. But there aren't many centers like Chandler. Just a terrible, terrible mistake. They could have remained competitive through the rest of Dirk's contract. The Clips filled out their bench for cheap with veterans who wanted to play with CP3 and Griffin. Dallas could have been a similar attractive destination for ring-chasing vets with Dirk and Chandler, and when Dirk's contract was up, they could have used his slot to sign another star.

[mavs>spurs]

amnesty marion and go after cp3, millsap, pekovic, bynum, and resign mayo

[Findog]

I say be sellers this week and trade Marion, VC and Brand for whatever you can get in terms of picks and expiring contracts. Try to tank record-wise into a top 10 pick. Hell I wouldn't mind being terrible next year to get in on the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes.

[irishock]

amnesty marion and go after cp3, millsap, pekovic, bynum, and resign mayo

You guys already amnestied Haywood.

[mavs>spurs]

thats right i forgot about that useless fuck haywood

[timvp]

I agree that Chandler is a top 15 player. He's by far the best all-around bigman defender in the NBA; nobody is even a close second (I guess Noah would be second these days). On offense, he sets very good screens and is highly efficient. He's also the opposite of a stat padder (for example, he could average 3+ blocks but he instead just plays the type of solid defense that doesn't show up on the stat sheet).

[Latarian Milton]

it's not like the mavs could've won multiple rings even with TC tbh. they won the title that year but at the same time, they lost the ambition which drove them to the championship. they might still be a perennial playoff team w/ TC and kidd but it's gonna be hard for them to fight off the likes of spurs, clippers and OKC, not to say that you can't expect miami to step into the same ditch for a 2nd time tbh

[HarlemHeat37]

He's a top 25 guy, I wouldn't put him in the top 15, but I was vehemently against the move at the time and it looks even worse now..I have the urge to bump the hundreds of posts of my anti-Deron Williams arguments against his legion of fans here and all over the Internet..

Agreed with Findog about selling on Marion and Carter..Marion would still be a nice player for a contender, and Carter has been one of the best role players in the NBA during his Mavs tenure..I'm not sure about Marion's contract, but I wouldn't be surprised if a contender asked about either guy..

[Venti Quattro]

I have the urge to bump the hundreds of posts of my anti-Deron Williams arguments against his legion of fans here and all over the Internet..

LOL, if these posts were legal violations, I'd be in death row by now. I vehemently defended Deron

[TDMVPDPOY]

dirks injury didnt help either...

[Latarian Milton]

At the very least he's a top 25 player. He's an All Star. I wouldn't call him a #1 guy by any means but he is a foundational piece you build around and he plays a critical position. There are lots of scoring shooting guards and small forwards but very few players that can anchor a defense without being a complete liability of offense like Chandler. I get that Cuban didn't want to end up in salary cap hell with the new CBA so I don't blame him for letting Butler, JJB and Stevenson walk. Those guys were not worth bringing back because you can replace their production for less than what it would cost to keep them. But there aren't many centers like Chandler. Just a terrible, terrible mistake. They could have remained competitive through the rest of Dirk's contract. The Clips filled out their bench for cheap with veterans who wanted to play with CP3 and Griffin. Dallas could have been a similar attractive destination for ring-chasing vets with Dirk and Chandler, and when Dirk's contract was up, they could have used his slot to sign another star.
i guess if he hadn't resigned haywood to such a ludicrous contract, he would've probably taken the risk of giving TC the big contract he demanded, and apparently he didn't know he would get an amnesty provision to get rid of the contract whore, which he actually did. letting TC walk was a true blunder but i don't think they could've won another championship w/o such level of ambition they had during the 11' run, even if they had kept TC.

it's still a terrible mistake because, if you had kept TC in dallas, the mavs would've still been competing against the likes of memphis and denver for a seat in the playoffs, or maybe even the 2nd round, as opposed to being tied to mediocrity for years to come

[Clipper Nation]

amnesty marion and go after cp3, millsap, pekovic, bynum, and resign mayo
Why on Earth would CP3 leave a top 3 team in the West and take less money to play with an over-the-hill Dirk and always-injured Bynum?

[Findog]

Why on Earth would CP3 leave a top 3 team in the West and take less money to play with an over-the-hill Dirk and always-injured Bynum?

He won't. The new CBA makes it harder to sign away guys who get max offers from their current team. He'd be giving up an extra year and however much $$$ to play in Dallas.

Dallas needs to either bottom out and go with the OKC model and try to get Andrew Wiggins, or go with the Boston 08 model and stockpile assets to trade for stars in their prime.

[Latarian Milton]

He's a top 25 guy, I wouldn't put him in the top 15, but I was vehemently against the move at the time and it looks even worse now..I have the urge to bump the hundreds of posts of my anti-Deron Williams arguments against his legion of fans here and all over the Internet..

Agreed with Findog about selling on Marion and Carter..Marion would still be a nice player for a contender, and Carter has been one of the best role players in the NBA during his Mavs tenure..I'm not sure about Marion's contract, but I wouldn't be surprised if a contender asked about either guy..
i wouldn't consider TC one of the top players, but he's the guy you need most if your team is aimed at winning the championship imho. if you put TC on a scrub team (like the bobcats) he's no more than an average player, and that's why so many fuckheads criticised the deal when he first joined them mavs in 10' summer. quality bigs don't grow on trees, especially those who're willing to sacrifice their own stats for the good of his team. there might be other bigs with similar potential, like dalembert, but you don't always have such good luck to pick a piece of gold from dust tbh

[monosylab1k]

But it was a good move according to some of the Mavs regulars. A couple of us knew it was a mistake, and knew Cuban wasn't interested in paying for another ring.

It wasn't a good move but I can still see and understand Cuban's reasoning.

Before 2011, Chandler was an incredibly injury prone center who couldn't even start for the Bobcats. He was terrific in Dallas, but even then he was such a fouling machine that he'd have to sit for long stretches, and the last five minutes of every Mavs game was a stressful event since Tyson was almost always playing with five fouls.

At the time NOBODY could say definitively that he'd continue to play as well as he did in 2011 or that he'd stay as healthy as he has. You're a fucking liar if you say otherwise.

At that point Dwight Howard was also playing at an MVP level and, even with a healthy Chandler, would have been a massive upgrade. If you say you knew Dwight Howard would, in less than two years, devolve into an injury prone pussy, you're also a fucking liar.

You can LOL at Cuban for signing shittier centers to better deals, you can LOL Cuban for what, in hindsight, was absolutely a horrific decision. But you cannot seriously take him to task for thinking in 2011 "I have no idea if Tyson Chandler can stay this healthy again, nor do I have any clue if he can keep playing at this level. I also see a guy in Dwight Howard who at this moment is a significant upgrade and possibly available soon".

Yes, Cuban made a huge mistake, but don't act like he has fucking Bill Russell in his prime and dumped him for a shot at Tree Rollins.

[BRHornet45]

http://nbccollegebasketballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/marshall_hendersonauburn.gif


lol son the facial expression on the lonely brotha in the right hand corner says it all. this shit is great. when did this happen and what caused it?

[Findog]

It wasn't a good move but I can still see and understand Cuban's reasoning.

Before 2011, Chandler was an incredibly injury prone center who couldn't even start for the Bobcats. He was terrific in Dallas, but even then he was such a fouling machine that he'd have to sit for long stretches, and the last five minutes of every Mavs game was a stressful event since Tyson was almost always playing with five fouls.

At the time NOBODY could say definitively that he'd continue to play as well as he did in 2011 or that he'd stay as healthy as he has. You're a fucking liar if you say otherwise.

At that point Dwight Howard was also playing at an MVP level and, even with a healthy Chandler, would have been a massive upgrade. If you say you knew Dwight Howard would, in less than two years, devolve into an injury prone pussy, you're also a fucking liar.

You can LOL at Cuban for signing shittier centers to better deals, you can LOL Cuban for what, in hindsight, was absolutely a horrific decision. But you cannot seriously take him to task for thinking in 2011 "I have no idea if Tyson Chandler can stay this healthy again, nor do I have any clue if he can keep playing at this level. I also see a guy in Dwight Howard who at this moment is a significant upgrade and possibly available soon".

Yes, Cuban made a huge mistake, but don't act like he has fucking Bill Russell in his prime and dumped him for a shot at Tree Rollins.

My thinking at the time was that Chandler had already proven himself to be the best center in franchise history, warts and all. He had proven to be the missing piece of the Dirk years. Getting Howard to come here always struck me as a pipe dream. For me it's not trading in Bill Russell for a shot at Tree Rollins but getting rid of a BMW for a longshot chance at a Rolls Royce.

[HarlemHeat37]

It wasn't a good move but I can still see and understand Cuban's reasoning.

Before 2011, Chandler was an incredibly injury prone center who couldn't even start for the Bobcats. He was terrific in Dallas, but even then he was such a fouling machine that he'd have to sit for long stretches, and the last five minutes of every Mavs game was a stressful event since Tyson was almost always playing with five fouls.

At the time NOBODY could say definitively that he'd continue to play as well as he did in 2011 or that he'd stay as healthy as he has. You're a fucking liar if you say otherwise.

At that point Dwight Howard was also playing at an MVP level and, even with a healthy Chandler, would have been a massive upgrade. If you say you knew Dwight Howard would, in less than two years, devolve into an injury prone pussy, you're also a fucking liar.

You can LOL at Cuban for signing shittier centers to better deals, you can LOL Cuban for what, in hindsight, was absolutely a horrific decision. But you cannot seriously take him to task for thinking in 2011 "I have no idea if Tyson Chandler can stay this healthy again, nor do I have any clue if he can keep playing at this level. I also see a guy in Dwight Howard who at this moment is a significant upgrade and possibly available soon".

Yes, Cuban made a huge mistake, but don't act like he has fucking Bill Russell in his prime and dumped him for a shot at Tree Rollins.

I understand that logic, but do you think it makes sense for a team to potentially risk a promising title defense, in a league that lacks dominant teams, also knowing that the other top teams did not make any major moves?..

[Findog]

lol son the facial expression on the lonely brotha in the right hand corner says it all. this shit is great. when did this happen and what caused it?

Marshall Henderson plays for Ole Miss and is gaining quite a rep as an all-around weirdo. The backstory for that GIF is that he either hit a game-winning shot or sank some game-winning free throws to beat Auburn and then ran over to their student section to pop his jersey in front of them.

[monosylab1k]

I understand that logic, but do you think it makes sense for a team to potentially risk a promising title defense, in a league that lacks dominant teams, also knowing that the other top teams did not make any major moves?..

Blowing up a title team is a bad idea no matter what, but this instance, i don't think it was a case of Cuban being stupid as much as it was Cuban overthinking the situation. He saw Miami's Big 3, he saw Boston's, and there were rumors of LA, Brooklyn, and New York going out to form their own superstar team. He took a risk to try and keep up with those guys and he failed miserably. It looks awful in hindsight, but at the time his strategy wasn't nearly as stupid as people make it out to be.

It's also funny that the "2011 Mavs were a fluke" Krew is also in the "why did they blow up their title team?" Krew. If they were a fluke then why bring back the same flukey flukes?

[monosylab1k]

My thinking at the time was that Chandler had already proven himself to be the best center in franchise history, warts and all. He had proven to be the missing piece of the Dirk years. Getting Howard to come here always struck me as a pipe dream. For me it's not trading in Bill Russell for a shot at Tree Rollins but getting rid of a BMW for a longshot chance at a Rolls Royce.

That's fine, but what if that BMW had a long history of being unreliable? Are you seriously going to just assume it won't break down again?

[Findog]

Blowing up a title team is a bad idea no matter what, but this instance, i don't think it was a case of Cuban being stupid as much as it was Cuban overthinking the situation. He saw Miami's Big 3, he saw Boston's, and there were rumors of LA, Brooklyn, and New York going out to form their own superstar team. He took a risk to try and keep up with those guys and he failed miserably. It looks awful in hindsight, but at the time his strategy wasn't nearly as stupid as people make it out to be.

It's also funny that the "2011 Mavs were a fluke" Krew is also in the "why did they blow up their title team?" Krew.

I tend to agree that in this instance Cuban outsmarted himself and overthought things. And I don't see what can be done to the roster this summer to get back into title contention for the last year of Dirk's contract.

[Findog]

That's fine, but what if that BMW had a long history of being unreliable? Are you seriously going to just assume it won't break down again?

At the time Chandler had played 10 years in the L and had managed to play 71+ games in seven of them. I think it was a risk worth taking, considering he was only 28 years old. He played in 74 games for the Mavs after averaging 48 games the previous two for Charlotte and New Orleans.

[Findog]

I mean, they got roasted over the coals for letting a 31 year old Nash walk because they were scared of his injury profile. And Nash was a guy who played a position easier to fill and hadn't led them to a title. Chandler was three years younger, played a position a lot harder to fill and was the second-most important player on a championship team.

[DMC]

The fact that Cubes didn't express interested early on in offering TC a contract is, imo, what drove him to be disinterested in Dallas. Dude was on a one year, came in and won the chip, didn't get any love for it. I think Cuban is smarter than that, I think he's much more savvy than anyone here, and he knew from the start he wasn't resigning the guy. The title was not expected, and he wasn't going to get into a long contract with a guy OKC declined. OKC fucked up. No one talks about that.

[DMC]

At the time Chandler had played 10 years in the L and had managed to play 71+ games in seven of them. I think it was a risk worth taking, considering he was only 28 years old. He played in 74 games for the Mavs after averaging 48 games the previous two for Charlotte and New Orleans.

You have to look at what TC was asking for though. Superstar money imo.

[Findog]

You have to look at what TC was asking for though. Superstar money imo.

4/58 was reasonable IMO. Isn't that what he got?

[TDMVPDPOY]

You have to look at what TC was asking for though. Superstar money imo.

his not worth max money, let alone whatever his seeking...for a guy who can only anchor a team defense and nothing else on the offensive end, cant even self create his own shot..

good defender, but nothing special...even tosb duncan is earning 13m a season...that should sound reasonable price range for TC

[Findog]

his not worth max money, let alone whatever his seeking...for a guy who can only anchor a team defense and nothing else on the offensive end, cant even self create his own shot..

good defender, but nothing special...even tosb duncan is earning 13m a season...that should sound reasonable price range for TC

WTF are you talking about? He shoots 67% from the floor. He scores enough that defenses can't completely ignore him. He's not Ben Wallace.

[TDMVPDPOY]

WTF are you talking about? He shoots 67% from the floor. He scores enough that defenses can't completely ignore him. He's not Ben Wallace.

no defender without an offensive game will be gettin max deal, unless u have a stupid gm

[Findog]

no defender without an offensive game will be gettin max deal, unless u have a stupid gm

He has an offensive rating of 137 with a usage rate of 13 percent. He's worth the deal he got.

[monosylab1k]

At the time Chandler had played 10 years in the L and had managed to play 71+ games in seven of them. I think it was a risk worth taking, considering he was only 28 years old. He played in 74 games for the Mavs after averaging 48 games the previous two for Charlotte and New Orleans.

His imjuries were all foot injuries, which imo is not something to gloss over with a 7 footer.

[Latarian Milton]

Blowing up a title team is a bad idea no matter what, but this instance, i don't think it was a case of Cuban being stupid as much as it was Cuban overthinking the situation. He saw Miami's Big 3, he saw Boston's, and there were rumors of LA, Brooklyn, and New York going out to form their own superstar team. He took a risk to try and keep up with those guys and he failed miserably. It looks awful in hindsight, but at the time his strategy wasn't nearly as stupid as people make it out to be.

It's also funny that the "2011 Mavs were a fluke" Krew is also in the "why did they blow up their title team?" Krew. If they were a fluke then why bring back the same flukey flukes?
mono attacking with the truth bombs. if the 2011' championship was a real fluke, then they had no "title team" to blow up because the team was never really that good in the first place. seeing all shits that happened around the league and that seemed about to happen, cuban did the right thing in trying to keep his team competitive in the league and i don't have no doubt about his love for this team. it was a gamble and the mavs lost it unfortunately, but they're at least in a good position to start rebuilding imho.

[Latarian Milton]

I mean, they got roasted over the coals for letting a 31 year old Nash walk because they were scared of his injury profile. And Nash was a guy who played a position easier to fill and hadn't led them to a title. Chandler was three years younger, played a position a lot harder to fill and was the second-most important player on a championship team.
cuban just got deluded by the triple D dream imho :cry

[DMC]

I think the Chandler deal was fueled by the Decision, everyone wanted to cash in and be center stage, as much as possible. Chandler, Nene, Gasol...

[TDMVPDPOY]

mono attacking with the truth bombs. if the 2011' championship was a real fluke, then they had no "title team" to blow up because the team was never really that good in the first place. seeing all shits that happened around the league and that seemed about to happen, cuban did the right thing in trying to keep his team competitive in the league and i don't have no doubt about his love for this team. it was a gamble and the mavs lost it unfortunately, but they're at least in a good position to start rebuilding imho.

but u didnt really need a big 3 to win against a big 3...as shown by the mavs that year...yes they fcked up trying to assemble their own big 3...

but if you look at any big 3 team that has assembled, all you need is a strong structured team and you can pushed them to a longer series...for example look at heat and celtics who were getting pushed by the likes of the hawks, knicks, pacers to longer series then expected...

[DMC]

his not worth max money, let alone whatever his seeking...for a guy who can only anchor a team defense and nothing else on the offensive end, cant even self create his own shot..

good defender, but nothing special...even tosb duncan is earning 13m a season...that should sound reasonable price range for TC

Well, with a lockout looming and not knowing what the rules were going to be, and wanting to save cap space for Howard, CP3 or DWill, no long term contract was in the cards for TC. Dallas wanted (still wants) another franchise player to take over when Dirk retires. They don't want another Haywood ordeal. They got nothing, probably cost them more in the long run but hindsight is 20/20.

[Latarian Milton]

The fact that Cubes didn't express interested early on in offering TC a contract is, imo, what drove him to be disinterested in Dallas. Dude was on a one year, came in and won the chip, didn't get any love for it. I think Cuban is smarter than that, I think he's much more savvy than anyone here, and he knew from the start he wasn't resigning the guy. The title was not expected, and he wasn't going to get into a long contract with a guy OKC declined. OKC fucked up. No one talks about that.
agree, dude was in the last year of his contract and he was supposed to player a bit better. cuban just refused to give him a long contract for the fear of having too much money wasted at C, when haywood had already proved himself to be a contract whore.

[DMC]

cuban just got deluded by the triple D dream imho :cry

He got caught up in wanting a super team like Miami, Boston and LA. Nothing wrong with that, but no one will convince me Mark Cuban didn't prefer that risk over putting franchise level money on a horse that had one good year (at the time). I knew Chandler was good from his Hornets days because the Spurs played them in the playoffs and he was solid, but he did more for Dallas than I expected him to tbh. Dirk was the real beast though, he really regressed the following season, came in weak as fuck, had to take more time off just to recondition.

[TDMVPDPOY]

He got caught up in wanting a super team like Miami, Boston and LA. Nothing wrong with that, but no one will convince me Mark Cuban didn't prefer that risk over putting franchise level money on a horse that had one good year (at the time). I knew Chandler was good from his Hornets days because the Spurs played them in the playoffs and he was solid, but he did more for Dallas than I expected him to tbh. Dirk was the real beast though, he really regressed the following season, came in weak as fuck, had to take more time off just to recondition.

the problem was dirk the last 2 seasons, maybe had mavs resigned the championship roster, dirk wouldve come back with a different mindset...

if clowns like kidd and tc left for NY cause of the money and winning a championship, the same couldve been said if they sign on with the mavs to win another..

even that clown terry had the mindset of winning another one when he signed with the celtics with that stupid celtics tattoo...

all 3 of them had the mindset that they were set to win more championships with there new teams, they wouldve had the same approach if the mavs decided to resign them...they were still a contender if they kept the roster

[Latarian Milton]

He got caught up in wanting a super team like Miami, Boston and LA. Nothing wrong with that, but no one will convince me Mark Cuban didn't prefer that risk over putting franchise level money on a horse that had one good year (at the time). I knew Chandler was good from his Hornets days because the Spurs played them in the playoffs and he was solid, but he did more for Dallas than I expected him to tbh. Dirk was the real beast though, he really regressed the following season, came in weak as fuck, had to take more time off just to recondition.

just like i said before, the loss of ambition has hurt the team more than the departure of any single player, whether its chandler or kidd. they were desperate to win the title in 11 but such appetite was completely gone after they won the championship, similar to the 08' celtics imho. celtics were still a good team after 08' but they never looked a serious championship contender w/o the ambition that won them the 08' title

[DMC]

just like i said before, the loss of ambition has hurt the team more than the departure of any single player, whether its chandler or kidd. they were desperate to win the title in 11 but such appetite was completely gone after they won the championship, similar to the 08' celtics imho. celtics were still a good team after 08' but they never looked a serious championship contender w/o the ambition that won them the 08' title

Total lack of ubuntu

[Tuddy]

Don't understand how someone who can't put the ball in the hoop without help could even be a top 50 player

[Latarian Milton]

At the time Chandler had played 10 years in the L and had managed to play 71+ games in seven of them. I think it was a risk worth taking, considering he was only 28 years old. He played in 74 games for the Mavs after averaging 48 games the previous two for Charlotte and New Orleans.
TC was the defensive anchor for the 11' team and it should've been their 1st priority of the summer to keep his service in dallas, but i can understand cuban's concerns. TC was in his last year of his contract and he suffered foot injuries the years before, so there were realistic risks of him turning complete shit after signing a long contract, like the 7'6 garbage who had rarely suited up for his team since signing the big contract in houston, when he had only missed a total of 5 games through his first 3 years in NBA.

cuban had the chance to make up a triple D dynasty in dallas by not re-signing TC and even though his triple D attempt miserably failed, the team still has the financial flexibility to acquire some amazing talents this year or next. just imagine what a terrible scenario it would've been if he had re-signed TC and TC turned out to be another yao, and you will realize that cuban just picked the option of lower risk imho. i would've probably made the same decision if i were in his position tbh

[Mal]

Chandler is the reason, why Melo and Knicks are on top of the east, rather than fighting for 5th spot.

But still, Nowitzki + Chandler would be at best WCSF bound.

[rayjayjohnson]

Deron Williams is shooting 41 percent from the floor. You definitely want to throw max money at that and lock that up.
:lol

[rayjayjohnson]

Zach Lowe says Tyson Chandler is one of the top 15 players in the league.
Zach Lowe also works for Bill Simmons, so he can't be THAT good a judge of quality...

[benefactor]

This is one of those situations where there are just too many variables involved to point at this or that and say it was the right move. Mono and DMC's points are key in leading to Cuban overthinking the situation...with the biggest being he'd been burned on the big men he overpaid before coupled with Chandler having an injury history.

All in all, it could have wound up much worse. The Mavs wound up with a ring. That in itself trumps all else.

[8FOR!3]

Other than Duncan, Tyson Chandler might be the most valuable center in the league this year. He's the reason why the Knicks are having the season they're having. Sure, there's other factors (notably Carmelo,) but he plays hard.

[cjw]

Why on Earth would CP3 leave a top 3 team in the West and take less money to play with an over-the-hill Dirk and always-injured Bynum?

Assuming you could even dump Marion into a trade exception or for an expiring deal, Mavs have $28 million committed for next season without Mayo (assuming he terminates early). How on earth would you afford five guys of that level into $30 million? Maybe you can assume Mayo gets signed under the mid-level exception. CP3 will take at least $15 million of that, but more likely 30% of the cap ($17.5). Bynum and Pekovic will each cost at least $12.5 million. So with that, you're left without Millsap and one of the other guys.

On top of that, what on earth are you going to do with four guys who play the 4/5? I guess Millsap can slide to the three. More likely, the Mavs target 2014-15 when Dirk can sign for a Duncan/Garnett-like contract and fit one more big piece onto the roster.

[BUMP]

It wasn't a good move but I can still see and understand Cuban's reasoning.

Before 2011, Chandler was an incredibly injury prone center who couldn't even start for the Bobcats. He was terrific in Dallas, but even then he was such a fouling machine that he'd have to sit for long stretches, and the last five minutes of every Mavs game was a stressful event since Tyson was almost always playing with five fouls.

At the time NOBODY could say definitively that he'd continue to play as well as he did in 2011 or that he'd stay as healthy as he has. You're a fucking liar if you say otherwise.

At that point Dwight Howard was also playing at an MVP level and, even with a healthy Chandler, would have been a massive upgrade. If you say you knew Dwight Howard would, in less than two years, devolve into an injury prone pussy, you're also a fucking liar.

You can LOL at Cuban for signing shittier centers to better deals, you can LOL Cuban for what, in hindsight, was absolutely a horrific decision. But you cannot seriously take him to task for thinking in 2011 "I have no idea if Tyson Chandler can stay this healthy again, nor do I have any clue if he can keep playing at this level. I also see a guy in Dwight Howard who at this moment is a significant upgrade and possibly available soon".

Yes, Cuban made a huge mistake, but don't act like he has fucking Bill Russell in his prime and dumped him for a shot at Tree Rollins.

Not to mention that the 11 Mavs got hot at the right time and made a ton of clutch plays, it's not like they were some dominant juggernaut. With the age of Kidd, Terry, Dirk, Peja and the inevitability of Miami getting even better, Cuban decided to take a year off and try to get Dwight Howard which in theory would keep the Mavs title contenders for a longer period of time.

[da_suns_fan]

This guy does a much better job explaining why Tyson Chandler is so extraordinary much better than I ever could:

http://www.thenbageek.com/

Tyson Chandler is shooting almost 70%, is a rebounding machine, never turns it over and is a big reason the Knicks have won a lot of games.

[Findog]

Zach Lowe also works for Bill Simmons, so he can't be THAT good a judge of quality...

I think Zach Lowe is one of, if not the best, basketball writers out there right now. He watches a shit-ton of basketball. I trust his takes. I think it's pretty cool that he gets access to a wide audience through Grantland. Simmon's basketball takes are entertaining more than they are informative, but Lowe is great.