From July 31st --DMN-- registration required (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/080105dnspomavslede.7fe4595.html)
Mavs probably won't find their man
10:15 PM CDT on Sunday, July 31, 2005
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
Engagements will turn into marriages Tuesday when the NBA's moratorium on player movement ends at 11 a.m. and free agents can make good on their promises to join new teams or return to original ones.
Question: What will be waiting at the altar for the Mavericks?
A frenzy of signatures will hit the dotted line as soon as the rules allow. But the local market will be filled with something less than perfect-10 acquisitions. In fact, free agency probably isn't the Mavericks' No. 1 priority.
That would be the Michael Finley situation. While deciding on how to use their $5 million salary cap exception is important, the top issue is whether they will waive Finley under terms of the amnesty provision of the newly minted collective bargaining agreement, or whether they will trade him for players with expiring contracts.
Either way, Finley will be a former Maverick by Aug. 15, the deadline to exercise the amnesty clause.
Trade possibilities exist, but the returns would be marginal. New York appears to have legitimate interest as Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown begin remaking the Knicks. It's possible they would explore swapping Anfernee Hardaway or Tim Thomas for Finley.
Hardaway ($15.75 million) and Thomas ($13.975 million) have contracts that expire this season and both would match Finley's salary this season ($15.938 million) in trade scenarios.
Orlando and Indiana, rumored as potential trade destinations for Finley, are believed to be out of the running.
As for the second priority, the Mavericks hope to use their $5 million salary slot. But it won't be easy, considering what is left on the free-agent market.
The Mavericks have maintained since their summer began that their best chance to improve is from within. Given the way the free-agent buffet has been picked over, that seems truer than ever.
"We have one bullet to use," said president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson. "We want to make sure that we use it wisely, perhaps on more than one player."
The exception can be broken up into as many pieces as the team wants. Many teams have used their exception already. Houston will sign Stromile Swift with its exception, and Phoenix will use all of its exception on Raja Bell.
Ideally, the Mavericks hope to break up their exception and use it on two players.
Their most pressing needs are at the swing positions (small forward and shooting guard), where Finley's departure will leave a void, and backup center, although the Mavericks are happy with the improvements this summer of second-year project D.J. Mbenga.
Steven Hunter of Phoenix could be a possibility if the Mavericks sign a big man. Among swingmen, they would be looking at players such as Ronald "Flip" Murray or Jason Kapono.
They also need a third point guard, but Marquis Daniels' play this summer, plus the possibility of Darrell Armstrong returning, makes that less of an issue.
The Western Conference – tough already with San Antonio and Phoenix clearly a notch above the Mavericks – will get tougher. Phoenix traded for New York's Kurt Thomas and will pick up Bell. The Spurs have agreed to hold onto their primary free agent, Robert Horry, and added Fabricio Oberto.
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