LOL, Cuban pays Damp 7yrs/$73M

[playstation]

so let me get this straight:

he pays 73M over 7 years for a 30 yr old who has had one good season (12/12)

but he refused to pay 60M over 6 for a multiple time all-star 30 yr old, because THAT would be overpaying???

and don't give me the 'good centers are hard to find' argument, because good point guards are equally hard to find. he will discover this reality in the coming season.

 

[cepstrum]

so let me get this straight:

he pays 73M over 7 years for a 30 yr old who has had one good season (12/12)

but he refused to pay 60M over 6 for a multiple time all-star 30 yr old, because THAT would be overpaying???

and don't give me the 'good centers are hard to find' argument, because good point guards are equally hard to find. he will discover this reality in the coming season.

HOLY CRAP. He gave damp a 7 year contract at over 10 mill a year??? Doesnt he realize what happened with Shawn Bradley and Raef Lafrentz among others.

 

[elindholm]

So what's the final score on the Dampier/Okur salary comparison? What figure does each player start at?

 

[Mainstreet]

If Dampier does not work out, he will be near impossible to move to another team with this salary. At least when the the Suns signed Steve Nash, they acquired a proven commodity for less money and less years. He also will make every other player on the Suns team better.

Also as Nash plays with his smarts, not just his athletic ability, he should have a prolonged career like John Stockton. Additionally in Nash, the Suns acquired a deadly outside outside shooter, which should help open up things inside. In the Olympics the importance of shooting has really been magnified.

 

[Gaddabout]

The bad news is this sets an awful precedent for center salaries.

 

[scoutmasterdave]

This is some funny stuff - I though, albeit briefly, that Cuban was entering a "fiscal responsibility" phase. There is NO WAY I'd have given Erick Dampier a 7 year deal (not to mention $70 million United States dollars). Unbelievable.

And he was worried about giving Nash 6 years? Riiiiight.... :roll:

 

[AmareFan]

I am convinced that Cuban went to the Isiah Thomas school of signing bad players for alot of money...or he's sniffing cocain with Thomas..you decide..man, did the Suns do well this off season..I will take Hunter over an overpaid, old, great only one year Dampier.

 

[Cheesebeef]

you guys are bashing this move - but I think wihtout a doubt, this move bumps the Mavs ahead of us. Steve Nash may have been an important part to that team - but he's not the heart and soul - That is Dirk - and they have a couple guys to fill in decently at the point with Devin Harris, Daniels and Terry.

Finley, Dirk and Dampier - that front line will destroy us. Even though I like our moves this offseason - I really fear they weren't even enough to get us back to the playoffs - how sad is that. It really all depends on Amare and personally I thinkhe's at least another year away from truly impacting this club the way we'll need him to to compete at a serious level.

 

[hafey2]

I think you are overrating dampier a little bit, but I think before the Dampier shoe dropped, we (or atleast I) felt making the playoffs would be a battle. The west is that tough and the Suns are that young.

 

[George O'Brien]

Why is it that everyone gets shocked that centers are being paid so much. Yes Dampier has only had one high level season and he's 30, but if Boozer is worth $68 million, Camby is worth $65 million, Okur is worth $50 million, Sheed Wallace gets $57 million over five, and Foyle gets $41.6 over five years - then Dampier getting that much is hardly shocking.

This is clearly a case of "the future is now" deal. They sent Eduardo Najera, forward Christian Laettner, rookie guard Luis Flores, forward Mladen Sekularac and two first-round picks to the Golden State Warriors for Dampier, center Evan Eschmeyer and guard Dan Dickau. This means they did not give up a core player for a starting center. Every other team was being asked to give up starting quality players to make that deal work, so it makes real short term sense.

However, if the Mavs don't compete for the championship in the next couple of years they are in big trouble, because they don't have many expiring contracts coming up.

 

[playstation]

you're right, i think dallas will have a better record at the end of the year than the suns. of course, that's not why you play the game. you play to win a title, and not only does cuban now have a team with several aging key players (damp, finley, stack), but I think we can agree that they aren't going to win a title. Not only that, but cubes has put himself in a position that many of his contracts are no longer assets, since they last so long and are large overpayments. So he's got an exceptionately large payroll, good but not great team, and little chance of improvement.

the suns on the other hand have an average payroll, good but not great team, and large chance of improvement (both because of young players and contracts that work as trade commodities).

that being said, I like josh howard & marquis daniels, and if they play very well, and if damp plays like last year, and terry stops being selfish, and nowitzki plays out of his mind, they might have a chance...

 

[Cheesebeef]

you're right, i think dallas will have a better record at the end of the year than the suns. of course, that's not why you play the game. you play to win a title, and not only does cuban now have a team with several aging key players (damp, finley, stack), but I think we can agree that they aren't going to win a title. Not only that, but cubes has put himself in a position that many of his contracts are no longer assets, since they last so long and are large overpayments. So he's got an exceptionately large payroll, good but not great team, and little chance of improvement.

the suns on the other hand have an average payroll, good but not great team, and large chance of improvement (both because of young players and contracts that work as trade commodities).

but here's the rub - and one that worries me a lot about this club - our "average" payroll is gonna be SKYHIGH after this year - with extensions likely given to both Amare and JJ - and then our payroll won't be as workable. And in a couple years when the Mavs likely won't have a better record than us - Nash will be 32 or 33 and likely on the downside of his career. People wnat to compare him to Stockton, but Stockton was much tougher and much more durable than Nash was at this stage of the game. I mean could imagine Stock at age 30 being asked to only 60% of the game? My fear is that by the time our youth has aged appropriately, our age - will be drifting into over the hill land. We'll see.

 

[Mainstreet]

Originally posted by playstation

and don't give me the 'good centers are hard to find' argument, because good point guards are equally hard to find. he will discover this reality in the coming season.

I think playstation was right. I'm sure Dallas may find that Nash was much more important to their offense than they thought as did Phoenix with Kidd.

Yes, it is hard for me to give Jason Kidd credit after the way he parted Phoenix and the comments and jestures he made afterwards.

I guess watching the Olympics makes me even more appreciative of what a great point guard can do. Sadly for me (even if the US team wins the gold) the flaws in Marbury and Iverson's game as point guards has really been exposed.

 

[Mainstreet]

This is clearly a case of "the future is now" deal. They sent Eduardo Najera, forward Christian Laettner, rookie guard Luis Flores, forward Mladen Sekularac and two first-round picks to the Golden State Warriors for Dampier, center Evan Eschmeyer and guard Dan Dickau. This means they did not give up a core player for a starting center. Every other team was being asked to give up starting quality players to make that deal work, so it makes real short term sense.

The Mavs may not have given up a core player to get Dampier, but they are certainly weaker because they gave up a core player in free agency in Nash.
If the Mavs are a better team than the Phoenix Suns it will be because of a player named Dirk Nowitzki.

 

[scotsman13]

Nash will be 32 or 33 and likely on the downside of his career. People wnat to compare him to Stockton, but Stockton was much tougher and much more durable than Nash was at this stage of the game. I mean could imagine Stock at age 30 being asked to only 60% of the game? My fear is that by the time our youth has aged appropriately, our age - will be drifting into over the hill land. We'll see.

cheese i personally dont think that nash value is for making a championship run. i think his value is to help teach the team how to play team ball and to bring a team first view to this team. in the end it will be barbosa who will be the starting point guard of this team with nash coming off the bench when this team makes a championship run.

the key parts of this team is amare 21, jj 24, marion 26, q 24, barbosa 21, and lampe 19, and maybe just maybe hunter and vroman at 22 and 23 plus our lottery pick from chicago. you bring others (aka nash and williams) in to help these guys develop the right feel for the game. at that time nash and or williams or any other vet out there including dampier would have because a bench player or an ir warmer waiting to happen. i am counting around 3 years from now before this team reachs for the stars but they should be in the playoffs this year.

 

[elindholm]

So what's the final score on the Dampier/Okur salary comparison? What figure does each player start at?

I don't think we have exact numbers, but it looks like Okur starts at maybe $7 million and Dampier at maybe $9 million.

F-Dog, do you want call our bet a draw?

 

[playstation]

George -

I find your logic to be an enigma wrapped in a conundrum

Why the hell would you let your star pg walk for nothing, then make a 'future is now' trade???

Make no mistake, from a basketball standpoint, Cuban could've had Nash AND Damp (or maybe even pulled off that Shaq deal), and at that point we ARE talking Dallas for a title run.

Not only that, but reading on blogmaverick.com, Cuban says the letting go of Nash was a basketball and economic decision. The perplexing part is not that Dampier got that kind of money, because as you've made exceedingly clear, centers get paid like strippers at Skin. However, to refuse to pay Nash for reasons X,Y,Z and then promptly signing Dampier to a LARGER contract despite even more potential pitfalls than re-signing Nash?

So basically, my point is that Cuban knew that he made a mistake letting Nash go, he needs the team competitive, this was a good deal from a basketball perspective, and he did it partially to compensate for the loss of Nash. He did what he had to do, but this isn't going to make up for losing the long-haired one.

 

[NJYAJ09]

What an idiot move by cuban.


7 years?

What the hell will dampier be doing years 4-7?

 

[devilalum]

What an idiot move by cuban.


7 years?

What the hell will dampier be doing years 4-7?

Dampier's got his money what makes you think he'll do anything years 1-3?
I bet he misses 35 games this year due to turf toe.

 

[scoutmasterdave]

You've got to give a lot of credit to Dampier, though. He didn't do anything rash and, say, take the Knicks' one-year MLE offer, or take Atlanta's 3-year deal. He waited it out, worked it a little, and got more than he dreamed, I'm sure. He's looking like a genius for opting out of his current deal - he's making more money per year, and got a m-f-ing 7-year deal. Crazy...

 

[George O'Brien]

The Suns will end up with a payroll in the mid '60's, but unless I'm missing something I don't see them getting into the kind of problems the Mavs and Knicks have.

The problem the Mavs have is not just that they have a huge payroll, but that they are paying a lot to guys who aren't doing much. For example:

Shawn Bradley played an average of 11.7 minutes and has four more years starting at $4 million.

Tariq Abdul-Wahad had no minutes last season and played only 14 games in 2002-03. He has three more years starting at $6.75 million.

Calvin Booth averaged only 17 minutes a game with Seattle but has three more years starting at $5.9 million.

Evan Eschameyer has three more years starting $3.1 million. He last played in 2002-03 for 17 games and the Mavs only hope is that he will be forced to retire due to injuries.

These guys are terribly overpaid and all but impossible to unload except for an equally bad contract. But even some of their other players are pretty overpaid. For example, Jerry Stackhouse played in only 26 games last season, shot 39.9% and scored 13.4 ppg, but has three more years starting at $7 million and will be 30 in November.

Paying a lot of money for effective players is not what kills you. They always have trade value if nothing else. What kills you is paying a lot of money for guys who are either injured or not very good.

 

[PhxGametime]

PG - Jason Terry and Devin Harris
SG - Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard
SF - [Michael Finley] and Jerry Stackhouse

C - Erick Dampier

Mavs have added athleticism and improved defense in 2 years...

 

[devilalum]

Tariq Abdul-Wahad had no minutes last season and played only 14 games in 2002-03. He has three more years starting at $6.75 million.

And who said Eisley was untradable?

 

[elindholm]

One funny thing now is that the Mavericks have six centers on their roster (Dampier, Booth, Bradley, Eschmeyer, Podkolzin, and Ilunga-Mbenga), none of whom has an expiring contract this year. I'll bet one or two of them could be had pretty cheaply by a team with cap room.

 

[cepstrum]

One funny thing now is that the Mavericks have six centers on their roster (Dampier, Booth, Bradley, Eschmeyer, Podkolzin, and Ilunga-Mbenga), none of whom has an expiring contract this year. I'll bet one or two of them could be had pretty cheaply by a team with cap room.

That is probably true, but none of the available ones would be wanted by any team. Those include Booth, Bradley, and Eschmeyer. The other three are not gonna be given up.