After two full weeks of NBA free agency, the big names and big dollars continue to dwindle.
Just ask SheridanHoops’ Mighty Moke — his free agent rankings have atrophied from 50 to 25, and have just turned to 24 as the Mavericks have come to terms with No. 2 on Moke’s list, Monta Ellis. According to ESPN Dallas:
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in an email Saturday that Ellis has agreed to a three-year deal worth at least $25 million, according to sources close to the process.
While there is no doubt about Ellis’ talent, there is doubt to how valuable of a player he is in today’s NBA, which is why he found himself without a deal for nearly two weeks despite averaging 19 points and six assists and nearly four rebounds last season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Ellis will get the $10 million per year he was seeking entering free agency (depending on who you ask), the bigger question is — aside from where the Mavericks are going — is who he was negotiating with? By the looks of Mark Cuban’s twitter, it likely wasn’t him, as he is preparing for a fifth season of Shark Tank.
While Cuban has been diving into the Shark Tank, the Mavericks have been treading water.
For the second consecutive offseason, they have failed to surround Dirk Nowitzki with a contending team. After letting Tyson Chandler walk away from a championship team in 2011 in order to pursue Deron Williams last offseason, they struck out. Their solution was to fill the roster with one-year contracts in order to perserve room for Dwight Howard.
You know how that ended.
After striking out again on Andrew Bynum, the Mavericks are a brutal 0-for-3 in the last two years and are looking at another uninspiring season of contending for the 8th-seed in a loaded Western Conference.
As well as Ellis, the Mavericks have also added Jose Calderon, Devin Harris, Shane Larkin, Ricky Ledo and Wayne Ellington to the guard postion, raising questions as to what direction the team is heading.
While it is fair to be optimistic about the development of Larkin and Ledo, it would not be smart to label them as “sure-things.” And giving $25 and $30 million to Ellis and Calderon over the next few years likely does not leave the backcourt open for them to develop, or add more high draft picks.
While the Dallas Mavericks continue to tread water, the sharks are circling.
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.