AJ wanted to deal Dirk after last years playoffs?

[westkoast]

According to an infallible source, the Mavericks' coach (Avery Johnson) pressed team owner Mark Cuban to deal Dirk Nowitzki after the NBA's MVP came up shamefully small against the Warriors in last season's upsetting first-round elimination, but was overruled.

Johnson's ideal leader is supposed to offer positive guidance and counsel on and off the court, as well as in and out of church. That disqualifies Jason Kidd. Still, one sphere of influence is better than none. Convinced a championship is otherwise beyond capture, Avery compromised his primary concern.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/features/rumors?&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2ffeatures%2frumors


What do you guys think?  Should they have done it and who could they have gotten in return?

[WayOutWest]

Dirk should not be traded unless Dirk himself demands it.  I doubt the Mavs would have got KG, TD or Howard so they would not got equal value in return.  There really isn't another franchise big man out there that brings what Dirk brings to the table.  I don't know if it is a matter of time before Dirk becomes that cold blooded killer or if he just doesn't have it in him.  Dirk definately has his shortcommings as a leader and crunch time performance but this stats in the 4th speak otherwise.

Tough to trade a talent like Dirk in his prime.

[JoMal]

For his size, there are few more talented players in the NBA (Garnett? Duncan?) and none of them can shoot long-range like Dirk can.

But lead a team? Typical Euro-junk on that point. Johnson saw that last season, and in particular in the playoffs against Miami. You can not now, or ever, play games of this caliber leaning on Nowiski as your floor leader, period.

So Johnson wanted him gone. A more reasonable alternative was given him by Cuban, which was to instead bring a leader to Dirk. For all his failings, being a floor leader is NOT one of Jason Kidd's. He can let Dirk be who he is and lead the team as Avery Johnson understands that concept.

[Joe Vancil]

I heard that Avery was asking for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, and 2 first round draft picks.

[WayOutWest]

I heard that Avery was asking for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, and 2 first round draft picks.

Old news Joe!  The Lakers were looking for someone as soft as a cream puff, they were NOT willing to settle for someone as soft as a marshmelo.