Mavericks dodge the draft

Last night's NBA draft was a waste of time, yet again, for the Dallas Mavericks. They drafted two players, Rodrigue Beaubois and Nick Calathes, both whose real NBA value is completely unknown, and who, if they ever can contribute, will do so as Dirk Nowitzki is about to retire. And neither of them is, by any stretch of the imagination, a Dirk replacement.

However, I've been hearing all these reports about teams who are trying to unload salary. It's obvious that's what Phoenix is doing be trading Shaquille O'Neal and, any moment now, Amare Stoudemire. The Mavericks have good bargaining chips, so I'm told by the NBA's financial gurus, in the contracts of Jerry Stackouse and Erik Dampier (although I have yet to be convinced Dampier's contract is as appealing as the local media would like you to believe). So why not sweeten the pot by throwing in one, if not both, of the players the Mavericks drafted last night to get some better talent from a team looking to totally rebuild?

Of course, you still have another problem. With Amare, Richard Jefferson, Shaq, Vince Carter already off the table, who's left out there? The only player I like out there who could really upgrade the Mavericks is Trevor Ariza and I don't think the Lakers are ready to give him up.

But with San Antonio, Denver, Houston, Oklahoma City and Golden State haven already improved their teams going into next season, the Mavericks must do something to remain competitive.

UPDATE: Just finished talking with a friend in New York who follows the Nets closely. He told me the Vince Carter trade was designed to give the Nets salary room they need to actively pursue LaBron James next summer. But the important thing he said was the addition of Carter to the Magic made Hedo Turkoglu expendable. Now there's someone who could make the Mavericks better if we could sign him as a free agent.