MavsFanForLife

A Few Losses, Big Trade, Goodbye Josh Howard

So I’ve been lacking in the updates. So the Mavericks had a few losses, actually losing like 5 of their last 7games. But now, a big 7 player trade occurred right before the All-Star weekend where the Mavs sent Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross to the Wizards for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson.

I really like this trade and I think we got the better players out of the deal, especially with the ailing Josh Howard who’s been injured prone for the past two seasons, who seems to not care as much nowadays about his playing ability. I did like Drew Gooden but I figured he was picked up at the beginning of the season for this exact reasoning, to trade or deal in a multi-player trade.

Caron Butler brings on a healthy starter for the Mavericks, who averages what Josh did for us before injuries started sidelining him. Haywood was the leading rebounder for the Wizards, so I already think that’s a plus. He can likely replace Dampier as our starting center, putting up good numbers and even better numbers than Dampier. He also played at UNC during college, that’s always a plus for me since that’s my college team.

So let’s hope these guys can help the Mavericks for the remainder of the season, stay healthy and give us the needed boost and confidence in the playoffs this season. Perhaps with these additions, the Mavs are the new team to beat.

Mavs Pick Up Gooden

Free agent power forward Drew Gooden agreed to a one year deal worth 4.5 million with the Mavs. He narrowed his choices down to Dallas, Charlotte and Cleveland but ultimately chose the Mavericks.

The Mavericks missed the opportunity to pick up Gortat as the Magic matched their offer, keeping Gortat in Orlando. With Odom out of reach due to salary cap space, Drew Gordon if healthy is a good pickup to play alongside Kidd, Marion, and Nowitzki.  He’ll probably see more playing time as center, especially since most of the bigger big men are all now playing in the Eastern Conference.

Gooden averaged 11.9 points and 7.1 rebounds for 3 teams last season. Let’s just hope he stays healthy so he can contribute such numbers for the Mavericks as they tool around with their lineup this offseason.