Grading the Non-Deal

One of the more popular thing for sports website to do these days is to "grade the deal" when a trade is made. Said websites will look over a recent trade in any of the sports and judge who came out of the deal on top. Being the trade/free agent/draft nut that I am, I tend to read a lot of these pieces. I'd like to take on this concept tonight. However, I'd like to grade the deal that DIDN'T happen.

Various reports I heard and read today informed us that the Mavericks and Clippers had recently engaged in some trade talk. The focus of the discussion was on Jason Kidd and some of the Clippers excessively expensive players. The Clippers, being the Clippers, are low on cash and apparently aren't happy with having so many big contract players while winning only 11 games thus far. The reported terms of the deal would have had the Mavs sending Jason Kidd to LA for Baron Davis and Chris Kaman. Reportedly the Mavs brass turned this deal down but the speculation has gotten everyone around town buzzing. The debate of whether or not it was a good decision to walk away from this deal has been raging.

I'm going to catch some flack for my opinion on this, but for me this is a no brainer: Cuban and Nelson unquestionably made the right call.

On paper this looks like an easy trade for the Mavs to make. When he's motivated and on his game, Baron Davis is one of the NBA's best offensive point guards. He is aggressive and physical and he's never met a shot he didn't like. Likewise, Kaman is one of the better young centers in the league today when healthy. Last year he averaged 15 points and 13 boards per game to go along with 3 blocks. He's a major upgrade to Erick Dampier. Kidd, meanwhile, is in the last year of his contract and aging. He'll be 36 by the time the next season rolls around. That's ancient in point guard years. An all-star caliber center and a dominating point guard in exchange for an aging legend who might leave at the end of the season seems like an easy call.

But there's a dark side to this deal, too. Injuries are a major factor for both of these guys. Before last season, Baron had missed an average of 26 games per year over the last 5 years. This season he's already missed 15. He is constantly injured which is a direct result of his conditioning and weight issues. You could start an office pool on how much Baron will way when he reports to training camp each year. Kaman isn't much better on the injury front. He missed 26 games last year and has missed 38 so far this time around. Kaman, in my book, is much less of a risk but a risk nonetheless.

And then we move on to attitude and game play. The biggest issue here is that Mavs fans remember Baron Davis as the guy who absolutely TORCHED their team in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Baron brought his absolute highest level of swagger to that series and intimidated the heck out of the Mavs. He talked trash then backed it up and also managed to hit every single ridiculous shot he took. He was physical and powerful as he abused every Mav sent to guard him.

The problem is, that Baron Davis doesn't really exist. The real Baron Davis is a guy who rarely brings his A game is far More concerned with his life off the court than on. The physical gift is there but he has always lacked long term motivation. He will continually show up out of shape or downright fat and take months to work himself into shape. Davis has perhaps the worst shot selection in the NBA while shooting at a miserable 41% for his career. He takes shots when he wants from wherever he wants regardless of what's going on in the game. For all the "leadership" props that have been thrown his way, he's never made it out of the second round in the playoffs and has pretty much left under bad circumstances everywhere he's been. this god-like Baron Davis that most Mavs fans see is a myth, a guy who existed for about 10 games two years ago and likely won't make another appearance until his next contract year.

Which takes us into the next sticking point. The contracts on both Davis and Kaman are bad. Kaman's is only bad because of his injury issues but it's long, lasting through 2012. Davis, on the other hand, has a maximum contract that he signed only 7 short months ago which lasts through 2013. When that deal is up, he will be 34 years old and given his injury and conditioning history, might be rolling around out there on a wheel chair. This deal would essentially marry the Mavs to two injury prone question marks for the next 3 or 4 years. If nothing else, consider this: why are the Clippers so willing to get rid of both of these players in exchange for Kidd, whom they will never resign this off season? Sure, it's the Clippers, and sure, they're a cheap organization. But their not in the business of giving their players away. Davis was signed in this past off season. You have to ask why they are so quick to give him away.

The true answer to that question is they've gotten a glimpse of the real Baron Davis and it hasn't been pretty. He's been injured A LOT but even when he's in the game, he's shooting a career low from the field, taking 5 three pointers per game, and has already feuded with his coach on numerous occasions. He's completely lost motivation and the only time the Mavs would have seen that motivation between now and 2013 would have been the 3 or 4 times a year when they'd play the Clippers and Baron would want to prove something.

Not making this deal was probably very hard for the Mavs front office. It's very, very tempting on paper and it would have invigorated the average Mavs fan who remembers the 2007 Playoff Baron. But in the end, holding off was the right call. But the real grade will be determined by what else comes their way before the trading deadline on the 19th.

Grade - A+