According to this explanation, I do not believe this will preclude Dallas from giving Dirk a 6 year contract because they have his Bird Rights. The final 2 seasons will simply be treated as deferred salary. It will cost the Mavs against the cap for the first four seasons of Dirk’s contract, but Cuban doesn’t seem to mind paying the luxury tax. It hurts more if they were planning on maintaining cap space for offseason 2011 to sign FAs, since I suppose it will eat their cap space. If they plan to re-sign Haywood and/or trade Butler and/or Dampier that might not matter, though.

“Under the league’s current system, Nowitzki is eligible for a four-year maximum contract from Dallas worth $96.2 million once he opts out. The most he could receive from another team is a four-year deal worth $93.1 million.”

This is because of the NBA’s extremely confusing over-36 rule. I’m not exactly sure what it is but the gist is if you are under 36 years old at the start of the contract, the contract can’t take you past your the season of your 36th birthday or something like that. I was completely unaware of the rule until I saw it mentioned on ESPNDallas.com the other day in an article about why Dirk opted out and what it could mean to the future of the Mavs. Here’s the quote from the article:

“Nowitzki turns 32 in June, which brings the league’s over-36 rule into play. Because of that rule and Nowitzki’s age, Dallas does not have the advantage of offering him a new contract that’s one year longer than rival teams can offer. Cleveland’s LeBron James and Miami’s Dwyane Wade, for example, are young enough to command six-year deals from their current clubs as opposed to the maximum five years that can be offered by other teams.”

He’s been very low his whole career, but the last two seasons have been career lows which is why I say maybe Kidd’s helping him out. Bosh is also a low TO guy, just not insanely low.

@31
“Just wondering, is there any way we could get both Bargnani and Bosh from Toronto? Maybe sending Curry and Lee to Toronto? But do we even want Bargnani?”

I would say 1. maybe and 2. no. Bargnani, Bosh, Danilo… might be a good offensive frontcourt, but would probably be the worst defensive frontcourt in the NBA. Toronto and NY had arguably the two worst defensive frontcourts around last season (NJ and Minni probably qualify too).

“He’s a 7 footer with range at a reasonable price”

I think he’s fairly overpaid. Very good shooter, but right there as far as worst defensive center in the NBA and overall offensively he’s just above-average (not good or great). Toronto was the worst defensive team in the NBA, and they were 8.5 pts/100 possessions worse defensively with Bargnani on the floor. I would really call him the Kyle Korver or Steve Kerr of centers. While you can get by with a guy like that on the wing, having him at the center of your defense is tough.

“Bargnani will be our Memhet Okur?”

Difference being that Okur is an average defender, while Bargnani doesn’t even know the word for defense in English…

“J.J. Barea would love to play in New York”

At the minimum he’d be a great signing. Much above that and I don’t know.

@33

The Giants also won the Super Bowl just 3 seasons ago…

@35

Agreed.

Dirk and Bosh weren’t far apart last season: http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&p1=nowitdi01&y1=2010&p2=boshch01&y2=2010

Who was better basically depends on how you value TOs (where Dirk is insanely low, perhaps thanks to Kidd) vs. rebounds (where Dirk is insanely low again, not a good thing this time). Defense also, where Dirk might actually be better. Dirk is a proven playoff performer, too, whereas Bosh isn’t really. Theoretically Bosh may still be getting better while Dirk is declining. Bosh had a career year, though, so maybe he actually declines next season.

I would say whoever the better player is would be the better sidekick for LeBron. I don’t know that Dirk would necessarily be a better “fit” offensively. He takes 83% jump shots. Someone who can score inside and out might help LeBron, and Bosh has maybe the best first step of any big man so he can get to the hoop/line. Especially since the Knicks already have Danilo as a jump-shooting big who can’t rebound.

Dirk is a free agent, so I don’t see why theoretically he can’t sign a 5 year deal or a 6 year deal with his own team. I think he would fall into the “Larry Bird” category under #19 http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q11 Maybe I’m missing something about opting out.

In light of Dirk’s playoff performance and the play of the old Celtics, I’d probably agree with you about Dirk for next season and maybe a couple after that. I wouldn’t call it obvious, though. Plus LeBron might be more easily sold on another star entering his prime then on joining up with yet another aging star.

I also think Dirk will stay in Dallas. Anything is possible, though. If Dirk is eligible for a 6 year deal and demands it/gets a 5 year or s&t offer elsewhere… maybe Cuban decides to part ways rather than pay him $25 mill or whatever when he’s 37. Say a team makes a huge run at Dirk and Bosh would like to come home to Dallas… maybe Cuban and Donnie Nelson see the opportunity to get younger without getting too much worse (then again, what do they give up in a s&t?). From Dirk’s perspective, he may see the opportunity to play with a LeBron or Wade (who beat his team in the Finals) as his best shot at a Championship. I’m just saying that personally, if I had to choose between Dallas/Kidd/Cuban and NYC/LeBron/Walshtoni… I know which I’d choose. I’m not Dirk though and he’s probably back there next season.

And apparently Phil Jackson has scuttled the Bulls rumors, which makes me breathe a sigh of relief.

The conventional wisdom that the Bulls have the best talent to surround LBJ takes a blow when you look at some of the inefficient offensive players that are on that team. Here are four key players on the team and their TS%/eFG%:

Deng .531/.482
Rose .532/.495
Noah .557/.504
Hinrich .501/.478

Compare those with four guys who would likely get major minutes on the 2010-2011 Knicks:

Gallinari .575/.523
Douglas .571/.545
Walker .651/.628
Chandler .534/.502

Major caveats apply: Walker’s numbers have the “small sample size” caveat, and you could say the same thing to a lesser extent about Douglas. And the Bulls’ guys are unquestionably better defenders and rebounders. But the Bulls are seriously lacking in efficient shooters, and we would have the ability to add ANOTHER super-efficient player like Bosh (.592/.522) which would make us one of the most potent offensive teams in the league.

they both need a tough partner that plays defense and lives in the paint.

There should be a lot of optimism in New York now, at least sports wise. We have the always strong Yankees, the Super Bowl is here in 4 seasons, the Jets are in Win-Now mode, Theirry Henry is coming to play for us, and the Liberty are title contenders this year. Let’s hope the Knicks can keep the good streak up.

I meant LeBron says no, not so.

PG: Douglas
SG: Wade
SF: Gallo
PF: Bosh
C: Bargnani

So Douglas and Wade would be the back-court (good defensive unit), Gallo would be our spot-up three point shooter who can also drive if/when he needs to, Bosh would be our dominant post presence with range, and Bargnani will be our Memhet Okur? Can’t really find a big role, but I’d take him. Not a strong team defensively, but I’ll take it in terms of D’Antoni offense.
Oh, I also read a few months back that J.J. Barea would love to play in New York because of our large Puerto Rican population. I would like to have him coming off the bench, he’s quick and can score, and we don’t have a 1st guard off the bench. He may not be as gifted athletically as Nate, but he won’t be as hard to coach, I’m sure. Besides, I’m not sure of where he fits in Dallas with Roddy B.

@30,
The league won’t call this “tampering?” But I doubt he leaves LA, especially considering that Los Angeles is a title contender every year, and is going to be the favorite to win the West next year unless Dallas does something mind-blowing to piss us off.