Avery Got a Raw Deal in Dallas

It is that time of year again when NBA coaches start finding themselves out of work and teams begin the process of finding their replacements.  Avery Johnson was let go earlier this week as was expected.  It had been widely rumored that owner Mark Cuban almost fired him before the playoffs after he and Johnson had a blow up over the direction the team was going.  It was being widely speculated that for Johnson to keep his job the Mavs were going to have to make a deep run in the playoffs and after the Mavericks barely put up a fight against Hornets Cuban decided it was time for him to go.

Unfortunately for Johnson Cuban failed to realize that firing Johnson is not the solution to all of the Mavs problems.  For one Dirk Nowitzki is looking like a guy whose career peaked two seasons ago.  For the second straight season Nowitzki’s scoring and rebounding numbers both went down.  Since the 2005-06 season Dirk has seen his scoring go from a career-high 26.6 to 24.6 to 23.6 points per game while his rebounding numbers have dipped from 9.0 to 8.9 to 8.5.  His .359 mark from 3-point range marked his second worst percentage since his rookie season and his worst since ‘03-04.  Dirk is still an elite player but he is not the guy who was considered one of the two or three best players when he was leading them to the NBA Finals.

Next on the list of problems is Jason Kidd.  I never understood why the Mavs were so hot to trot to land Kidd when they had Devin Harris who is younger, better-on-the-ball defender who is a better scorer and gets to the line more than Kidd does.  Granted, Kidd is a better distributor of the ball and Harris is not quite as accomplished in leading teams into battle as Kidd is, but I really think Harris is a better fit and the Mavs are going to regret making that deal when all is said and done.  It seems to me that the main reason Cuban made this deal was because he thought he needed to acquire a big name to keep up with the Suns and the Lakers.

Ultimately their downfall was weaker defense.  Overall Dallas’ scoring did not drop off but they gave up over 3 points per game more this season as opposed to last.  Getting an aging PG does not help improve you defensively.  During the first round of the playoffs Jason Kidd was exposed for the aging veteran that he his.  He looked woefully slow in comparison to Chris Paul who routinely ran circles around him during that series.

Bottom line is this: The Dallas Mavericks are an aging team, only Brandon Bass, Antoine Wright, Jose Juan Barea, and Josh Howard are under the age of 29.  Of those players only Josh Howard has established himself as a star player while the other three have been nothing more than bench players, although, Brandon Bass looked like a guy ready to do something towards the end of the season.  The Mavericks need to look to shed some of the older veterans on the team and replace them with some younger fresher legs that can help get them deeper in the playoffs.  I am not convinced that Avery Johnson’s replacement is going to have significantly better luck in Dallas next season.