Ten points on the rumored trade talks between the Mavs and Raps regarding Matt Carroll and Markus Banks:
1 It’s the economy, stupid: What’s the point? We’ll get to the players’ respective talents in a moment. But the No. 1 issue here is money: Carroll has four years left on a contract that pays him $4.7 mil, $4.3 mil, $3.9 mil and $3.5 mil. Banks is due $4.53 million this year and $4.8 million in 2010-11. For Dallas, this is an opportunity to exchange being stuck with a four-year benchwarmer for being stuck with a two-year benchwarmer. It’s cutting the fat in half, is all.
2 Now, in one sense, the Raptors actually save a little money in the immediate term. In years 1 and 2 the Raptors save about half-a-million dollars. In 2010, when they have the biggest risk of incurring tax, they've reduced their payroll by $550,000.
3 It’s been pretty quiet down at For the Mavs (almost too quiet, as they say in the old Western movies). We don’t need to fanciful an imagination to begin wondering if the acquisition of Banks might be the tip of a three-way iceberg that could include the use of The Buck Shot.
4 Do the Raptors see Carroll as usable? Apparently so. Maybe they are in search of a Jason Kapono clone; that’s certainly what the Mavs envisioned when they acquired him with Ryan Hollins in exchange for Charlotte’s ‘Gana Diop. Carroll still has the credential of being a career 40-percent shooter from the arc. But it certainly didn’t come together for him in his half-season in Dallas, as he was a roster afterthought.
5 What is somewhat confounding about the Raptors’ interest here is that Carroll is the fourth 2-guard/wingman-type player we’ve acquired this summer … and Matt would figure to be No. 4 on the totem pole. If you just added DeMar DeRozan, Marco Belinelli and Antoine Wright, where do you think you’re gonna use Matt Carroll?
6 Of course, the Mavs have been on the flip side of this sort of trade many times. If they like the player, they take the player and gamble that the fat salary is a risk/reward game they can win. Personally, we like seeing Dallas involved in a salary dump in which the Mavs are the dump-ER. … especially if:
a) such a deal is a precursor to a bigger, better thing.
b) such a deal doesn't end up costing the Mavs too much in "sweeteners.'' As always, we don't just want to Mavs to MAKE a deal; we want the Mavs to WIN a deal.
7 An important side point to keep in mind: if the Mavs are wanting Banks as easier-to-package trade fodder (easier than Carroll, that is), and know how they'll use him, they'll most likely get him and send him out at the same time, in a three-way deal. But for the Raps, they get an extra 2 years to watch someone sit the pine and soak up cap room.
8 There is too much smoke here for there not to be the fire of real talks between the teams. There is obviously a direct phone line connecting Colangelo with Donnie/Cuban, eh? You can bet Banks and Carroll were names discussed in the talks that eventually brought Shawn Marion to Dallas and netted Wright and George (who later became Belinelli).
9 What has Banks ever done? Not enough to think that the Mavs are in love with the idea of him actually being in the rotation. On the plus side of the ledger: The 6-2, 200-pounder was selected by the Celtics with the 13th pick of the 2003NBA Draft. Minnesota he set career highs in scoring average (10.0 ppg), assists (3.8 apg), rebounds (2.3 rpg), field-goal percentage (.468), free throw percentage (.803) and minutes (25.8 mpg). So he’s got that going for him …but …
10 In terms of “asset management’’: Yes, we’d like to think that this proposed deal (or something like it) is going to lead Toronto to an ensuing swap to add a real rotation player. That would be terrific asset management. But on a smaller scale, this is the Raps trying to lower its salary for next year (2010) since that is when they will be facing the luxury tax if resigning Bosh.
