Devin to Dallas?

Every time a big star is on the trading block, New York Knicks' fans insist that they are going to get him. This time, when it came to Carmelo Anthony, they were right.

After losing out on the Summer of 2010 Sweepstakes by failing to land Chris Bosh, LeBron James, or D-Wade, the Knicks have finally secured a genuine superstar to anchor their franchise.

Sure the Summer of 2010 free agency brought them Amare Stoudemire, but we all know that he has the knees of a 76 year old bag-lady and that he's allergic to hard-nosed defense. You can't build your team around Amare Stoudemire, and the Knicks knew that so they traded for the Nuggests 26 year old starting small forward.

Now that all the drama with Melo is over, what's next ?


Well, first of all, the Knicks will continue to be a mediocre basketball team with no talent to surround their two stars with and zero ability or desire to play defense.

Secondly, the Nets, who became the 'jilted suitor' in the Melo mayhem, appear to want to salvage some face by trading Devin Harris to the Nuggets for a bunch of spares (Felton? Gallinari? Mosgov?).

I'm not about to remind the Nets that it's never a good move to mix drinking Vodka with making NBA trade proposals and here's why...if the Nets end up moving Harris, according to reports from realgm.com, the Mavs have a good chance of landing him.

Mark me down as one individual who would be at peace if the Mavs don't make their customary deadline deal, but if Devin's available, I'm all ears.

Why would I be so excited about a Mavs-Harris reunion?

Devin Harris is only 27 years old (he turns 28 next week) and very much in his prime. He's currently averaging 15 points and 7.6 assists in a meager 31 minutes a game. His assists to minutes ratio this year is almost identical to Jason Kidd's. I can't help but imagine that his assists would be even higher if he wasn't playing with a bunch of d-league talent. Plus, Devin is a great defender, who possesses the rare quickness to stay in front of the league's fastest talent.

Having Jason Kidd guard the opposing teams' shooting guard and hit wide open bombs from three-land while Devin guarded point guards and slashed to the hoop would be similar to the Mavs' plan for the combination of Roddy B and J. Kidd.

The knock on Devin has always been that he struggles with the outside shot (he's only shooting 30% from behind the arc), but the Mavs have the unique problem of being stacked with shooters.

Don't forget that the magical season of 2006 included a heavy dose of Devin in the regular season and in the playoffs. He's a proven commodity and a battle tested veteran.

So what would the Mavs have to give up to get Devin?

I'd have to believe that Roddy B would be a part of any package to get him, and I for one, am willing to pay that price. I know, I know...I just wrote an article about why Roddy is so special and now I'm writing one about wanting to trade him? Why is that?

I'd be willing to give up Roddy for Devin because we are all HOPING that Roddy will be as great as Devin. Well, Devin IS Devin, and we don't have to wait for him to blossom.

Roddy's not there yet, but there is a lot of potential. Devin is already a really solid-to-great NBA player. Devin is about five years older than Roddy, and his experience will help a Mavs team who needs to get Dirk help now before our window with him closes.

Roddy is special because of his ability to change the game with his speed, his quickness to guard the fast point guards that J.Kidd can't, and because of his propensity to get to the rim and finish in the paint. Well, Devin is all of that, but in a much more polished form. Roddy can shoot better than Devin, but that's about his only edge (if you think Devin is slight at 6'3" 190...is Roddy much sturdier at 6'0" 170?).

Obviously, if the Mavs can get Devin without giving up Roddy, that would be excellent, but if the foundation for the trade had to be Roddy B, what else would the Mavs need to include?

It's hard to say exactly because this reported deal is a three team trade (Nuggets/Nets/Mavs). Salaries will have to match up, and the needs of both the Nets and the Nuggets would have to be satisfied.

The Mavs would most likely have to use some other pieces (ie. cap-friendly salaries, 1st round picks, and/or cash) to get Devin. The only untouchables for me are Dirk and Tyson Chandler because Devin would easliy be the second best player on our team (with Caron hurt) so I'd be all for giving up additonal talent to acquire Devin.

They won't want J.Kidd (too old), Shawn Marion (bad contract), Brendan Haywood (really bad contract), or even Peja, so any additional talent that we have to offer would be JET (please, please take him!) or Ian Mahimi. If we only have to sacrifice a couple of Frenchmen in Roddy B and Ian Mahimi, to get Devin Harris, then that's a price that the Mavs should be willing to pay.

The bottom line is that if Avery Johnson wants, once again, to rid himself of the talents of Devin Harris, the Mavs should be the first in line to see if they can get him back.

This night started out rough because all "Melo the Mavs" dreams were crushed, but things are picking up fast in the NBA world with hope that "Devin to Dallas?" is a dream come true.