Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
One of the glaring weaknesses for the Dallas Mavericks this past season was the play at the point guard position. To cope with the recently departed Jason Kidd, the Mavericks signed Darren Collison to a one year contract and his play didn’t pan out like Dallas had hoped. Dallas seemed determined to bolster that position this offseason. Dallas drafted point guard Shane Larkin out of Miami and also signed Jose Calderon to a four year deal. Dallas also had a tentative deal to bring Devon Harris back to the Mavericks but that deal fell through.
This plan took a big hit on Friday, though, as draft-pick Larkin suffered a fractured ankle during a summer league practice. Reports are coming out that he will need surgery and could possibly be out as long as three months. Before these reports started surfacing, word came out that Dallas was getting close to signing Monta Ellis. Some people wondered if the Ellis deal would make it possible for the Mavericks to possibly deal Larkin in a packaged deal for a big man; another obvious weakness on the Dallas roster.
Now that Larkin will be sidelined for approximately three months, it pretty much removes him from any trade talks at the moment. So with Dallas missing out on Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, where do they go from here? Samuel Dalembert, Greg Oden, and Brandon Wright or a few names that are currently linked with them. I’m not sure which one they sign, if any of them, but one thing is for certain – Dallas is not done. The current roster is lacking a big man and Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson, and Rick Carlisle know it. The great thing about this trio of guys is they are always working on ways to improve the team and that is enough to provide a glimmer of hope to even the most critical Mavericks supporter.
Greg Higgins is a Dallas Mavericks writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greghiggins457, “Like” him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.
