Did the Dallas Mavericks Free Agent Moves Refuel Them?

The Dallas Mavericks may have missed out on their big time aim this offseason when they were hoping to land point guard Deron Williams, but they still had a nice haul.  The Mavericks had to make some moves in order to become betting contenders again to compete for the Western Conference and beyond, and the question now is, did their additions do enough to get them back into that group?  After looking at the group and taking a few things into consideration, I'd have to say that I overall like the Mavericks as a whole this coming season.

Their group of new players included the addition of Elton Brand on waivers from Philly, OJ Mayo and Chris Kaman from free agency, as well as a trade with the Indiana Pacers that brought in Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones.  All players have the ability to play different roles on a team that has Dirk Nowitzki as their go-to guy, and also has a potential stud in OJ Mayo in my opinion.  The new group of players and head coach Rick Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban held an hour long meeting for season ticket holders and press, and all of them had some good things to say heading towards the upcoming season.

The Mavericks obviously made some big changes, and if you factor in the three new rookies, their 15 player roster includes on seven players from last year.  Even more interesting is that the team who won the NBA Championship two years ago only has four players from that team left.  Possibly one of the most interesting additions from this group is Elton Brand.  Philadelphia used the amnesty to let Brand go, and the Mavs earned a player who is making $18.1 million this year in the final season of his contract, but Philadelphia is going to paying for the bulk of this year's sum.

The two biggest losses that we can note for the Mavericks include Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and Ian Mahimi.  Mahimi was traded to Indiana, while Kidd and Terry both left as free agents.  Regardless though, I love the additions that the Mavs have brought in, and while the Western Conference, and teams like the Los Angeles Lakers specifically have continued to improve, the Mavericks will remain as a top four playoff seed thanks to adding players like Brand, Mayo, Kaman, Collison, and Jones, and they will be a fun team to watch as well.