MAVS NEWS:

[Winter]

I buy that Nico and the Mavs prioritzed bringing back DJJ.  I don't think there was any 3D chess there.  The agent change must have put a wrench in the hole thing.  Either the agent got into his head that there was more money out there or something turned DJJ off during the process before switching agents. 

Switching agents and then signing the 3 for 27 million or 3 for 30 million deal doesn't add up.  Maybe the agent got in his head that there was meat on the bone with the Mavs offer and he would get 2 or so million extra per year.    Maybe when this happened, Dallas changed gears quickly when Jones backed away from the earlier agreement.  This probably caught the agent off guard that he could use other teams as leverage against the Mavs.  As it turned out, only one team used the full MLE.  That was Golden State and for only one guaranteed year. 

Either way, playing in LA is not bad.  Although not for a very good team and one who will have a lot of changes the next couple of years.  He left a great situation for him too.  Either way, coming to Dallas really helped him.  If he continues to play well, he could very well finish his career near 100 million in earnings.  Not bad for a guy who had to accept a minimum last offseason.

I think between this, and the versions of Killer and SleepingHero, there is probably close to an accurate account somewhere in there.

I think what we can all probably agree on is that DJJ did not immediately "pick" the Clippers because of something they were offering. He picked the Clippers because the Mavericks pivoted quickly when there was a delay. There was no steady dance partner once the Mavs signed Naji. Any other reasoning doesn't make any sense considering the love-fest between the Mavs and DJJ in social media at the end of the playoffs.