DAL OFFSEASON: Trade & FA | Mavs "mostly done...but you never know."

[HanspardsShowerVoice]

Simmons said he believes word has gotten around the league that Danny Ainge is absolutely ruthless and will trade you the minute he can get 10 cents more on the dollar for you, noting that the Celtics were already shopping around Kemba.    But then Simmons said he thinks Dallas  is the  other franchise in the league where players feel that way.

Ha! 

I would have said the opposite! I feel like the Mavs have a tendency to NOT treat their players like trade chips and more like family. Call me crazy.

You aren't. That's just Bill Simmons talking out his ass like usual. How many guys have we traded away that we signed to sizable contracts in the last 5 years? Jordan, Wes (an expiring) and Curry are the main ones that pop into mind.

Barnes .. a respected league veteran who found out he was traded in the middle of game. 


Simmons is someone who routinely talks to and interviews players, and employs several current and former players.  

Fans don't like to hear this stuff, because they love trading players .. particularly veteran players with big contracts like Barnes and Wes.    But this becomes a negative feedback loop.   Established players don't want to come to Dallas because they know they're just treated as trade fodder, and then Dallas has to use established players as trade fodder because it's their only avenue of acquiring difference making talent because they can't bring in free agents. Last offseason our free agents amounted to resigning the guys already in the building like DFS and Maxi and bringing in Seth ... who already was in the Dallas fraternity .... this year our free agency was Trey Burke and WCS , who again, were already in the building and taking a vet min flier on a guy who might not make team. Once again we hear about how we were the 2nd choice of all these players (which means they were using us for leverage). It's not just the Superstars, but it's end of career guys like Millsap and Crowder and Marc Gasol. At some point you have to admit it's a problem.