Knee-Jerk Observations: The Teams, The League And The Mavs After Week One

By David Lord -- DB.com

A dozen-and-one "after-only-one-week" Knee-Jerk Observations on the start of this NBA season … on other teams, other players, and of course, on your Dallas Mavericks, too – including one trade-rumor projection:

Team-related

1. Boston looks head and shoulders ahead of everyone else, from what I've seen. They're scary good.

2. Houston is looking MUCH better than I thought it'd be. One of Houston's strengths is the way the Rockets effectively muck the game up and make it hard for better talents on the opposition to do their thing. Yao who?

3. Washington has surprised me (not just because the Wizards beat the Mavs). Saunders has made them a different (and better) team, which pains me to say only because I've never been a fan of his coaching.

4. Miami has no business being so successful. It's "D-Wade and the 7 Dwarfs" there, talent-wise. If we're hoping the Heat stink so that Wade will get antsy and leave next summer, how is that possible when he can put them on his back like he does? I'm still hoping he realizes he's carrying that team by himself and sees how futile that will be in the long run chase for titles. Dear Mark, Please get Wade next summer, he's super-skilled and he makes everyone around him way better.

5. With New Jersey and Golden State so far, it looks like it may be a much longer season than I expected for each. Ugly stuff.

Player-related

6. Artest's game is looking exactly like it always has ... which is what you should expect, but which isn't what LA told us would happen. Reality bites.

7. I'm still in wait-and-see mode on Ariza because his role is expanded from last season. I think his ceiling probably is "good starter" but at the same time I'd thought he was an underrated and somewhat overlooked player before he got to LA.

8. Gortat and Bass in Orlando are exactly who they've been in the past. I'm still not regretting the "loss" of either. With Rashard Lewis suspended, both are still essentially 20-minute-or-less backups, and performing about that well, while being paid fairly big money. Otis "Genius" Smith looks like he stole those financial decisions right from the Isiah Thomas archives.

Mavs-related

9. Drew Gooden, like Artest, is also "the same player as always." Unfortunately. (Is it too early to say, "Told ya so"? Yeah, probably. So I'm still hoping to be surprised by Gooden.)

10. I'm already ready to buy the concept that Kris Humphries is going to be the player for the Mavs -- and fill the role -- that they hoped to get from Gooden. Marion AND Humphries for Stackhouse's contract and dead carcass? Wow, I thought that The Stack Chip could prove valuable, but I had no idea to what degree.

11. Dallas has adopted some of Houston's muck-it-up approach so far -- even though the Mavs have better skill players than the Rox -- and it's been very effective. Had the Mavs done that against Washington, when they instead seemed content to just float through that game, they'd probably be undefeated.

12. Seeing the scrum-like intensity and play against LAL and LAC at many times, it made me reflect on how several Mavs players said the disappointment against the Wizards was that they "lost ground." I thought it was just one of those things players say after a loss, but now I'm wondering if the addition of Marion and some depth this season brought a "win ugly" approach that they're trying to develop. Even Dirk and Terry -- neither known for defensive prowess -- are making ugly-but-effective plays on defense and in transition with increasing regularity. I'm keeping an eye on this; if they can combine that with their typical offensive skills, the results should be fun to watch.

13. A source close to the Mavs tells me that if the Clippers are in "sale" mode in December, he thinks Camby is a more likely target for the Mavs than Kaman, because Camby's contract is much more favorable, and because the Mavs have been leery of Kaman's medical issues.

Of added relevance, even though Camby would be an expiring contract, the Mavs would get him with full Bird rights intact; that means they could sign him to a new deal in the summer at any mutually agreeable amount, without having to use any of their annual cap exceptions or 2010 trade assets to do so, or could perhaps include him as an asset as part of a sign-and-trade.

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1100am nov 3 2009