Off-season review - Dallas Mavericks

Re-signing of Jason Kidd was probably the most important move of the Mavericks' offseason. It is possibly even more important than acquisition of Marion (even remembering Josh Howard's injury history when Dallas ran out of SF and had to start Barrea). When Mavs' owner, Mark Cuban said that he wants to sign "Captain America" it made some people really wonder purely due to the amount of money involved. In the end Dallas traded two of their scrubs to Toronto and got Marion, and then signed Kidd to boot.

Marion is going to bring some sparkle to the Dallas game. We saw the Nowitzki-Howard-Terry trio in action and they struggled to fit in with Kidd, as well as his predecessor Harris. Please note that I am talking about the entire trio, not just the Kidd-Nowitzki game that really stood out in the middle of the season. In any case, with Marion acquisition Dallas's game is bound to change. He's a very explosive player, and Kidd is the type of the set up man that can play to his strength and really make him a much better player. Kidd, just like Nash, who played with Matrix in Phoenix, loves the up-tempo game and to increase the speed at which the game is played.

It is known, that finishing on the offensive end is probably the strongest suit of Marion, as well as very strong rebounding. He is also a very good defender that can shut people down, making himself an all-around type player. Dallas's starting five should look like this: Kidd, Terry (Barrea), Howard, Marion, and Nowitzki. Shawn and Dirk can switch places if necessary, depending on the opponent, although Marion played some center in Miami due to limited options - now Dallas has some centers, especially after signing of Gooden.

In addition to Marion, Dallas received Hamphries. He's always produced, even in limited minutes. He can and loves to play in the paint, mix it up, and is a decent scorer, which has been unappreciated by his previous team.