The Mavericks finally completed a long-rumored deal with Charlotte, but the eventual transaction looks more like an admission of a mistake than a potentially vital move.Previous rumors placed Dallas in talks to grab Raymond Felton from the Bobcats in a multi-team deal that sent out DeSagana Diop, a player Dallas spent a full five-year mid-level on this past summer.
But the transaction is Diop for Charlotte's Matt Carroll and minor prospect Ryan Hollins. That changes how you have to view the deal.
Felton is a promising combo guard who could help relieve Jason Kidd of minutes, Jason Terry of ball-handling responsibility, and J.J. Barea of pressure. Carroll is a fractional Jason Kapono, a gunner who doesn't gun enough and might as well be made of dust on defense. If Kyle Korver got Utah over some obvious hump last season, Carroll merely makes the hump a little more visible. On the league's best teams, Carroll should be nothing more than a designated shooter.
There's also the matter of Carroll's contract, which is pretty bad: $22 million over the next four years, and a $3.5 million player option for 2012-13. Diop runs about $3 million until 2012-13, where his player option is twice that of Carroll's. Diop is younger and (on the right team) better, and I doubt the Mavericks are making moves for 2012-13 cap space right now. So this stands a real admission of a mistake for Dallas. That's odd for Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban, who have refused to admit giving up Devin Harris and a bucket of dollar bills for the elderly Kidd was a bad move.
Maybe this is the gateway drug that leads to another Kidd trade this winter. Kidd's a free agent this summer, and the Mavs would be fools to give him the type of money he has been said to want. Might as well try to get something back, right?
