Dallas made a shrewd move bringing in O.J. Mayo |
Dallas signs O.J. Mayo to a 2-year/ reported to be about $10 million dollar deal
The summer began for Dallas with major league aspirations. They believed they were the front runners to land hometown kid, Deron Williams, and were also thinking they could work out a deal to bring in Dwight Howard once Williams signed. That ship sailed quite early in the offseason as Williams re-signed, Howard wanted no part of any team not in Brooklyn and the Mavs were left fumbling their own thoughts. Then they let Jason Terry walk to Boston for absolutely nothing. The summer looked like a complete disaster and it looked like the Dallas dynasty was crumbling before our eyes.
But then, a day after their former starting SG officially signed with Boston, the Mavs went out and scooped up the best shooting guard remaining in free agency for an absolute bargain price. To get a guy like O.J. Mayo, who, because of his upside will get some unnecessary offers, at a price like the Mavs did was an definite steal.
Signing Mayo does a bunch of things for the Mavs. Most importantly, it makes them younger. While O.J. hasn't necessarily panned out, he is only 24 years old and still clearly can grow into a versatile scorer especially with the sort of double teams Dirk Nowitzki can command. Mayo came off the bench for the Grizzlies as a sixth man and averaged 12.6 points last year, despite his numbers having declined from his first two years when he averaged 18.5 and 17.5 respectively. I might not be a huge fan of his game, but the guy is well worth the cheap $5 million or so he'll make annually.
Dallas might not have hit a home run or executed Plan A,B,C,D or even E, but at least they got a guy who can fill a void nicely at a steal of a price. Hey, if Mayo goes out there and finally fulfills his potential then look we'll look at the Mavs and say "what a move, who would have thought?" If he continues to be mediocre then you let him go after two years and you move on without the damage of a long-term contract.
I'll tell you what, there were probably a ton of teams out there looking to showering Mayo with an absurd contract, overpaying guys like him is a mainstay trait of the NBA. Looks like the Mavs just underpaid for him.
Grade: B+
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