# Mavs get Antoine Walker!



## TrailofDead

*LaFrentz/Welsch/Mills traded*

Dallas trades: Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills and 2004 first rounder

TO BOSTON

Dallas recieves:
Antoine Walker and Tony Delk

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ur/stories/102003dnspomavstrade.1f334492.html


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## Knicksbiggestfan

Wow! I did not see this trade coming at all!

Raef and fillers for Toine and filler

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1642156


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## Joker

not a very good trade... walker has tons of offense, but he's so soft he could play the point!

so who's gonna start at center?
nowitzki?
jamison?
or walker?


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## compsciguy78

I don't like this trade for Dallas either. They lose a big who played solid defense for another scorer? Not sure what Cuban has planned, but Nowtizki and the other bigs better play some defense this year or the Mavs are going only as far as the WC Finals if that.


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## OG

> Originally posted by <b>Joker</b>!
> not a very good trade... walker has tons of offense, but he's so soft he could play the point!
> 
> so who's gonna start at center?
> nowitzki?
> jamison?
> or walker?


nelson already said fortson will start over raef.. that probably made the trade a no brainer for dallas, gives him another scorer for some bench players..


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## Schottsie

I don't think it made sense for either team, especially the Celtics...


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## shazha

well i guess pierces fantasy value just went up?? This will truely test if pierce is on the level of T-mac and other superstars, that is to see if he can carry his team.

Ive got big hopes for raef, he was really blooming in denver.


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## shazha

and why did they accept a 2004 first round pick!!! dallas will win like 50 games next season.

At least ainge could have asked for a future first round lottery protected pick. the mavs wouldnt get a good pick for the next 3-5 years anyway, after that they would be free to steal a top 3 pick. wat are u doin ainge??


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## mavsman

I am suprised to hear some of you state that this is a bad
trade for the Mavericks. Now all of sudden LaFrentz was
a solid inside defender according to some here.

A week ago LaFrentz would have been classified as a
soft player who can only collect fouls.

I think the truth is somewhere in between.

Anyway I have to say that once again the Mavericks have 
increased thier talent. Walker is a former All-Star with
career 20+ points and 8.5 rebounds a game stats. He is
also the same age as LaFrentz and at 27 is still young.

The problem still for the Mavericks will be to sublimate the egos
of some of these talented players and let them fill thier roll which
will have to be different than thier roll in the past.

We have 5 guys who averaged somewhere near 20 points a game
last year. That is not possible this year. I would like to see
walker concentrate on his rebounding and passing skills and let
some of the others on this team get more of the shots. The one
thing I don't like about Walker is that I think he jacked up too
many shots for Boston and he is not a great shooter. He can not
do that here.


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## Knicksbiggestfan

> Originally posted by <b>Joker</b>!
> not a very good trade... walker has tons of offense, but he's so soft he could play the point!
> 
> so who's gonna start at center?
> nowitzki?
> jamison?
> or walker?



Funny, that you don't realize that this is most likely the point of the trade.

Who loved and popularized the point forward position in the NBA?
Nellie


Whose two favorite offensive schemes are the motion offense and the run and gun?

Nellie.

Name five big men that have better passing ability than Walker.


They got rid of le soft's awful contract, got one of the most versatile sixth men since Shane Battier, and now can afford to dump fortson or Jamison in a trade for a center, if they want.

All they had to do to get this was give up a soft player with a bad contract and a #1 pick from a team that will probably win no less than 50 games!

Boston got hosed big time, Cuban pulls off another blockbuster, the mavs are going to be even more fun to watch. I mean seriously this team is all star caliber offense, if anyone can hold them under a 100 points they should be rated the best defensive team in the league.


Who thinks Jamisons day's are numbered now that Walker is here?


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## Charlotte_______

You think Walker will start ahead of Nash, (Im not sure if thats what your getting at) but I don't think so. I mean he may play it once in a while, but I don't see him moving from the PF spot.


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## Knicksbiggestfan

> Originally posted by <b>Charlotte_______</b>!
> You think Walker will start ahead of Nash, (Im not sure if thats what your getting at) but I don't think so. I mean he may play it once in a while, but I don't see him moving from the PF spot.



No not at all, Walker however will play pointforward quite a few times, he will fill a shane battier type of role. 

He will see a good amount of minutes ( baring another trade) as a pointforward whom nash and others will feed off, on offense.


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## madman

Wow now the Mavs are truly the only team that can contend with the power house Lakers. I dont care what people say the mavs are 10 times better than the spurs now. Not only was that a good trade for the mavs but also a amazing trade for everyshing eastern conference team who finished behind them. In closing if there are any Cletics fans who are reading this enjoy the lottery for us...


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## osman

You also got Delk who can be a reliable PG. The only question is who is going to play defense, and guard guys like Shaq, Duncan, Garnett. Not that Lafrentz could guard any of them either, but he was still a big body.


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## Knicksbiggestfan

Another very cool thing about this trade is that it shows the Mavs organization believes that their time to compete for the ring is now. The fact that they gave up on a Welsch who they were clearly interested in as a project goes to show that they are completely dedicated to being championship contenders and building around the big 3. It's a pretty cool thing to be a fan of a team locked into the idea of competing for a ring.


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## Im The One

Umm is this a joke?


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## Im The One

I guess it is real I just saw it on NBA .com. I dont see how this trade helps the Celtics.

If i was Dallas I would give Dirk more mintutes at C
they could have this lineup on the floor

Dirk
Walker
Jamison
Finley
Nash
They'd average 150 pts a game.


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## Natty Dreadlockz

Yeah I was thinkin the same thing... Cuz ya gotta start Walker... I don't know how they'll find mins for Fortson and Howard though... Damn... You got cat's 1 though 5 who can drain the trey ball... WTF is goin on... Big up's to Cube'z though... He's provided the fans wit a quality product on the floor every year since he took over... Peace


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## INTELLECT

eagle you see the picture? Every player on the mavs can hit the three meaning no other centers or pfs (see shaq, duncan, miller, divac, kg) can camp in the lane or they will PAY. You can't double anyone OR YOU WILL PAY. you can't leave anyone OPEN or you will pay. THAT'S JUST SCARY.


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## Locke

True, you Cube deserves a lot of credit. He's constantly making things happen for his team when every other GM is always talking about, "uhhh, well uhhh, the salary cap uhhhh, it's hard to make moves uhhhhhh, we're stuck with what we've got, uhhhhhh, the luxury tax uhhhhhh........blablabla" You get the picture. Even though I still don't consider Walker a true 3 point shooter because of his low percentage. He can be valuable in other ways if he chooses to be.


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## MasterOfPuppets

The positive side of the trade for Dallas is that they have now 5 players that can be considered as "go-to-guys" which means that their offense has multiple choices to score and the opponents defense will have huge trouble guarding all possible alternatives. 

On the other hand they have no "real" big body (besides Fortson) under the basket that can guard true centers like Shaq or Duncan. I also think that the Mavericks might not get that muich rebounds, due to that fact. But the question is whether LaFrentz would have been an alternative in that role. 

The more I think about it, the more I like the trade from the Mavericks-perspective.


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## INTELLECT

> Originally posted by <b>MasterOfPuppets</b>!
> The positive side of the trade for Dallas is that they have now 5 players that can be considered as "go-to-guys" which means that their offense has multiple choices to score and the opponents defense will have huge trouble guarding all possible alternatives.
> 
> On the other hand they have no "real" big body (besides Fortson) under the basket that can guard true centers like Shaq or Duncan. I also think that the Mavericks might not get that muich rebounds, due to that fact. But the question is whether LaFrentz would have been an alternative in that role.
> 
> The more I think about it, the more I like the trade from the Mavericks-perspective.


lol. walker averages 7 boards
dirk averages 10
fortson can put up 10 on any given night
jamison averages 7
najera will grab five or six
fin will grab four or five
bradly can grab 7 to 10 on any given night


sorry try again man


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## MasterOfPuppets

> Originally posted by <b>INTELLECT</b>!
> walker averages 7 boards


That might be a realistic output. But his rebounding numbers are going down since years. And he will face much better power forwards and centers in the Western Conference now.



> dirk averages 10


I hope so. He really improved his rebounding during the last seasons. Nevertheless he is more an offensive player than a defensive player. And I'm conviced that offense wins games, but defense wins championships.



> fortson can put up 10 on any given night


Right. I guess much will depend whether Fortson can contribute under the boards. When he is in his best shape he might become a key player for Dallas.



> jamison averages 7


Also true. In the cases of Nowitzki, Fortson and Jamison I must admit that I was wrong.



> najera will grab five or six


Najera has a career average of 4.4 boards a game. What makes you think he will increase this number ? I don't see his playing time increase after Dalles added Fortson, Jamison and Walker. 



> bradly can grab 7 to 10 on any given night


Sorry but I disagree here. Bradley is just a filler to me. The last two seasons were his worst since he entered the NBA and he never was a proven center from my point of view. He even got outrebounded by european back-up centers during the European Championship in 2001. He might have one game where he will get about 10 rebounds. But I wouldn't rely on him grabbing boards anymore.


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## Jacres318

i dont think the Mavs are done dealing. walker will be the 6th man and take NVEs role except he's more versitle. This wouldv'e have made more since if we would have picked up Deke. He's the only guy that can slow down Shaq and Duncan. 

The Mavs are now the team to beat, with a 40 year old Malone and a Kobe who has to rehab and will have emotional and mental problems on the floor now. 

Hey Walker is our 6th man! who else would be our spark plug off the bench? He's great, beause he'll always be the first one off the bench because he can sub for anyone (versitle). Plus he's known for his clutch three's . Nick who?


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## reHEATed

> Originally posted by <b>Knicksbiggestfan</b>!
> Wow! I did not see this trade coming at all!
> 
> Raef and fillers for Toine and filler
> 
> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1642156


Welsch is not a filler.


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## Pistolballer

what a crazy(in the sense of strange, unpredicted) trade!
when i first saw the name of the thread, i thought it was some fantasy basketball thing... wow, the Mavs sure are packed with lots of talent now, i hope they dont pull a Portland


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## Obi-Wan Nowitzki

Think about it from Boston's side... Jiri will be a top five PG in the East hands down by the end of the year.

How many centers in the east have the offensive weapons of Raef? Plus when he was traded to the Mavericks from getting tons of minutes in Denver, he was averaging 3.0 bpg. If he can get to playing the same way that he did when he was with Denver, he can be the best offensive center in the East without the Celts losing defense.

Raef didn't fit in with the Mavs and Jiri wouldn't get enough minutes for him to develop into the player that he could be. This is a great trade from those two player's point of view. Remember last week when Raef was talking about how he thinks he should be the starter? Well, now he has a chance to prove that he can start.


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## Tristan

WOW, my homepage is nba.com and I saw mavz pic and Antoine. First I thought it was one of those good shooter (or scorers in Antoines side) things surveys by GM. Then I was shocked when Antoine got traded. 

Wonder how pierce is handling this? 

This is a very very very good trade for Dallas. Nellies and the other coaches need to develope Dirk into a C. So we can have a good line up of Starters.

Nash/Best/Delk
Fin/Tariq/Howard/Marquis
Jamison/Najera
Antoine/Dirk/Najera/Fortson
Dirk/Fortson

But before that I was wondering who would Dallas's sixth man would be I Thought it was either going to be Best, Lafoul, or Najera. Then next day here comes Antoine.

So Mr. Walker, welcome to Dallas!

Lakers and Mavz are up there! 

We got the chip....:yes:


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## Anima

> Originally posted by <b>MavsFaN02</b>!
> 
> Remember last week when Raef was talking about how he thinks he should be the starter? Well, now he has a chance to prove that he can start.


He didn't say he should be the starter. He said something like "Do I want to start? Yeah. Do I think I am a starter? Yeah but if Nelly thinks it's better for me to come off the bench then I'm fine with that"


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## MasterOfPuppets

> Originally posted by <b>MavsFaN02</b>!
> Think about it from Boston's side.
> 
> How many centers in the east have the offensive weapons of Raef?
> 
> If he can get to playing the same way that he did when he was with Denver, he can be the best offensive center in the East without the Celts losing defense.


Right, it is a real chance for LaFrentz to show why he was drafted that high several years ago.


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## Truth34

*Pierce is handling it....*

He and LaFrentz were buddies in college. If Welsch can realize his potential, Pierce will handle this trade just fine. If not, :upset:

Oh, and by the way Mavs fans, Antoine wants another max extension. Good thing you have a deep-pocketed owner who plays fantasy basketball. Good luck against the Spurs.


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## Anima

I read on the ESPN board that the Celts owner said Pierce wanted this trade.

I can't find any quotes from the owner online though...


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## TheRifleman

I don't think Walker is staying long in Dallas. I see this as an intermediate move by Cuban.


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## Stinger

I also believe that a trade could and should be delt. However remember there's that waiting period after a trade. I think it's a month. 

What I think Dallas should do is play out that month and see how well it goes. If they are constantly getting pounded down low and are losing games because of it, then trade Antoine (or Jamison) for a legitimate strong center. Maybe get rid of Tarique's contract in the process.

Rings, chips, the cup, whatever the Mavs are gonna get them all.


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## mike

Lafrentz didn't work out in big D. I know 'Toine is just a little soft BUT however this is a team that has 5 great offensive offensive players 4 can require a double team like. Then you get Tony Delk can be like Nick off the bench he's not going to put up the huge numbers but can give you that lift when someone is off, this is similar to the old celtics minus a real center.


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## voice of reality

> Originally posted by <b>TheRifleman</b>!
> I don't think Walker is staying long in Dallas. I see this as an intermediate move by Cuban.


Nah im thinking you guys are stuck with him lol


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## kansasalumn

> Originally posted by <b>Tristan</b>!
> 
> 
> Wonder how pierce is handling this?
> 
> :


I think mix emotions. One he is losign a teamate in Walker, but he is gaining one of his good college teamates from Kansas. They played with each other for 3 years at Kansas.


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## TheRifleman

> Originally posted by <b>voice of reality</b>!
> 
> 
> Nah im thinking you guys are stuck with him lol


You may be right in that, but at least Walker knows how and when to pass the rock, which is something Raef doesn't have a clue about.


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## INTELLECT

Although Shawn Bradley or Danny Fortson will start most games at center, Nelson admitted his crunch-time lineup will be his top five scoring threats -- ``The Big Three and Antoine Squared,'' as Donnie Nelson calls it.


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## Petey

> Originally posted by <b>INTELLECT</b>!
> Although Shawn Bradley or Danny Fortson will start most games at center, Nelson admitted his crunch-time lineup will be his top five scoring threats -- ``The Big Three and Antoine Squared,'' as Donnie Nelson calls it.


And Jamison assumed. That will be killer. Imagine starting with them too and running around guys.

-Petey


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## agoo

The Lakers got four all-stars and everyone handed them the championship. Now, the Mavericks have five and a bench:

C--Nowitzki-Fortson
PF-Walker-Najera
SF-Jamison-Howard
SG-Finley-Delk
PG-Nash-Best

Those five starters are all capable of averaging 20 any season and dropping 40 any game. With Walker, Dallas gets the post presence they needed. The uninformed will talk about how Walker is a soft perimeter player. The informed will remind you that in the first round of the playoffs, Walker suddenly started playing in the post on 60-70% of the possessions and McCarty and Delk became double digit scorers. Nowitzki will be guarded by the big guys like Shaq, Duncan and Yao, but Dirk plays outside, which leaves the lane open for Finley, Nash, and Jamison to cut in and pick up a pass from Walker in the post. Walker's best atribute on the court is his ability to pass out of the post. He's at the Sabonis-Divac level down there. Not to mention that when he was overweight he was quick enough to have undefendable post moves, now that he's shed 20+ pounds and won't be playing 40+ mpg, forget about it. He might even be your best player.

Your rebounding gets better as well. Dirk, Antoine, and Jamison can easily average 8-9 rpg and Finley gets nearly 6. Najera and Fortson off the bench are terrific rebounders and Bradley is around too.


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## Knicksbiggestfan

I read somewhere that the mavs gave up someone elses 1st round pick that they had acquired and not their own, is this true?


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## DownUnderWonder

The only problem I have in this trade is the lack of a solid big man, especially in the West. If the Mavs were in Orlando or something they could get away with the "2 guards, three natural small forwards" lineup, but in the land of the big man (or so Im told) big guys are not a luxury, they are a given, a required piece of the puzzle. 

You have Dirk; Stands 7 feet tall, plays like a guy 5 inches shorter, has an awesome offensive game, suspect on D.

Toine; 6'9', plays like a small forward, awesome shooter when in form, suspect on D

Antwan; Same height as Walker, is a more consistant version of Lamar Odom, awesome scorer, suspect on D.


Notice a pattern? That said though, I like this mentality of "catch me if you can", You will easily see 110+ point per game from this team.


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## TheRifleman

> Originally posted by <b>agoo101284</b>!
> The Lakers got four all-stars and everyone handed them the championship. Now, the Mavericks have five and a bench:
> 
> C--Nowitzki-Fortson
> PF-Walker-Najera
> SF-Jamison-Howard
> SG-Finley-Delk
> PG-Nash-Best
> 
> Those five starters are all capable of averaging 20 any season and dropping 40 any game. With Walker, Dallas gets the post presence they needed. The uninformed will talk about how Walker is a soft perimeter player. The informed will remind you that in the <b>first round of the playoffs, Walker suddenly started playing in the post on 60-70% of the possessions and McCarty and Delk became double digit scorers. </b> Nowitzki will be guarded by the big guys like Shaq, Duncan and Yao, but Dirk plays outside, which leaves the lane open for Finley, Nash, and Jamison to cut in and pick up a pass from Walker in the post. <b>Walker's best atribute on the court is his ability to pass out of the post. He's at the Sabonis-Divac level down there.</b> Not to mention that when he was overweight he was quick enough to have undefendable post moves, now that he's shed 20+ pounds and won't be playing 40+ mpg, forget about it. He might even be your best player.
> 
> Your rebounding gets better as well. Dirk, Antoine, and Jamison can easily average 8-9 rpg and Finley gets nearly 6. Najera and Fortson off the bench are terrific rebounders and Bradley is around too.


Man, that is an excellent line up, isn't it? Walker is a really good team defender, covering the weak side when needed. Meaning: Walker rotates and knows WHERE to rotate to, as well as "when" to rotate. Harter is a defensive guru and rotation is expected by him. Walker obliged in that respect.

SUPERB analysis. :clap:


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## LionOfJudah

I think Nelly might eventually skeem up a zone D where we can run with all 5 stars. Either way all we have to do is make it a little difficult for the other team to shoot because theres not going to be anyone stopping us. If all else fails put Dirk on the David Boston weight training program.


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## darkballa

sorry but i saw this on the yahoo nba section.

nelson will start walker and put jamison on the bench. nelson is such a dumb coach. this is like the last time he put van exel on the bench and not put finley on 3. Im no great coach but who would put a guy who averages 22 ppg and 7rpg on the bench? i mean i dont have any coaching experience but it doesnt take a genius to ffigure this out. alright so this is no. 3 for nelson.

Nelson's mistakes.

1. not starting NVE at the 2 when they got him.
2. not starting NVE at the play offs.
3. putting a 22ppg guy on the bench.

i mean, what kind of coach is he? he can use this starting lineup.

C-Nowitzki/Walker( i guess hes big enough to play that position)
PF-Nowitzki/walker
SF-Jamison
SG-finley
pg-nash

walker is proabably biug anough to play C.


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## Petey

If it's true Jamison goes to the bench, what is the big deal? Walker is in his own right up there too. If Walker were on the bench, you could ask why a guy with his career averages was on the bench as well.

-Petey


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## ChowYunSkinny

> Originally posted by <b>darkballa</b>!
> sorry but i saw this on the yahoo nba section.
> 
> nelson will start walker and put jamison on the bench. nelson is such a dumb coach. this is like the last time he put van exel on the bench and not put finley on 3. Im no great coach but who would put a guy who averages 22 ppg and 7rpg on the bench? i mean i dont have any coaching experience but it doesnt take a genius to ffigure this out. alright so this is no. 3 for nelson.
> 
> Nelson's mistakes.
> 
> 1. not starting NVE at the 2 when they got him.
> 2. not starting NVE at the play offs.
> 3. putting a 22ppg guy on the bench.
> 
> i mean, what kind of coach is he? he can use this starting lineup.
> 
> C-Nowitzki/Walker( i guess hes big enough to play that position)
> PF-Nowitzki/walker
> SF-Jamison
> SG-finley
> pg-nash
> 
> walker is proabably biug anough to play C.


van exel was a great spark plug off the bench. even though he didnt he didnt start many games, he did get to play many mins especially at the end of games where it matters most & where he is so clutch . so i dont know how nelson not starting him makes him such a dumb coach.


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## darkballa

again with this. if you were a coach with 5 all-stars and some of them have the same position. You would try to put them all on the floor at the same time. lets try this i dont know but this is probably one of the top 10 or 15 things that make coaches great

NEVER put all-stars on the bench.

and NVE was in his prime where he averaged 21ppg iun denver.
all-stars deserve to be in the lineup. remember the lakers coach before phil jackson?? the guy that put eddie jones on the SG and put rice over kobe even though he was an all-star that season? trust me some coaches have a knack for putting all-stars on the bench, now i have 2.


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## INTELLECT

> Originally posted by <b>darkballa</b>!
> sorry but i saw this on the yahoo nba section.
> 
> nelson will start walker and put jamison on the bench. nelson is such a dumb coach. this is like the last time he put van exel on the bench and not put finley on 3. Im no great coach but who would put a guy who averages 22 ppg and 7rpg on the bench? i mean i dont have any coaching experience but it doesnt take a genius to ffigure this out. alright so this is no. 3 for nelson.
> 
> Nelson's mistakes.
> 
> 1. not starting NVE at the 2 when they got him.
> 2. not starting NVE at the play offs.
> 3. putting a 22ppg guy on the bench.
> 
> i mean, what kind of coach is he? he can use this starting lineup.
> 
> C-Nowitzki/Walker( i guess hes big enough to play that position)
> PF-Nowitzki/walker
> SF-Jamison
> SG-finley
> pg-nash
> 
> walker is proabably biug anough to play C.


[email protected] starting nve being a "big mistake" Nve said himself he was more comfortable coming off the bench last year. Why the fucc would nelson start nash, nve, and fin? Do you know how small that lineup would be? they did that most of the second half and although the mavs SCORED ALOT they got KILLED ON THE BOARDS. offense has NEVER been a problem for this team but there's no way in hell you can ask nash or NVE to guard opposing teams sgs who can either shoot over the top of them or post them up on the blocks cause they give up so much size and height. Then putting find at sf takes away from his rebounding and he has to try to defend much stronger players than he would if he played sg. This team won 60 games last year. They started 14 and 0 WITHOUT nve and raef even playing (knee probs) They were able to get within 2 wins of reaching the nba finals without THEIR LEADING SCORER AND REBOUNDER. what else could you possibly ask from nelson? LOL


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## INTELLECT

> Originally posted by <b>darkballa</b>!
> again with this. if you were a coach with 5 all-stars and some of them have the same position. You would try to put them all on the floor at the same time. lets try this i dont know but this is probably one of the top 10 or 15 things that make coaches great
> 
> NEVER put all-stars on the bench.
> 
> and NVE was in his prime where he averaged 21ppg iun denver.
> all-stars deserve to be in the lineup. remember the lakers coach before phil jackson?? the guy that put eddie jones on the SG and put rice over kobe even though he was an all-star that season? trust me some coaches have a knack for putting all-stars on the bench, now i have 2.



call me crazy but NVE wasn't an allstar in DENVER. nash was. Nash is a 2 time allstar and a 2 time all nba 3rd team player. Nve did NONE of that in denver so why should nve start over nash? Fin has been to the allstar game MORE THAN nve has so why should nve start over him? LOL kobe was an ALL STAR because of the HYPE behind his name. He wasn't an allstar because he PRODUCED on the court. Eddie JOnes shot 48 percent from da field that year. Kobe shot 42 percent. you do the math on who should start. LOL


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## TheRifleman

John Havlicek scored lifetime more than 20 PPG and was the 6th man off of the bench. 

Red Auerbach was brilliant doing that, as their bench was spearheaded by someone who was totally unselfish. Havlicek was an all star at the time. I think he was an all star for about 12/14 times.


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## Obi-Wan Nowitzki

I'd rather see Walker coming off of the bench considering that he can play every position save center most of the time. I don't know why you think he can play center in the West... Even if Jamison doesn't start, I will have complete faith in Nellie... He knows what he's doing as everyone can see over the past five or so years.

And starting Van Exel? Nellie was brilliant in the way that he used Nick... He maximized his talents. He actually gave Van Exel the chance to start in the playoffs and Nick turned it down saying that he thought he'd help the team out more being the "spark plug".

I agree


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## Jmonty580

I just cant see Dirk playing any center. LIke its been previously said, you wanna play all of your best players, so that means Dirk would have to start at the 5, walker at the 4, Jamison at the 3, Finley at the SG and Nash at the pg. I guess offensive is going to be the mavs defense. If they try and make Walker come off of the bench, hes going to pitcha ***** and there will be all kinds of problems. 

I think I have the solution. You guys dont need to have Walker and Jamison, so you should really consider making another trade. How about Kurt Thomas, KVH, and Ward for Jamison and any scrub you wanna throw in there. That way you get two good bench players, and walker can start and Jamison can start on the knicks and everybody is happy  . Alright I stop dreaming now, but we all gotta dream some time right?


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## kaniffmn

*props to the mavs*

the mavericks were getting chastised for not making any deals early in the offseason. i would never think it possible to improve a team that won 60 games, but i'm proven wrong. out of the blue comes antione walker. and now you have 5 perrenial all star caliber players on your roster. my have the tides turned. i am in awe that the celtics would coincide with such a trade. 

though the mavs improved and made up for the loss of van exel, i still question the defensive side and rebounding. i've been looking at some of the posts and how you think the lineups will be...and if you play dirk, jamison, walker, finley, and nash....on offense you will definitely have mismatches to explore, but on defense, i guess depending on who your playing, would get eaten alive in the post. i don't disagree with this trade, as it makes them damn near impossible to guard. 

but after being in hibernation for nearly the entire offseason, the mavs came out of nowhere and on paper have the team to beat. i can't remember seeing a team with five all star caliber players...as a matter of fact, the only one i can think of that may have had close were the 1973 new york knicks. 

behind all of the talk of the all-stars, the mavs have an improved bench, even without van exel. fortson, best, and delk should be stellar enough to make it one of the top few benches in the league. i don't know what else to say, but it's unbelievable. even though, i'm not a huge mavs fan, congratulations on an excellent transaction and good luck.


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## aquaitious

Walker is starting Jamison is comming off the bench, Coach Nelson confirmed it.


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## Sean

Antoine Walker (8) and Tony Delk (7) hold their new Dallas Mavericks jerseys as they pose with team owner Mark Cuban, second from left, and coach Don Nelson during a news conference in Dallas, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003. To get Walker and Delk from the Boston Celtics, Dallas gave up center Raef LaFrentz, swingman Jiri Welsch, forward Chris Mills and a first-round pick in next year's draft. (AP Photo/LM Otero)


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## Nmage

> Originally posted by <b>MavsFaN02</b>!
> I'd rather see Walker coming off of the bench considering that he can play every position save center most of the time.


I agree. I think Employee No. 8 will be not only an offensive spark of the bench but a great leader as well. He will give the bench an identity, IMO.

He can more or less split minutes evenly at the 3/4. Dirk can play C in short stretches or certain situations with a serious 'speed' team. 

I thought for a moment that maybe they might quickly retrade him to say Seattle but Nelly apparently wants to see if any other team can score 140 pts. per game with the Mavs...

He will perhaps go the way of Little Nicky next year with his 14 mil due to come off the books at the end of the 2004-2005 season. CUBAN will be raking in the cash or at least doing enough to keep his blood pressure up as the Mavs inch closer and closer.


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## voice of reality

> Originally posted by <b>TheRifleman</b>!
> 
> 
> You may be right in that, but at least Walker knows how and when to pass the rock, which is something Raef doesn't have a clue about.


Wanna bet your team fg% goes down this year?  

And the cs somehow goes up?  

Antoine will get his 20 shots, 

BTw has the team been given the speech that they must fit into antoine? 


How is nash taking this news?  Antoine was famous for riding a preety decent pint guard in Boston (kenny a).. Think he has changed?


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## voice of reality

> Originally posted by <b>Sean</b>!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Antoine Walker (8) and Tony Delk (7) hold their new Dallas Mavericks jerseys as they pose with team owner Mark Cuban, second from left, and coach Don Nelson during a news conference in Dallas, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003. To get Walker and Delk from the Boston Celtics, Dallas gave up center Raef LaFrentz, swingman Jiri Welsch, forward Chris Mills and a first-round pick in next year's draft. (AP Photo/LM Otero)


tony does not look happy...


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## PetroToZoran

> Originally posted by <b>voice of reality</b>!
> 
> 
> tony does not look happy...


Cause he's the ugliest guy in the picture... And Nelson, Cuban, and Walker aren't exactly good looking guys either.


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## aquaitious

> Originally posted by <b>voice of reality</b>!
> 
> 
> Wanna bet your team fg% goes down this year?


Wanna bet Toine isn't gonna be the main guy on this offense? He's gonna be distributing much more, because everywhere he passes someone can score.



> Originally posted by <b>voice of reality</b>!
> And the cs somehow goes up?


Yes there's a rumor that OB has a offense this year.



> Originally posted by <b>voice of reality</b>!
> Antoine will get his 20 shots,


Nah,



> Originally posted by <b>voice of reality</b>!
> BTw has the team been given the speech that they must fit into antoine?


No, but he's the new guy and will have to fit around the other guys. Kinda like Banks was with the C's



> Originally posted by <b>voice of reality</b>!
> How is nash taking this news?  Antoine was famous for riding a preety decent pint guard in Boston (kenny a).. Think he has changed?


Ah yes, Kenny Anderson, they guy OB didn't have an confidence in and constantly told the media the offense will go throught Walker, and still was saying it two days ago....


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## darkballa

> Originally posted by <b>INTELLECT</b>!
> 
> 
> 
> call me crazy but NVE wasn't an allstar in DENVER. nash was. Nash is a 2 time allstar and a 2 time all nba 3rd team player. Nve did NONE of that in denver so why should nve start over nash? Fin has been to the allstar game MORE THAN nve has so why should nve start over him? LOL kobe was an ALL STAR because of the HYPE behind his name. He wasn't an allstar because he PRODUCED on the court. Eddie JOnes shot 48 percent from da field that year. Kobe shot 42 percent. you do the math on who should start. LOL


NVE was an all-star with the lakers man and im beginning to see your point on the spark plug thing. still i rest my case on the rule 

NEVER put all-stars on the bench.


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## LionOfJudah

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-mavericks-walker&prov=ap&type=lgns



> Still, Walker knows Dallas didn't get him to be a role player. The ball will go through his hands plenty, but often it will be so he can find the player with the best chance to score. For all his shooting, he did lead Boston in assists the last three seasons.
> Nelson has long coveted a forward capable of handling a point guard's duties. On this team, it frees Nash to occasionally roam the court looking for his shot. He did that successfully last season when paired with Nick Van Exel


This article should answer quiet a few questions.


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## MJG




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## Obi-Wan Nowitzki

> Originally posted by <b>MJG</b>!


Forced Smile? Let's have a poll... lol


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## OG

i knew antoine's head was big. but DAMN! i never really noticed it was THAT big.. u think it'll start to shrink now that he's not "the man" (at least in his own mind.. then again, he'll probably think it's his team..)
i'm not hatin', just can't believe the size of his head.. even shaq's head is proportional..


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## TheRifleman

> Originally posted by <b>MavsFaN02</b>!
> 
> 
> Forced Smile? Let's have a poll... lol


Nah, when I cover his smiling mouth, the eyes are still smiling. so Walker has a genuine smile, imho.


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## TheRifleman

> Originally posted by <b>OG</b>!
> i knew antoine's head was big. but DAMN! i never really noticed it was THAT big.. u think it'll start to shrink now that he's not "the man" (at least in his own mind.. then again, he'll probably think it's his team..)
> i'm not hatin', just can't believe the size of his head.. even shaq's head is proportional..


Actually, if you measure Walker's head and nellie's head, they're the same. But Nellie is shorter than Walker. Hmmmmm.


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## LionOfJudah

> Originally posted by <b>TheRifleman</b>!
> 
> 
> Actually, if you measure Walker's head and nellie's head, they're the same. But Nellie is shorter than Walker. Hmmmmm.


And both are said to know quiet a bit about ball.... Hmmmm....
so that means Kerry Kittles' doesn't know jack with his peanut head...

j/k


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## darkballa

sorry but i figured out why im upset. i dont like toine and i like jamison. i know ! lets put toine on the bench instead of jamison!!! we could use more defense and less 3 point shooting and more rebounding. i wish ic ould talk with don nelson, i mean ALL of us have great lioneups and trade ideas and some of us might grow up to be GMs and we cant even tell them our ideas? isnt there a coach e-mail or something?


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## TheRifleman

> Originally posted by <b>darkballa</b>!
> sorry but i figured out why im upset. i dont like toine and i like jamison. i know ! lets put toine on the bench instead of jamison!!! we could use more defense and less 3 point shooting and more rebounding. i wish ic ould talk with don nelson, i mean ALL of us have great lioneups and trade ideas and some of us might grow up to be GMs and we cant even tell them our ideas? isnt there a coach e-mail or something?


I think one can email them - check out their official site, but be warned that they might not listen to fans who are not in the working world, much less the NBA working world. So email them and at the least, you'll feel better about having your voice being heard on a subject you care about.


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## Kunlun

Now with Walker the Mavs are ready to win the 'ship. I'm a Sixers fan, but I am realistic and know that there's no way we could beat any of the Western powers so I'm rooting for the Mavs!! GOOO MAVERICKS!!!! THIS IS THE YEAR!!!


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## Truth34

*How do you like Antoine so far?*

Just curious....


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## Petey

*Re: How do you like Antoine so far?*



> Originally posted by <b>Truth34</b>!
> Just curious....


He has such weird form on that walking none jumping 3, was shocked it went in. He looks like he is playing hard. Eventually with his talent, and his drive the shots will fall, just like in Boston.

-Petey


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## INTELLECT

*Re: Re: How do you like Antoine so far?*



> Originally posted by <b>Petey</b>!
> 
> 
> He has such weird form on that walking none jumping 3, was shocked it went in. He looks like he is playing hard. Eventually with his talent, and his drive the shots will fall, just like in Boston.
> 
> -Petey


gotdang man. You got a seriously fascination with antoine walker. every mavs thread you're on you bashing dude even though he's one of the few mavs playing well tonight


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## Petey

*Re: Re: Re: How do you like Antoine so far?*



> Originally posted by <b>INTELLECT</b>!
> 
> 
> gotdang man. You got a seriously fascination with antoine walker. every mavs thread you're on you bashing dude even though he's one of the few mavs playing well tonight


LOL, I think you got me wrong. I used to mod the Mavs forum by request. I love fast paced basketball. And the Mavs play great fast break basketball.

And if you see when I posted that, it was before the half, right before the 2nd quarter started I think.

And the other thread you read wrong.

I'm just trying to be realistic.

He certainly is having/had a good game tonight.

-Petey


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## Saint Baller

*Re: How do you like Antoine so far?*

Whoa major bump! lots of fans were happy here? wtf


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## different_13

sheesh, you scared the hell out of me!


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## New Jazzy Nets

Isn't there a rule against bumping something that is almost 3 years old?


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## Saint Baller

No

I just did it to bring up some discussion


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## AZNoob

I do not think Antoine would come back to Big D...

1. Dallas traded him...
2. He won a championship ring in Miami...that alone should have significance to any player in regards to if he wants to stay on that team or not...

When I saw this thread, I was very suprised...and thankful it was not true, or dallas would be sooo much better!


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## Dragnsmke1

AZNoob said:


> I do not think Antoine would come back to Big D...
> 
> 1. Dallas traded him...
> 2. He won a championship ring in Miami...that alone should have significance to any player in regards to if he wants to stay on that team or not...
> 
> When I saw this thread, I was very suprised...and thankful it was not true, or dallas would be sooo much better!



youre not a very good reader are you?


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## xray

When I saw how many pages this thread had...

...I knew I had started a trend. :clown:


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## StackAttack

YES

YES

OMFG

OMFG

WE GOT TOINE

MAVS = CHAMPS IN 07

ANTOINE FEWKIN WALKERReard;sf;lakjdlkagjg

edit: oh shi


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## Ninjatune

Shimmy Shimmy


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## Dre

Do you remember how much Dallas fans hated him? :laugh: He probably doesn't even want to come here as a Heat.


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## Ninjatune

_Dre_ said:


> Do you remember how much Dallas fans hated him? :laugh: He probably doesn't even want to come here as a Heat.


I sure do. I was leader of the hatewagon.


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## StackAttack

NO U gguyz DONt UnderstaDnD! WE g0t ANTtoine "NeXT MJ" WALKEr


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## xray

StackAttack said:


> NO U gguyz DONt UnderstaDnD! WE g0t ANTtoine "NeXT MJ" WALKEr


>Insert coherent english joke here <


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## StackAttack

I saw that coming


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