Over the past month there has been a heated debate about the value of Greg Buckner expiring contract for the Dallas Mavericks off-season plans. More specifically, Buckners’ contract can be waived any time until November leading to total savings of approximately $2 million. Therefore, many experts reasoned that due to the bad economic climate a number of teams would be willing to give away a solid rotation player in exchange for an instant payroll cut. In fact, speculations about the aforementioned contract’s value led to the term ‘Buckshot’ being coined by the Mavs’ fanbase. While the trade chip was not expected to surround Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd with another All-Star, many were hoping for another contributor to push the Texan franchise over the hump.

Thus, it was a fairly big surprise for most NBA followers when Marc Cuban announced that the Dallas Mavericks decided to waive Greg Buckner instead of waiting for a suitable trade to come up. According to the franchise’s front office no significant trade proposals were made which led to GM Nelson’s decision to release the veteran forward. However, one is left wondering why the Mavericks opted to waive the contract right away, refusing to wait any longer for a possible deal. After all, there would not have been any financial disadvantage for the Mavs if they had chosen to wait until November for a suitable trade before sending Buckner into free agency themselves.

Simultaneously, Marc Cuban announced that restricted free agent James Singleton was staying with the team for another year as he chose to accept the $1.1 million qualifying offer. Taking the Mavericks’ off-season moves into consideration, Dallas did indeed further improve their competitive roster with the acquisition of Shawn Marion, Roddy Beaubois and Drew Gooden. Nonetheless, they missed out on Marcin Gortat, Brandon Bass and a serviceable center. While Dirk Nowitzki certainly has more help around him than in 2008-09, it still appears to be questionable whether the franchise transformed into a legit contender. Therefore, it is not beyond the realms of reality that Donnie Nelson and Marc Cuban will look for another blockbuster trade during the season to land a major improvement at the center or shooting guard position in Dallas.

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