The Dallas Mavericks haven’t been sure if they want to re-sign O.J. Mayo, so while they’re contemplating and waiting for other decisions to be made, the Milwaukee Bucks might finally be getting over their top two scorers leaving them, and adding Mayo to the team.
According to reports from ESPN & Yahoo, Mayo is likely to get a multiyear deal worth around $10 million a season, which would still leave the Bucks with around $16 million in cap space to use on other free agents, including bringing back Brandon Jennings if he doesn’t like what the market is offering him.
The Dallas Mavericks don’t want to move before Dwight Howard makes his decision, a hold up that’s quite popular across the NBA, but might be costing them their second best scorer from last season. Mayo averaged 15.3 points per game while shooting 40.7% from beyond the arc.
His isn’t exactly the role model for consistency and efficiency in an offense, which is part of the reason the Mavs aren’t doing anything possible to try and hold on to one of the top free agents in this market, and even a borderline star according to some, as Rick Carlisle was often frustrated last season with Mayo’s decision making and lack of preparation at some level.
Still, Mayo is a better shooter than Monta Ellis, and a much better defender. The question whether the Bucks made the right move depends on their long term plans. If they want to make the postseason next year, adding Mayo is fine, although it clearly isn’t enough. But if their goal is going strong in the 2014 free agency market, the strongest we’ve had in a very long time, signing Mayo, who has a very visible ceiling, to a long-term contract isn’t the best of ideas.
With a more broader goal in mind, giving up on Mayo and signing players on one year deals which keeps the team respectable yet lottery-bound in 2014 makes more sense, but at the moment, it seems like they’re going to overpay Mayo, feeling a bit panicky because they just don’t see players on their roster with the ability to score points at the moment.