Calling off a contract doesn’t mean the link is dead. The Dallas Mavericks would still like to have Devin Harris on their team, but only after he recovers from his injury, and probably for less than what they initially offered him.
Harris was about to sign a deal worth $9 million for three years, but will now be out for two-to-three months, which isn’t that surprising for a player who hasn’t been involved in more than 69 games in one season since the 2006-2007, during his first tenure with the Mavs.
Harris averaged 9.9 points per game last season for the Atlanta Hawks and can play both guard positions, but with Dallas stacking their backcourt with Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington and Gal Mekel, it seems like there was no need to pay Harris that much money, and especially if he’s not going to be available to train with the team during the preseason.
Harris is 30 years old, which means that missing games isn’t likely going to stop. He is a solid option as third guard who can play in both positions for Dallas, but it’s going to be interesting to see how deep into preseason he does comeback, and where will the rotations be at that point, meaning a different role and obviously a different salary for Harris.
The Mavs want to make the playoffs, but have taken a big risk by waiting (probably too long) for Dwight Howard to say no in what looked like a race they had no chance in from the start, and eventually landing Monta Ellis.
Ellis is a very productive scorer, but not efficient. He is going to take the load off of Dirk Nowitzki, while the Mavs committed a lot of money to Jose Calderon as well, hoping that Ellis won’t keep the ball in his hands for too long, but the bigger question remains is who is going to play center for the team, that might have a shot at coming back to the postseason with a healthy Dirk Nowitzki, but not without missing some key pieces in their lineup and on their bench.