2016 Dallas Mavericks

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, David Kay and Peter Christian of the The Sports Bank. Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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Dallas Mavericks (Last Year: 42-40)

2016-17 Projected Depth Chart:

C: Salah Mejri/JaVale McGee

PF: Dirk Nowitzki/Dwight Powell

SF: Chandler Parsons/Justin Anderson/Jeremy Evans

SG: Wesley Matthews/Devin Harris

PG: J.J. Barea

NBA Free Agents:

PF-Dirk Nowitzki (PO)

SF-Chandler Parsons (PO)

PG-Deron Williams (UFA)

C-Zaza Pachulia (UFA)

C-David Lee (UFA)

PG-Raymond Felton (UFA)

PF-Charlie Villanueva (UFA)

PF-Dwight Powell (RFA)

2016-17 Team Salary: Approximately $39.1 million

NBA Offseason Team Needs:

1. Point Guard: Deron Williams served as a stopgap at the point guard position but will opt out of his contract and hit the free agent market. Raymond Felton is also a free agent, so that leaves Dallas with J.J. Barea and Devin Harris as the team’s point guard options. Both are best served being used in a reserve role, so the Mavericks have to search for an upgrade at the one.

Dallas figures to have a bunch of money to spend this summer and finding a more permanent floor leader who can create offense for his teammates while adding another scoring option would be the ideal find.

2. Pass on Parsons?: Chandler Parsons is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract worth about $16 million and become an unrestricted free agent. If the price is right, Dallas should look to extend the versatile forward. However, I would not be willing to pay Parsons close to $20 million a year, which is what he figures to get on the open market, so the Mavericks need to be preparing for another option.

3. Center: Like Williams, Zaza Pachulia was a 1-year filler in the middle for Dallas after DeAndre Jordan had second thoughts about leaving L.A., so the Mavericks needs to look for an upgrade at center.