By Jonathan Lee
July 13, 2012

Dallas Mavericks Rebound by Acquiring Chris Kaman, Darren Collison and Elton Brand

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The Dallas Mavericks may have struck out on Deron Williams and likely Dwight Howard, but they’ve rebounded nicely the past couple of days.  The team amnestied center Brendan Hayward, signed Chris Kaman to replace him, and acquired Darren Collison to play point guard from the Pacers. It also won the bidding for free agent Elton Brand.

Kaman averaged a solid 13.1 points and 7.7 rebounds for New Orleans last season, and he also has played for the German national team alongside Dirk Nowitzki.  That prior international experience should help the duo mesh quickly up front.  Collison comes over from Indiana along with Dahntay Jones in a sign-and-trade for Ian Mahinmi. Brand was recently amnestied by the Sixers.

Dallas had several holes to fill after losing Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, and filled them well considering the situation.  Collison is a solid point guard capable of starting, and is a large upgrade over Rodrique Beaubois.  Even Jones should help fill a role as a cheap defender on the wing.  Brand is at the end of his career, but should be more than fine as the third man in the post.  While the Mavs are worse off without Kidd and Terry, the latest additions for now push them back into the playoff picture.  Dallas now projects to win 42.5 games per simulation or more than 6 more than they would have before these moves.  On average the Mavs finish 8th in the competitive Western Conference and still retain a measure of flexibility going forward.

On the flipside is Indiana which has made a whole lot of moves, but with little effect on the actual quality of its roster.  In addition to the Collison deal, the Pacers resigned both George Hill and Roy Hibbert as well as adding D.J. Augustin and Gerald Green.



After overhauling a third of the roster the Pacers are projected to be in almost the identical position as they started – fifth in the East with about 49 wins.

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