OJ Mayo to the Rescue in Dallas!

Since losing Jason Terry and Jason Kidd, Mark Cuban has responded by essentially walking around the bar at closing time and going for any single female left in the place who had a pulse:

– 33-year-old Elton Brand, who bottomed out last year in Philly – 11 ppg, 7.2 rpg
– 30-year-old Chris Kaman, who, despite 16.2 ppg and 9.6 rpg on awful New Orleans, had no serious suitors [Kaman sidenote: He took a swing at Bill Simmons on twitter, picking up where Cuban left off]

and traded for …

– 24-year-old Darren Collison, who might become their starting point guard

A quick word about Mayo – on a loaded team in Memphis, with a solid point guard, a stud in Rudy Gay, and two powerful interior players – he shot just 40 percent from the field the last two seasons. He shot 36 percent on 3-pointers the last two years, too. Did the league solve him after his 18.5 ppg explosion as a rookie? Or did he just not fit in Memphis, which is why his minutes dwindled from 38 as a rookie to 26 the last two years? (Cough, Tony Allen, cough.) Or was Mayo demoted to the bench because he’s so one-dimensional?

Here’s the good news – Dallas only gave Brand and Kaman one-year deals. They’re not obligated to keep Collison long, either.

Scenario: The Mavericks are bad next year – Mayo and Dirk will take all the shots and they’ll probably win 35 games – but at the All-Star break they’re able to trade Shawn Marion and his defense (need somebody to slow Kevin Durant? Matrix is your man! Need someone to try and contain LeBron? Meet Shawn Marion!) to a contender for some expiring contracts. Presto, the Mavs are in great shape headed into 2013 free agency.

Even in this rosy scenario, good luck trying to woo Chris Paul and Dwight Howard with … 35-year-old Dirk Nowitzki in the final year of his contract.

You’ve got your title, Dallas. The immediate future doesn’t look bright.