By: Tyler Ward
It was pretty much a done deal yesterday, but Michael Jordan and the Bobcats had a different plan at the last second. Instead of trading Chandler to Toronto, they sent him and Alexis Ajinca to Dallas in exchange for Erick Dampier, Matt Carroll, and journeyman Eduardo Najera.
Sources told ESPN that there were two major decisions that affected the fallout of the Toronto deal - 1) Head Coach Larry Brown was not in favor of the deal and 2) Calderon's contract has a 10% trade bonus in his contract, which would give him somewhere around $30 million over the next three years.
The Mavericks finally get rid of Dampier's humongous contract with about $13 million left that is set to expire after this season. Dampier barely contributed anything to Dallas after signing a 7-year/$73 million contract with them in 2004. The remaining year on his contract is considered valuable because Charlotte (or any other team he got traded to) could cut him before the season starts and instantly wipe the remaining $13 million off the slate. Bobcats GM Rod Higgins said earlier today, "You have to consider that contract is probably one of the most valuable contracts in the league. The flexibility is the beautiful part of having Erick's deal, maybe not so much for Erick himself as a player, but for the franchise itself."
Since they backed out on the trade to Toronto, the Bobcats are still in need of a point guard, after letting Raymond Felton walk to New York. The only point guard on their roster is D.J. Augustin and he really isn't the starter they are looking for right now. Charlotte has expressed interest in Minnesota's Ramon Sessions to help at the one-guard position. Sessions' exit is almost certain, as the Timberwolves are close to signing Luke Ridnour to back-up last year's draft pick, Jonny Flynn.
With this trade, the Mavericks add another big man to their already big frontcourt. He joins the recently re-signed Brendan Haywood and franchise leader Dirk Nowitzki to help form a solid combination.
Chandler, 27, had his best year in the 07-08 season, where he averaged 11.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.
Dallas has also expressed interest in signing forward Al Harrington, and they would be expected to sign him to a two-year contract worth the mid level exception, $5.8 million per season. New Jersey and Denver have also shown interest in Harrington, so the Mavericks will have some competition. Dallas has listed Harrington as "1A" on their list.
