'Thin Ice'

Will New Mav Shawne's Ass Be Grass?

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

  Yes, we say the Shawne Williams acquisition kinda counts as a Donnie Nelson “bullet.’’ And yes, we know that given the gifted Williams’ troubling background we have to hope that as he begins his Mavs career, all future bullets are figurative ones.

  We've got a skillion thoughts on a trade that is anything but “small,’’ a trade that skates on “thin ice,’’ a trade that stuffs this franchise's bottle full of potential wing-playing lightning.

  “This is a move that addresses our future,’’ the coach said. “I think it sends a good message to our fans that we're thinking ahead.’’

  Future-schmuture. Quit spoiling the party, Buzz-Kill Carlisle!

  ITEM: Carlisle said a few days ago that he was “looking for a few assholes.’’ Like the Fisher kids used to say as we good little Catholic boys hunted for Easter candy, “I spy!’’

  ITEM: Carlisle worked blue again on the subject of what the organization will do to Shawne if he goofs up.

  “His ass will be grass,’’ Rick said, “and me, Donnie and Mark would be the lawn mowers.’’

  Your ass is grass. And I’m the lawn mower.

  How funny. What is this, “American Graffiti’’?

  ITEM: Shawne’s rap sheet – the reason an exasperated Indy boss Larry Bird came out this summer and announced that the kid was “on thin ice’’ – is extensive; had he been traded to Dallas a few days earlier, he almost certainly would’ve been accused of punching Pacman’s bodyguard.

  In the summer of ’07, he was arrested when cops found the crippler and a stolen handgun in his car. In February, a guest at Shawne’s home happened to be a murder suspect. This summer, a passenger in his car was arrested for marijuana possession.

  The Pacers, with so much recent history of roster misbehavior, could take it no more. So they gave him away. Hurray to the Mavs for pulling this off, but Shawne Williams’ issues make Josh Howard’s screwups seem almost charming.

  ITEM: Once his behavioral record is clear and we can all look back together and laugh, you know what would really be a badass nickname for him? Shawne “Thin Ice’’ Williams. “Thin Ice.’’ Sweet! (DB.com will trademark it. Do not poach my intellectual property!)

  ITEM: “Wrong place, wrong time,’’ says Mark Cuban of Williams’ tribulations. “He actually hasn't done anything (wrong).’’

  From Carlisle, who drafted Williams to the Pacers: “He's a good-hearted, hard-working kid. …’’

  And from agent Happy Walters: “I think the Carmel police were kind of like following him around constantly, almost harassing him. So I think it (the trade) is an opportunity for him to get away from that type of thing as well, because I think he was being unduly singled out a little bit.’’

  The Cuban/Donnie decision to treat Josh Howard like an errant-but-beloved family member seems like it might pay off. There is a fine line between coddling/excuse-making and loving positivity. Maybe Shawne – “good-hearted’’ and “nothing-done-wrong’’ and “harassed-by-police’’ as he is -- will blossom under the same sort of Ward Cleaveresque guidance.

  ITEM: Pre-trade quote from Shawne: “People that know me know that I'm a good person,’’ he told The Associated Press. “Hopefully, the people that don't know me get to know me and know that I'm a good person.’’

  Yes. Hopefully.

  ITEM: Do you agree that two No. 2’s are cheap? Cuban has said you can easily buy 2’s if you want ‘em. That wasn’t the case in last summer’s draft, but the Mavs have been pretty consistent in that belief and in their actions regarding 2’s. Our friend Eddie Sefko says the trade (Jones, second-round draft choices next summer and in either 2010 or 2011 and cash roughly equal to Jones' salary, about $1.9 million) represents a “steep price.’’

  We don’t see it that way. If Indy and its fans are satisfied with being rid of him, that’s understandable. But to us, this is still a bag of magic beans for a true commodity in Williams.

  ITEM: Williams is one more guy who kills the notion of “2-guards’’ and “small forwards’’ and such in a Kidd-run offense. He’s 6-9, 225, and has been used at power forward. At the 2 or the 3, he can shoot, he can run, he can jump. Shawne Williams is a wing. (This is such a focus now that, heck, even Brandon Bass is being given a shot there; he starred in Thursday’s 110-102 preseason win at Chicago, supplementing his resume as a 4 and a 5 with some 3. I mean, some wing.)

  ITEM: You wanted youth? Check it out: Shawne Williams is 22, Gerald Green is 22, Antoine Wright is 24, Brandon Bass is 23, JJB is 24, Shan Foster (in Europe) is 22, ‘Gana Diop is 26, Reyshawn Terry is 24.

  ITEM: You wanted athleticism? This ain’t the decathlon, but if it was. … Shawne Williams, Gerald Green, Antoine Wright, Brandon Bass, Josh Howard and Reyshawn Terry might medal.

  ITEM: It’s been subtle, it’s been spread out, and it’s been under the radar in some cases. But the reliance on the established Mavs has suddenly been supplemented by change. Dirk, Josh, Jet, Stack and Damp are the constants. But going back a year, pretty much everyone else is new (or re-new).

  The Mavs, to their credit, have found a way to marry solid stability with crispy freshness!

  ITEM: If Williams works out, somebody gets bumped from the rotation. In fact, there are a number of dominoes that could fall once he gets to town (this weekend) and gets comfortable (whenever).

  The early contender to get bumped from the rotation would be the similarly athletic Gerald Green.

  Antoine Wright’s experimental starts at the 2 went well enough. Still, we will be disappointed if someday Williams fails to push him for that job.

  Some in the organization believe Jerry Stackhouse should be a 15-minute man rather than the 25-minute man he’s been. First Wright, and now Williams, ought to be enough to reduce Stack’s role (though Jerry did start Friday’s game against the Bucks). It should go without saying, but we’ll say it: Devean George should stay busy waving a towel and such.

  Maybe most interesting of all: Jason Terry. This coaching staff absolutely loves his consistency as a shooter (not to mention his consistency as a person), so he’s got a clutch-time job as a spot-up shooter alongside Kidd. But with all these big, athletic wings, shouldn’t Jet now get time as Kidd’s backup at the point?

  ITEM: Logic – and a logjam -- suggests that more trade talks will occur. This roster now has a lot of swingmen who could help somebody. The good news: In any ensuing talks, Dallas will be in the driver’s seat.

  ITEM: Our man David Lord notes that Reyshawn Terry’s status may go unchanged because he figures to hold the inside track on the 15th slot if only for contractual reasons. The Mavs no longer have the option to send him to Europe while still retaining his rights. They must keep him or cut him; he’s done just enough while learning to make the adjustment to power forward to stick, we say.

  ITEM: Hollinger says he is “a potential 20-point scorer.’’ Here’s why: Williams can slash, he can shoot from midrange, he can play big or small. We won’t put a number on it yet – heck, we still don’t know what the depth chart will even look like – but he’s got some Josh Howard in him. (Hollinger, by the way, thinks enough of Williams as a shooter to compare him to Mike Miller. A combination of Josh and Mike Miller? Maybe he can be a thicker Rashard Lewis? A less nutty Stephen Jackson? A Tim Thomas who plays defense? Anything right about there, kid. … We’ll take it.)

  ITEM: If Williams is a complete bust this year? Fine. He’s an expiring contract this year and, because he has a team option for next season, he's an expiring after 2009-10, too. In this sense, forfeiting Eddie Jones (and his expiring) means Dallas literally gave up nothing in this deal. Assuming, that is. …

ITEM: A word about Eddie Jones: It didn’t happen for him in his one season in Dallas; the man who has the fourth-most 3-pointers in NBA history and who was once a perennial All-NBA-Defensive Team contender never quite fit in on the floor. But we got to know him a little bit and he’s a good dude. He told DB.com at the end of last season that he was contemplating retirement – even though it would mean giving up his salary – because of how much he misses his wife and family back in Florida. Now, at 36, he can go home. Good for him.

  ITEM: Antoine Wright was the 15^th pick of the 2005 Draft. Gerald Green was the 18^th pick of the 2005 Draft. Shawne Williams was the 17^th pick of the 2006 Draft. Based simply on volume, you’d like to think you’d hit it big on at least one of three middle-of-the-first-rounders.

  ITEM: Shawne likely wanted to escape Indy. Not so fast, kid. The Mavs' next preseason game is Wednesday. Against the Pacers. On the road.

  ITEM: The numbers don’t jump out at you: Williams averaged 6.7 points and 2.7 rebounds last season in 65 games. Project him as a 40-minute guy (someday!), though, and he’s an 18-ppg guy.

  ITEM: We gotta go back to this “value-of-a-second-rounder’’ thing: It’s nonsense. You just traded two 2’s for a No. 1 pick (Williams) who can actually play in the NBA. A no-brainer. Every time.

  ITEM: Is this move vindication for GM Donnie Nelson (not to mention for the humble reporter who spent all summer promising DB.commers that an impactful move would be made)? Unless you had your heart immovably set on Ron Artest, sure. It’s vindication enough in that it is potentially impactful and serves as proof that Dallas’ Triangle of Trust ain’t twiddling its thumbs.

    This is not, as one report suggested, a “small move.’’ It’s small in risk, maybe, but it’s not small in reward, and it’s not small in the sense that Shawne is a “small’’ who is 6-9.

  ITEM: Shawne Williams’ agent is named Happy Walters. When I finally hire an agent, I want his name to be “Happy Walters.’’

  ITEM: It is fair to say that Williams came out of college as a less-than polished young adult. As a freshman, before deciding to come out, Williams helped lead Memphis to a 33-4 record. He averaged 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year and in the postseason was named MVP of the Conference USA Tournament after averaging 18 points and 6.7 rebounds. His game was precocious. Now the rest of him just needs to catch up.

  ITEM: Williams is joining a team riding a feel-good high. … and it might be just the kind of “high’’ he needs. Dallas is 3-0 in the preseason after Friday’s 105-79 road win over Milwaukee.  Afterwards, Carlisle said something we find exciting. And after the trade he said something equally thrilling.

  After the game: “We played a hard, physical Dallas Mavericks-style of game,’’ he said. “I feel good about what we've done for three games, but we're light years away from where we need to be.’’

  After the trade: “(Williams) assured me that those things are in the past. This is serious business in Dallas. We're bringing him in as a piece to help us win a championship. It's got to be professional all the way.’’

  We already have a style? And it’s hard and physical? And in “light years’’ – or actually, two weeks – we’re going to be even better? And we’re talking championship?

  Welcome to Dallas, Shawne Williams. Don’t F this up.

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144pm oct 11 2008