Shan18

It's interesting to watch the Mavs organization become the definition of a paper champion.  Sure a lineup including Nowitzki & Kidd arguably looks great on paper.  I agree that Kidd brought the veteran  leadership Nowitzki doesn't have enough of.   However,  the Mavs obviously lost too much by giving up Devin Harris.  Now the Mavs compound their problems by getting rid of the only person, Avery Johnson, who is sane enough to understand the basketball side of the equation.   I appreciated Avery Johnson's class in how he handled being fired from the Mavs.  I don't believe it was his fault he was handled a team that was destined for failure.  The Mavs should also have realized that Avery Johnson was the leader of this team for several.  It'll be difficult to replace his fire & passion for basketball.  Hopefully he will be very successful in his next NBA job.  I'm not a fan of the Mavs, but I do feel it was unfortunate that Johnson was fired as a scapegoat.  It happens in any business like the NBA often so I can't be surprised.  Good luck to the Mavs in their quest to close their window of opportunity further.  As a Jazz fan I appreciate how Mark Cuban has makes it easier for teams like Utah to succeed on a daily basis.  It's very strange that the Suns & Mavs chose this season to make a trade when they obviously needed to set themselves up to live to compete at a higher level another day.