The Dallas Mavericks are cautiously engaging in contract negotiations with Andrew Bynum after meeting with the free-agent center and his agent at a Dallas hotel Wednesday morning. "They had a nice visit with our doctors and we had a lunch," Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. "Beyond that, the negotiations are ongoing." The Mavs were the third franchise Bynum and agent David Lee met with this week, following the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks. Cleveland offered an incentive-laden, two-year, $24 million deal -- including a team option for the second season -- to Bynum, a 25-year-old with a history of significant knee problems who sat out the entire 2012-13 season for the Philadelphia 76ers. Sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that $6 million of the $24 million offered by Cleveland is guaranteed. Bynum would be forced to reach a variety of incentive benchmarks to collect the full $12 million in Year 1, according to sources, while Year 2 was pitched by Cleveland as a team option year. Yet it remains unclear how much guaranteed money Dallas will be willing to offer Bynum in a multiyear deal after launching the evaluation process in earnest with Wednesday's meetings. ESPN.com reported Tuesday that the Cavaliers regard the Mavericks as their only legitimate competition for the former All-Star's services. Source: Dallas\Fort Worth
Re: Dallas Mavericks Are Weighing The Options After Meeting With Andrew Bynum But, did he work out for them?
Bynum's going to sign with the Cavs for 2 years and $24 million. The first year is $6 million and the rest is incentives and the second year is a team option. From what I heard this morning, they didn't even offer him a contract. This was for three reasons. 1. The Mavs found out that he hadn't been doing his rehab work after he had his knee surgeries. 2. He wasn't right mentally. 3. He was VERY out of shape. So, if the Mavs want a C, it's going to come down to Brandon Wright, Oden, Dalembert, Gortat, or Bogut.
GS says they are going to keep Bogut. Suns are planning on holding onto Gortat until the trade deadline.
Dalembert seems to be the leader in the clubhouse at this point. I heard this morning that if they do sign him, the average age of the Mavs starters will be 32.
