The Dallas Mavericks are loyal, but not to a fault

With the news that the Dallas Mavericks will likely be bringing back Devin Harris once again, many Mavs fans are questioning the loyalty that Dallas seems to have to all of their players, even the non-superstars. I don’t think this is a problem.

If you have been around the Dallas Mavericks long enough, you have likely heard the fans who complain about guys who are getting older or are unable to perform at the level of some younger free agents that are available. I understand that young talent is important, but I fail to see why loyalty is a faulty system.

It all started with Dirk Nowitzki. When the Dallas Mavericks drafted Dirk, the franchise began to take off in a direction it hadn’t seen in a decade. Although it took a few years for Dirk to establish himself as a franchise player, the truth began to present itself and the Mavs were a different organization.

In 2011, Dirk fulfilled his Mavs destiny and brought home the first and only NBA Championship to Dallas. He was the Finals MVP and was undoubtedly the best player on the court more games than not throughout the playoffs.

After the 2011 season, Dallas fell on some hard times. Questionable front office decisions and the inability to land big name free agent targets plagued the Mavs almost as much as age and injury plagued Dirk. Dallas was no longer a 50-60 win team and were fighting just to make the playoffs. It was time for Dallas to make a decision with Nowitzki and the remainder of his career.

For Mark Cuban, the decision was simple. Dirk had earned every honor that he could in a Dallas uniform and it would be up to him whether he wanted to stay. There was no question of asking him to take a pay cut or finding a trade partner for him, only asking what he wanted to do. Dirk wanted to stay in Dallas.

Now Cuban, Donnie and Rick don’t deserve all the credit with the Nowitzki situation. Never has there been a player in the NBA born without a greed bone until Dirk came along. The Big German had no interest in seeking out the biggest contract or finding the team that he could coast to the championship with. He wanted to be in Dallas and he made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere.

When Dirk Nowitzki, one of the greatest basketball players to ever step on the court, sets your culture for you, you follow it. The idea of loyalty between a franchise and the players that play for them is something that has really never been seen in any professional sport. Dallas, however, is constantly talking about how they value players like J.J. Barea and Devin Harris or even Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews.

The loyalty between Dirk and Dallas is something that will never be replicated, but the idea of a team loyal to their players is a culture that has been brought to Dallas and it is a good one. The big issue with this idea is that if you are loyal to players that aren’t pushing your team to win and get better, isn’t it hurting the team?

I think that this is the line that Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban always watch for and look at. Is being loyal to Devin Harris and J.J. Barea hurting the Mavs in the long run?

The simple answer to this question is absolutely not. You will see people talk about how Dallas should be pursuing young talent instead of filling in these guys that have played their heart out for Dallas over the last many years. Not only is that dumb, there is no reason for it, especially right now.

The Mavs are trying to conserve cap space for next summer. Any youngster that they may be able to sign right now would not get anymore than a one-year offer from Dallas and they would likely not take that deal. This takes care of the first argument that we are missing out on young talent.

The second most frequent argument I hear from Twitter is that we could have used the money that is being used on some of these guys for other pieces towards a championship. I feel like I shouldn’t have to address this one but none of the guys that we are getting at a minimum deal are going to be helping anymore than Devin Harris. That is just a simple fact.

The Dallas Mavericks are a loyal team. They care about their players and value them as people more than as just assets. That sounds crazy as a business plan, but it is working for the organization and things will turn around before we know it. So yes, the Mavs are loyal. But they are not loyal to a fault.