DALLAS, TX — On a normal home gameday at American Airlines Center, it’s standard operating procedure for Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle to address the media at around 5:45 p.m. CT for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
Carlisle is usually a minute or so late, but typically has his press briefing concluded by the top of the hour, which is when the visiting coach usually talks.
However, in advance of Sunday’s game with the Philadelphia 76ers, a tilt which had a 6 p.m. tip, Carlisle never made it to the interview room for his normal pregame media scrum.
But after the game, he talked about why he had a good reason for not doing so.
Carlisle was in the locker room meeting with his team, informing them that David Lee, recently bought out by the Boston Celtics, would be signed on Monday and could make his Dallas debut as soon as Wednesday when the Oklahoma City Thunder visit Big D.
But since Dallas’ roster was maxed out at 15, Carlisle had to cut someone and it happened to be shooter John Jenkins.
“We just met as a team in the locker room and I personally thanked John Jenkins on behalf of myself, the franchise, Mark [Cuban], everybody for representing this team with pure class. And he’s established real value for himself in this league. I’m pretty sure he’s going to get picked up,” Carlisle said.
Thomas B. Shea/USA TODAY Sports
Carlisle then said that Lee was in the building for a 129-103 win against the Sixers, and that at least for right now the plan is for him to debut against OKC later in the week.
Lee gives Dallas another veteran big man on the roster. He’s someone who Dirk Nowitzki, who became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 29,000 points in his career on Sunday, knows quite well from battling him throughout his NBA career.
And the ex-NBA and NBA Finals MVP is ready to welcome him to Dallas.
“Well, he’s a smart player,” Nowitzki said of Lee. “Obviously, he’s a veteran. He knows how to play. He can score around the basket, he’s a good passer out of the post. I just think it’s another solid veteran who knows how to win and knows how to play.”
But Dirk isn’t the only one of Lee’s new teammates who will be happy to see him. Chandler Parsons also likes the move, admitting that adding another former Florida Gator to join him in Dallas is a total win-win.
“Yeah, it can’t hurt. D-Lee’s a proven player, a good veteran. He’s going to come in and do whatever we need him to do. He’s a two-time All-Star, he’s had a great career,” Parsons said. “He’s slowed down a little the last two years, but I think for our system he’ll be good. Just another good, experienced vet guy that we can add to our roster to make this push at the end here.”
Before joining the Celtics last offseason, Lee was part of the Warriors’ 2015 NBA championship team, and Carlisle has coached against Lee enough to know exactly what he’ll bring to the table in Dallas.
“Well, we think he can play both big positions, some 4 and some backup 5. And I just think he’s a quality veteran player who has been in a situation with Boston where they were overstocked and decided to go with younger guys, and we believe he can help us,” Carlisle said.
Still, the lasting takeaway from Carlisle’s statements about Lee center around Jenkins and just how much respect Carlisle has for him.
Carlisle has gotten his share of criticism over the years for not playing younger players, but there’s never been any doubt about just how much Rick loves his players and in how hard he works to create a true family atmosphere around his team.
“This is a tough situation, you don’t want to let anybody go with the locker room like we have, but my hope is sometime in the future we can have him [Jenkins] back here because he played well when he was here. It’s just strictly a numbers game,” Carlisle said.
“There are some other considerations, but he’s been a great asset to our culture and our team. Lee is here tonight and we expect to sign him tomorrow. We’ll get him ready next couple days and hopefully he’ll be ready to play some against Oklahoma.”
Lee, who appeared in 30 games for Boston this season, joins his fourth NBA team and will receive $2.1 million from the Mavericks through the end of the season.
The post David Lee Joins Mavericks, Could Debut Wednesday appeared first on Today's FastBreak.