Reviewing free-agent dealings we know so far

Just got an interesting email from a reader who suggested
Jerry Jones should offer a 1-percent ownership in the Cowboys to LeBron James.
 
I’m pretty sure the collective bargaining agreement
has some sort of rule against that, but at the least Jerry could offer a big
suite on the 50-yard line or something.
 
Anyway, here’s what has happened so far in the infancy
of free agency.
 
First, the Mavericks now look like long shots to get Joe
Johnson. The Hawks swooped in right away with a maximum contract offer and
Johnson apparently is primed to sign it next week when things can be made
official.
 
Second, Dirk Nowitzki now will land Friday in Dallas instead
of today. No big deal there. He’ll still get a hero’s welcome and
likely will agree to his new four-year deal soon after arriving.
 
Third, the wheels are turning with Brendan Haywood, with
coach Rick Carlisle being the point man in North Carolina. I’m still not
sold on either the Mavericks’ desire to have Haywood or his intentions on
being here. Centers who sign big contracts scare me and they should scare the
Mavericks, too. But you need length if you’re going to win big in this
league and there just aren’t a lot of better options that can
realistically be reeled in.
 
Fourth, I would be shocked if the Mavericks don’t hang
around the hoop and try to get a rebound in the Chris Bosh situation. People
have been downplaying Bosh because he may end up being a package deal with
LeBron James. But Bosh met early today with Houston GM Daryl Morey and if the
Rockets are making a push for Bosh on the basis of pairing him with a perhaps-healthy
Yao Ming, the Mavericks can do better than that. If the package deal with
LeBron falls through, the Mavericks should be in the hunt for the 6-10 hometown
kid, even if he’s a little reluctant to play in his backyard and put that
extra pressure on himself. Dirk would help him alleviate it.
 
Things will be percolating today. We’ll keep you
updated.