| Jason Terry could be somewhere else next year. (Getty Images) |
Jason Terry is a free agent this summer, and has already made it clear he's not settling. He wants a good deal for his last major NBA contract, and if Dallas is aiming for the lofty free-agent mountains they seem to be, he could find himself on the outs. He's already made noise about joining Miami (what a piece of mud in the eye that would be to Mark Cuban).
In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, the man called JET makes his priorities clear. He's not looking for a one-year deal. He wants the last big multi-year contract to parachute out of the league.
“It’s a tough situation,” Terry said. “I’m finally in a position where I can kind of predict my own future, so to speak. I want to stay here in Dallas. That’s always been my goal. But it needs to be long-term. If they’re not ready to step up and do that, then I’ll have to make my home elsewhere.”
This may be yet another reason fans should want the Mavericks to hit a home run in the Deron Williams Derby. If they don’t get the top free agent on the market this season, they may elect to hire players willing to play on one-year contracts and keep their free-agent money available for next summer, when Dwight Howard and Chris Paul headline the free-agent class.
“I won’t be here,” Terry said if the Mavericks take that route. “You can count on that. If they’re doing that, you won’t see the Jet on the runway in Dallas. But my time here was good.”
Terry serves as a litmus test, to a degree, of the Mavs' future plans. If they land Williams, they'll probably bring back Terry to try and make a run immediately. If they don't, they'll plan for the future and Terry will be gone.
The Mavericks' history in terms of rewarding loyalty is very case-by-case. There are players who they have remained fiercely loyal to. Then there are players like Steve Nash and Michael Finley who were bid farewell early. Terry's past his prime as opposed to those players so the situation becomes even more complicated.
The Mavericks have come to rely on Terry so much for offense, but it's clear that like the Lakers, the Mavericks feel that they're approaching the point where they need to move on. There's room for Dirk Nowitzki from the old guard. More than that, though, may be too much nostalgia.