JJ Barea: ‘It’s Not Looking Good Here in Dallas’


Free agent guard JJ Barea can see the writing on the wall in Dallas, and thinks he won’t be a Maverick by the start of the new season. From ESPN: “Free-agent point guard J.J. Barea said he believes he will be following Tyson Chandler and Caron Butler out of Dallas. ‘It’s not looking good here in Dallas, I don’t think,’ Barea said Tuesday night. ‘I’m disappointed. I wasn’t expecting this. Hopefully, it gets better.’ The defending champion Dallas Mavericks appear to be sticking to a plan that will get the franchise below the salary cap next summer for the first time in the Mark Cuban era. The goal is to create enough cap space to aggressively pursue one of the top three potential free agents, All-Star point guards Deron Williams and Chris Paul, and three-time defending defensive player of the year, center Dwight Howard. The casualties appear to be the Mavs’ four free agents that played key roles in winning the franchise’s first championship, including Chandler, the galvanizing defensive force, Butler, Barea and possibly also hard-edged shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson.”