'Nothing From Nothing': What To Make Of Mavs Staying Quiet at NBA Trade Deadline

The Siren’s Call: The Dallas Mavs Are Quiet as a Mouse at the NBA Trade Deadline. Does Nothing From Nothing Mean Nothing?

Nothing from nothing means… nothing.

Was it Billy Preston who wrote those words? Or was it Donnie Nelson? While it’s the former, it sure feels like it could be the latter. The general manager for the Dallas Mavericks was noticeably absent from the team plane trip to Washington D.C. on Thursday, a place where he was scheduled to be unless something regarding the NBA trade deadline came up.

Did he suddenly get an offer at the eleventh hour?

Did his face become glued to his own cell phone?

Did he just eat Taco Bell after 10 p.m.?

As the clock struck 2 p.m. CT and Shams and Woj turned back into pumpkins, Mavs fans were left scratching their heads at the lack of movement. Hell, just last year at this time, the Mavericks broke necks when they nabbed Kristaps Porzingis in the blockbuster trade heard around the world. You remember him – the tower with the now-crooked nose. However, this year, ol’ Donnie was less vociferous than he was last year. And that’s okay. It was revealed that while Nelson did stay behind to man the phones and listen to trade offers, he didn’t bite.

This could mean a plethora of things – so many things that Mavs fans can drive themselves into a mid-season frenzy thinking of the all the whys in terms of Dallas standing still as the deadline came and went. The frenzy is needless though. Clearly, it’s Occam’s Razor: The simplest answer is usually the correct one.

The simple answer being the front office is happy with the team as is.

Ugly noses and all.

Currently, the Mavericks uncomfortably sit in seventh in the Western Conference and even though they’re currently suffering from some rare, home-court stomach bug that causes them to wobble about on their own court, the media have them a "go'' for the postseason, which would be their first postseason appearance since 2016.

Despite the injuries and this apparent allergy to the American Airlines Center, the front office has put a lot of faith in this very young and very deep roster. Could they have used some wing help and possibly picked up one to add to their depth in case, GASP, the injury bug were to bite again? 

Well, yes, but the fear wasn’t paralyzing enough for Nelson and the Mavs to make a move - or, maybe better said, to over-spend on a move.

Speaking of longing for wings, enter those tedious little “what-if” scenarios that fans and press love so much. As it stands right now, the Mavericks look like they could have FINALLY gotten their hands on Danny Green yesterday. But since it was the Los Angeles Clippers and NOT the Lakers who wound up getting Marcus “Female Tendencies” Morris, the Mavs were forced to abandon the idea of Green in blue yet again. (See Fish's column on "The Mavs' Romance of Danny Green'' here.)

That’s OK. He’s not a shot creator. In terms of basketball years, he’s moved on from Pampers and is getting measured for a pair of Depends. Yet, we all know it still would have been nice in terms of wings that were on the table who would have fit with the Mavs’ system. But, alas, the time has come and gone and here we are – a team with a young core that has a shot in the postseason.

Nothing for nothing could mean everything within the next few months, so now we wait and see if nothing was the right idea.