I'm not sure how this slipped by me but it was posted on July 3rd so I was busy thinking about my day off on the 4th, but anyways, Diop came to an agreement with the Mavericks to solidify our center position.

To me this is great news. I also have the feeling it was the intention all along as he was part of the Kidd trade with Devin Harris. Too bad we couldn't get Harris back along with Kidd.

So the Mavericks reached a deal with Gerald Green, in hopes he can become another Brandon Bass, a young player with huge potential. They reached a deal on his first day of being a free agent.

Green is a 6'8" slender guard who has 3 years in the league.

In other news, Del Harris is expected to sign with the Bulls to become an assistant coach under Vinny Del Negro.

If Green signs officially on the 9th, which is today, that would bring the total number of players under contract to 9, which include Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Jason Kidd, Erick Dampier, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Brandon Bass and Eddie Jones. Eddie Jones did not opt out of his contract with the Mavericks, so we have to deal with him for another year unfortunately. His pay is expected to be around 2 million for the next season. What a waste of cash!

So there are some free agents available and it would be a dream if the Mavericks maybe got their hands on a few, maybe trade off some veterans or other useless players to get a well rounded player that could help not only score but also play defense.

Some of the choices include Elton Brand, Byron Davis, Gilbert Arenas (Wizards signed Jamison so he'll probably keep his word and stay with Wizards), Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Beno Udrih and a few others.

I think my top pick would be someone like Elton Brand. Although that would be a tough call since he was limited to 8 games last season and could be injury prone.

Byron Davis would be a good pick but he's too injury prone, plus with history against him and the Warriors two seasons ago, leaves a sour taste thinking about Byron Davis in a Mavericks uniform.

Gilbert Arenas would be good but like he's already claimed, he's probably gonna stick with the Wizards since Jamison resigned.

I think another top pick would be Josh Smith. He's young, could get him at a decent price and it would make it easier to clear some salary cap space for him. He averaged 17 ppg, 8 rpg and 2 bpg last season. He would be a very nice edition to the Mavericks.

Ben Gordon might cost too much and he seems more like a 6th man now, something the Mavericks don't need unless we got rid of Josh Howard or Stackhouse, maybe rotate Terry in as starter.

I also like Beno Udrih, kind of an unknown potential star. He could be a viable option. He averaged 14 ppg and 5 assists in 51 games for the Kings last season. He could be a great back up point guard behind Kidd.