Jason Terry will always be remembered for what he did during the Dallas Mavericks’ championship run.
But what about the possibility of him returning to the city where he was one of the best sixth men in the NBA? It’s a possibility that deserves some thought.
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The Sacramento Kings are persistent in trying to trade Jet, rather than buying out his $5.45 million contract. As his career winds down, he’d like to be on a contending team and play some sort of pivotal role.
This isn’t anything new. It’s the kind of player that Jet is.
Whether or not that warrants a return to Dallas remains to be seen, at least for this year. The Mavs are more than likely done with any changes to their roster after their overhaul this summer.
But hey, Dallas needs a backup shooting guard. Jet is a shooting guard. He’s going to retire a Maverick at some point.
Why not? It’s something that would be great for the Mavs and the city of Dallas.
But it’s understandable if there are some who feel that Jet’s best years are behind him, and the argument is very plausible.
Ever since he left Dallas to join the Boston Celtics as Ray Allen’s replacement, Jet hasn’t been the guy averaging more than 15 points per game like he was with the Mavs. He averaged a meager 10.1 points per game in his one year with Boston.
Then in only 35 games with Brooklyn last season, Jet had his lowest scoring average of his career at 4.5 points.
If the Mavs are going to bring him back, it needs to be on the premise that he’s going to produce. I’m all for stories of coming back to a former team.
Look no further than Tyson Chandler. The difference with Terry and Chandler is that one can still play his position at an elite level.
One has to wonder if Jet has begun to lose some of his fuel and has trouble getting off the runway.
Jet will turn 37 years old this September. His game has only been good for one thing; 3-point shooting.
His role, however, won’t be as a sixth man anymore. Those days of being one of the best to come off the bench are over.
If the Mavs want to bring him back for 3-point emergency situations, I’m down for that. Would Jet be accepting of that? Probably not, but the only city where he’d actually take a smaller role would be in Dallas.
When Jet was on the “Ben and Skin Show” back on June 26, he said something that resonated for the future. You can listen to the interview in its entirety here.
This was after the dust settled on the trade to bring back Tyson Chandler.
"“You never know. But I’d like to come back and finish my career in Dallas and let it end in another hoisting of the banner. Because you know what? Dallas deserves to be a champion.”"
Bringing back the Jet would be ideal, but only if he’d be willing to take a smaller role. Knowing where he is at his career, he’d probably be more than willing to come back to Dallas and take a smaller role.
Then after the Mavs bring back Caron Butler and Deshawn Stevenson, we can party like it’s 2011.
At least if not this year, Dallas should think about bringing Jet back for the 2015-16 season.