The whole league has been waiting. A splashy reponse from Mark Cuban, to counter what the rest of the West's best teams just did, has been anticipated for a month.

Well, guess what?

That's really not what this is.

This is not the Mavericks' desperation move. This is actually their concession speech, only without the words.

	Will Danny Fortson, left, and Antawn Jamison make the Mavs better?

Not long after the deal was officially announced, the theory will be circulated that this is Dallas' panicked riposte to keep up with the Spurs, Lakers, Kings and -- yes -- those hard-charging Wolves from Minnesota.

In truth, the trade is more of an unspoken admission from the Mavericks that Small Ball has taken them as far as they can go in the unforgiving Western Conference. Agreeing to part with Nick Van Exel and Avery Johnson -- two of their most treasured chips -- in return for no one taller than Antawn Jamison amounts instead to a change in philosophy and the Mavericks' risky first step in the restructuring of their roster.

As recently as February, Cuban entered the trade-deadline period with a vow not to take on any significant salaries in a deal unless the move was a clear over-the-top acquisition. That's why Cuban vetoed a Van Exel-for-Brian Grant swap with Miami, on the premise that Grant couldn't be considered the missing piece to a championship. Cuban made that ruling without even knowing that Van Exel would emerge as the Mavericks' playoff hero, sparking them to the finals of an injury-strewn West.

As recently as July 1, Dallas went into the offseason determined to preserve its core four of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Michael Finley and Van Exel and add Alonzo Mourning to the group. On the premise that Mourning would be healthy enough to supply all these things, the capped-out Mavericks saw him as the only free agent they could get who could markedly improve their rebounding, interior defense and toughness. Besides, as one team insider notes: "We've been trying to get Zo forever."

All those plans have since been chucked. The Mavericks thought they had a commitment from Mourning, who instead decided to accompany Jason Kidd in New Jersey. They tried to make a sign-and-trade swoop for Brad Miller as their Plan B, but had no chance unless they parted with Nash, something that was never going to happen. Then they came close to convincing Miami to give up Grant in exchange for Johnson, Evan Eschmeyer, Walt Williams and Popeye Jones in a deal designed to provide the Heat with some serious salary-cap relief and nothing more. Pat Riley ultimately decided that he would need a legitimate player in return, and that's when the Mavericks gave in to a reality they have seen for months but hoped to ignore if at all possible.

The Mavericks knew, even as Van Exel became a playoff darling, that they would eventually have to trade him. No one in the organization wants to -- least of all the Nowitzki/Nash/Finley triumvirate that has embraced Van Exel faster than anyone envisioned -- but the Mavericks realize they can no longer survive defensively with a Nashy-and-Nicky backcourt. Not in the new West, where the other top four contenders have all gotten deeper or bigger or starrier.

WHY WARRIORS MADE THE TRADE

1. The Warriors aren't exactly in position to plead for patience from their fans, sporting the league's longest playoff drought at nine seasons and counting. But they're going to plead for it anyway after seizing an opportunity to move Jamison, Fortson and Mills in one swoop. Any team that wanted to deal with the Warriors this summer was required to take on Danny Fortson's long contract (and spotty reputation) for starters, and they were just as eager to move Mills after Mills' encounter with the Portland team bus last season. The motivation for trading Antawn Jamison is tougher to justify, but Golden State essentially chose to rid itself of Jamison's max contract after knowingly overpaying him when it was basically a 20-win team, desperate to build a foundation. 2. The Warriors believe that moving those contracts, in return for players with expiring or shorter contracts, will put them more than $20 million under the salary cap in the summer of 2005. Those estimates might be high, but the approach will certainly amount to more financial flexibility than Golden State has now, with the flexibility likely to coincide with Chris Mullin's down-the-road takeover of the front office. That could give Mullin some wherewithal to remake the roster in his vision. 3. Mullin, already gaining increased influence with the Warriors, is said to be a big Mike Dunleavy Jr. fan. Moving Jamison creates an opening in the starting lineup for Dunleavy. It was Mullin, incidentally, who traveled to Houston last week to meet with Nick Van Exel to gauge his reception to a move to the Bay Area, and Golden State apparently remains committed to the deal in spite of Van Exel's turbulent last days in Denver, where he clearly struggled to accept playing for a non-playoff team. 4. Even though Dallas needs a center, Golden State managed to assemble to an eight-player exchange with the Mavericks without having to include Erick Dampier or Adonal Foyle. So it hasn't given everything away. 5. Like the Nuggets, who didn't rush to spend all their considerable salary-cap room this summer in part because even the eighth spot in the West is so tough to get, Golden State doesn't feel like it's risking that much to take a step back in the short term. That's even though the Warriors' step back comes so soon after a long-awaited playoff run. The decision will make it almost impossible for coach Eric Musselman to be a 38-win darling this season -- Musselman has been stripped of top scorers Jamison and Gilbert Arenas and spark plug Earl Boykins -- but there could be a future payoff if the Warriors spend wiser from now on.

If they could have acquired Mourning, the Mavericks would have given it one last try. Maybe even with Miller. Once those options were taken away, Dallas gave into the notion that it would have to part with Van Exel and immediately sought a best-case-scenario move. The Mavericks basically began looking for a trade that would keep them at their current level of elite contender ... but provide for an opportunity to keep tinkering and molding to be something more significant in a season or two.

The result? Not a trade for Grant. Nor a move for New York's Kurt Thomas. Dallas preferred the upside of the high-scoring Jamison to fill its other big void -- at small forward -- thereby setting up Finley to operate as a bigger shooting guard as opposed to a smallish three-man. Playing Finley at the two and Jamison at the three, where both should be good rebounders, gives the Mavericks some length to compensate for the bulk Nowitzki and Raef LaFrentz are giving away, whichever of those two is forced to play center.

Replacing players who had little shot at contributing in a playoff series (Eschmeyer, Jones and Johnson) with three who will play (Jamison, Danny Fortson and Jiri Welsch) is another plus for a team that was considerably thinner on the bench than its national reputation suggests.

But let's be clear here. Even if Welsch develops into a dependable big ball-handler, and even if Fortson resurrects his career to rebound the way he has at his best, the trade still raises a number of concerns for the Mavericks: