The San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons have both been capable of winning championships without paying the NBA?s oft-dreaded luxury tax. Most contenders, though, find themselves constantly grappling with the threshold, making cap-clearing trades or even dumping first-round picks to avoid paying the attached players? salaries. At some point, it seems inevitable that ownership frugality will impede winning; while a team can still win fifty to sixty games quite easily, that same team could find itself bereft of playoff success.

If there are two teams sitting at home and watching this Cavaliers/Spurs series in dismay, they have to be the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks. The only two teams to win sixty or more games this season, they spent the months from November to April looking utterly dominant. The Mavericks especially had a few stretches where they looked unstoppable.

Both the Suns and the Mavericks flamed out in this year?s playoffs, with the Suns falling to the Spurs in the second round and the Mavericks facing what many would term to be the ultimate humiliation. Robert Sarver has demonstrated an unwillingness to pay the luxury tax and Mark Cuban has looked to dip his team?s payroll beneath it but can either owner give his team a championship without forking over serious cash?

I?ll venture a guess here and say no.

Adding role players is fun (or at least Devin Harris and Raja Bell must think so) but what both teams need is an impact player. That player probably wouldn?t be the best player on the team considering Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki have won the last three MVP awards between them but bringing another star into the mix could change either team?s fortune drastically. The question is what sort of player to acquire.

The Suns

Since the Suns already have a ball-dominating point guard in Nash, picking up a typical superstar won?t work. What the Suns need is a star who can play off the ball and either shoot, play defence or do both. What they definitely don?t need, as the rumours suggest, is to be trading Shawn Marion. If the Suns plan to keep all of Nash, Marion and Amar? Stoudemire, they might need to add a fourth max or near-max contract, which seems unfathomable but could very well be necessary for a taste of champion?s champagne.

Let?s take a look at two of the top candidates to be able to put Phoenix over the top:

Ray Allen ? SG, Seattle SuperSonics

Seattle is in turmoil. The team has been woefully incompetent almost without exception since the days of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, and there?s no real grasp of the future. The long string of young big men they?ve drafted hasn?t produced a starter so far. Ray Allen is over thirty and Rashard Lewis?s future is unknown.

Where the Sonics have gained some hope is in the lottery. The second overall pick, slated to be either do-it-all Texas forward Kevin Durant or someone similar, will have a huge impact right away and for years to come. The presence of someone like Durant could also coax Lewis into inking a new deal. Unfortunately, by the time such a young team reaches the height of its potential, Allen will be retired.

It makes sense for the Sonics to move Allen while he?s still in his prime (not to mention making almost twice as much as their next-highest paid player) and the Suns have the pieces to get it done. Anyone aside from Nash, Marion and Stoudemire is expendable in a transaction of this nature ? Leandro Barbosa?s value could very well have peaked, Boris Diaw has lost some of his lustre since signing a massive contract last offseason and Bell is effective but nowhere near Allen. Any combination of these players plus perhaps a pick or an expiring deal should be able to land him.

The end result would be that Seattle gets to rebuild super-fast with a host of exciting young players while Phoenix vaults itself to the top of the league. Allen?s deadly shooting (.397 3PT%, .888 FT% on his career) combined with smart decision-making and team mindset would enhance the Suns? already potent offensive game drastically. It might seem like overkill but when faced with opposing stoppers like Josh Howard and Bruce Bowen, you can never have enough firepower. A backcourt of Steve Nash and Ray Allen would undeniably be the league?s best in at least the last five years.

Marcus Camby ? PF/C, Denver Nuggets

Camby is a player who would be far easier on the Suns? cap figures than Allen and might also cost less in a trade. Rumous have been circulating, inexplicable as they are, that the underachieving Denver Nuggets could look to shop their star big man. The newly crowned Defensive Player of the Year was courted by Phoenix three years ago and it?s doubtless that he?d still be wanted there now.

Why Camby fits on the Suns is a no-brainer. He?s got great height at 6?11? and is as capable of running the fast break as pretty much any other pivot in the league. On top of that, he possesses three skills that would make him especially valuable to Phoenix. One is his ability to finish around the bucket, enabling him to be a target on the break. Another is his knack for the glass, which could play off of the Suns? tendency to generate an abundance of possessions to create a situation where he?s pulling in even more rebounds than he does already (11.7 per game this season, in double-figures each of the last four seasons). Then, of course, there?s his supreme shot-blocking (3.3 per game this season, 2.5 per game on his career), which would give the Suns? pesky yet not duly respected defence a new dimension.

As a general rule, when teams trade a big man, they want one back. Fortunately for the Suns, they have a veteran big man who could fit right into the Nuggets? system and whose contract would provide significant cap relief. Kurt Thomas, as well as the Hawks? pick or a youngster, could land Camby. With Camby already 33 and the Nuggets strapped for money themselves, this type of trade seems infinitely more feasible than in 2004.

The scariest possibility is that the Suns score both Allen and Camby, which is mathematically doable but would turn Sarver?s pockets into an inferno. For now, we?ll simply hope that the Suns land one of these two stars.

The Mavericks

This brings us to the Dallas Mavericks, the team that came into the playoffs as a prince and left them as a pauper. There?s a fundamental question that Cuban and the rest of the Mavericks? management has to address this offseason: should this team be viewed as one that won a dazzling sixty-seven games or one that was ousted rather impolitely in the first round? If it?s the former, there?s very little to change. If it?s the latter, they have to take a serious look at bringing in someone who?s as desperate for a ring as Nowitzki is.

Unlike the Suns, the Mavericks don?t have a ball-dominating point guard, which means that they can afford to trade for a player who commands a plethora of touches. Seeing as reigning MVP Nowitzki as well as defensive aces Josh Howard and Erick Dampier look to be mainstays up front, where the Mavericks could use a little extra punch is on the perimeter. There just so happen to be two players who could be perfect for what?s ailing Dallas:

Paul Pierce ? SG/SF, Boston Celtics

When you think of guys who can single-handedly change the outcome of a game, very few names come before that of Paul Pierce. He?s an explosive scorer (25.0 points per game this season, 23.6 on his career), a fierce rebounder (6.5 per game on his career, 8.5 per game in career playoff contests), an able defender and best of all, a player who would fit great with Nowitzki. Pierce loves getting inside, whether it?s posting up or slashing, while Nowitzki?s impossible to guard inside-out game could be found wherever Pierce isn?t. Pierce?s ability to overpower his man could also make opponents tired, which means Nowitzki would have more chances to block shots.

The Celtics have every reason to move Pierce at this point. The most obvious one is that he?s often appeared unhappy with the situation in Boston, whether due to speculative rumours or simply the fact that he?s such a competitor that he can?t stand the losing. Also, he?s turning thirty this year, which makes him singularly unattractive to a rebuilding squad but downright delicious to a contender. His penchant for controlling the ball could also potentially impede the development of the Celtics? young players; although no one?s claiming that barely post-embryonic stud Al Jefferson won?t be an effective player if Pierce stays, Jefferson could benefit from having the type of increased role that can only come about when a superstar leaves town.

The Mavericks have some attractive players to package, even more so when considering the Celtics? dire need for a point guard. Either Jason Terry or Devin Harris could be dangled along with DeSagana Diop (because it?s painfully obvious that the Celtics need defence) and any necessary sweetener, perhaps a sign-and-traded free agent from Dallas?s side. Really, whatever the Mavericks have to do to make the salaries work short of sacrificing Nowitzki would probably be worth it.

The Celtics would be left with a point guard for their system to go with their stable of young players, a high lottery pick and the perpetually injured Theo Ratliff?s monster of an expiring contract. The Mavericks would have their second star, not to mention a player who would devour Avery Johnson?s lessons of toughness and then turn them into a mantra on the floor.

Jason Kidd ? PG, New Jersey Nets

Is it possible for a 34-year old point guard with ailing knees to be better than he ever was? It?s not a given but there?s a good argument that Jason Kidd is playing the best basketball of his career. After a short period during which many pundits doubted his future, Kidd has experienced a renaissance of a kind that only he can achieve; in this year?s playoffs, he averaged a triple-double (14.6PPG, 10.9RPG, 10.9APG) in the dozen games he played. If that?s not attractive to a team looking for its final piece, I don?t know what is.

Why would the Nets part with this sure-fire Hall of Famer? Most relevantly to the predicament that is the NBA?s luxury tax, he?s making an obscene amount of money (currently nearing the end of a six-year deal that?s well into nine figures). With the Nets having not advanced past the second round since 2003, it might not be financially viable for them to pay a single player that much. Also, removing Kidd would give youngster Marcus Williams a lot more room to work with in terms of setting up his teammates for scoring chances.

As with Pierce, the Mavericks could offer one of Terry or Harris plus whatever additive (Diop for starters) is necessary. The Nets would benefit from obtaining one of the Mavericks? guards since either could play alongside or instead of the promising Williams. A player like Diop would be perfect for shoring up their interior defence, which is dwindling in quality much like ancient forward Clifford Robinson?s career. In turn, the Mavericks would become menacing if Kidd were to have a second opportunity with them ? Kidd, Howard and Nowitzki would be a trio of guys who all bring so many different skill sets that coaching against the team would become a nightmare.

Again, a little effort would be required to match salaries, perhaps even a sign-and-trade to throw in an additional player. What this also means is that with the Mavericks? budget already stretched to an excruciating level, acquiring two more stars would be impossible. Either Kidd or Pierce would be enough though and I?d be willing to bet that the rest of the Southwest division would agree.

The Final Verdict

The Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks are two teams that have high payrolls, which are ideal for concocting blockbuster trade scenarios, and star players who are itching for championship gold. Ray Allen, Marcus Camby, Paul Pierce and Jason Kidd are four veterans who would do almost anything to fall into the lap of a team with a legitimate shot at a ring. The appeal is evident to both sides, as well to teams looking to dump an enormous contract for prospects and cap relief.

While this is admittedly all conjecture, perhaps that?s what these two wounded battlers require. What they?re doing now is working magnificently in the regular season yet falling short in the playoffs, which is exactly where veterans shine. Acquiring veterans, as the Pistons proved in 2004 when snatching Rasheed Wallace for Bob Sura and a bag of peanuts, is a crucial component of the NBA recipe for success. If that ? and any reasonable title aspiration ? means paying millions of dollars in taxes, put the IRS on my speed dial.

Feedback related to this article can be sent to [email protected]