Whoa. Smells like disaster for the Suns. Too bad they might have to wait yet another year for the title; they were definitely the most enjoyable team to watch last year.
If Dirk gets his defense and passing game down, he's easily the next Larry Bird or perhaps even better? The guy is a scoring machine against anyone (Come on, a 7 feet tall three point shooter who could also take the ball to the hole.) He's the best scoring big man in the West now that Amare's out. He's even rebounding better. (Better than Yao already, who plays down the middle. Even though Yao is my homeboy, I have to ask: WTF?) Anyhoo, I say the Mavs are good enough to finish in top 4 for another year, especially now that the Suns are crippled for half of the season. (Personally, I think Amare is probably just as important as Nash for the Suns. Without him, they are going to have trouble getting 50-50 in the West just like when they lost Nash.)