DALLAS _ After a titanic disaster on Friday's opening day of free agency, the Dallas Mavericks are left to pick through whatever credible pieces they can salvage this offseason.
Players still available on the free-agent market who might fit the Mavs' mold include Golden State forward Harrison Barnes and Chicago center Pau Gasol. And the Mavs have decided to offer Barnes _ a restricted free agent _ a four-year max contract worth approximately $95 million.
The offer sheet will be signed Thursday, and the Warriors will have three days to match it or allow Barnes to walk away without compensation.
On Friday, a trail of players on the Mavs' wish list agreed to free agent contracts elsewhere, including Hassan Whiteside, Mike Conley, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Al Jefferson, Evan Turner, Dwight Howard, Al Horford and Jeremy Lin.
That forced Dallas to huddle up and breathe new life into an off-season that hasn't gotten off to a great start.
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Barnes, the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft, would replace the departed Chandler Parsons at small forward. Barnes is better on the defensive end of the court, while Parsons is a more efficient offensive player, creator and ball handler.
Last season, Barnes averaged 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from 3-point range.
But in the last three games of the NBA Finals, Barnes averaged just five points on 5-of-32 shooting from the field, including 3-of-15 from 3-point territory.
With the Cavs' defense focused on Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, many of Barnes' misses were wide-open looks.
Meanwhile, San Antonio and Portland appear to have the inside tracks on signing Gasol.
