A lot of action in NBA free-agent market Wednesday.  Let’s take a look.

First up, it looks like the Dallas Mavericks have re-signed one guy and grabbed a much needed piece.  They agreed to a 3-year deal with point-guard Jason Kidd yesterday, which will pretty much make him a Maverick for the rest of his career.  Kidd can be injury prone, especially since he’s in his late 30s, but he’s still… Jason Kidd.  In last year’s playoffs, he was an instrumental piece, and if they are going to make a realistic title run this coming season, they need him.

And in addition to Kidd, the Mavericks grabbed former all-star swing man Shawn Marion.  Marion went from the Suns to the Heat (in the Phoenix/Miami Shaq trade), and then he was sent packing to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal.  Now Marion is finally in a good fit.  The Mavericks like to play a face-paced game, and Marion is the perfect piece to the puzzle.  This gives them another huge scoring option if Nowitzki is having an off-night, and also gives them a pretty deep bench if need be, as they added center Marcin Gortat as well.  Gortat backed-up Dwight Howard for the Magic this past season, and played a clutch reserve roll in both the playoffs and championship game.  Watch out for the Mavs next season!

Elsewhere, even though the Toronto Raptors lost Marion, they did have their own big free agent signing.  They won the Hedo Turkoglu sweepstakes.  Turkoglu was fantastic in the playoffs, and the Magic’s championship run would have been impossible without him.  He’s a proven winner, and can win games in crunch time.  Combine him with a Raptors roster that includes former #1 pick Andrea Bargnani, and you have an exciting team up in Canada.  The Raptors could be a sleeper team next year, and be what Chicago was in this year’s playoffs (i.e. a team that could shock a higher seed).

Finally, the Spurs added another weapon to their experienced roster.  Duncan has, perhaps, two more good years to win another championship, and they need to surround him with players who can help out.  Of course he has Parker and Ginobili, but he needs more.  Before the draft, they added swing-man Richard Jefferson, who will truly help out with the scoring load, and today they drafted Duncan’s back-up.  His name:  Antonio McDyess.  McDyess has been looking to play for a contender before his career ends, and the Spurs might be his last chance.  Plus, having McDyess will give the Spurs the option to sit Duncan for somewhat extended periods and not have to worry about falling behind in the game.

Bottom line, there have been so many teams trying to build their rosters to compete, that next season is going to be a true thrill ride.  And… you can expect more before the summer is done.