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LOL Big Talk Donnie at it again
Cuban, Mavericks ready for anything on draft day
By Jaime Aron
Mark Cuban is ready.
Ready to make some blockbuster trades on draft day.
Ready to take on some hefty contracts if it means adding a quality player— or two or three—to the Dallas Mavericks.
And, perhaps most of all, he’s ready … to do nothing more than take the best player available with the team’s first pick in Thursday’s NBA draft.
“I’m just as curious as anyone else about what will happen,” Cuban wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.
Coming off their ninth straight season with 50 wins and a playoff berth, the Mavericks are still seeking the right mix of players around Dirk Nowitzki to win their first championship.
Their offseason needs start with re-signing point guard Jason Kidd or finding a replacement if they lose him, then finding a reliable shooting guard and a low-post scorer. They also could use “backup everything,” according to team president Donnie Nelson.
On Wednesday, the Mavericks traded their No. 22 pick to Portland for the Trail Blazers’ No. 24 pick and two second-round choices.
At No. 24, the Mavericks are likely to only get one of those backups. Then again, the draft hasn’t been much of a source during Cuban’s tenure.
Dallas has made only three first-round picks in the nine drafts since Cuban bought the club. Among them was getting Josh Howard, a future All-Star, at No. 29; that’s why Nelson is “hoping for another Josh Howard moment” in this year’s draft.
The 22nd pick worked out well for Orlando last year. The Magic took Courtney Lee, and as a rookie he started for most of their playoff run, including the entire NBA finals.
“We think there’s going to be a real good chance that a couple of the guys we’re looking at are going to be there,” Nelson said. “We don’t know whether that’s going to be in a 7-foot body or a 5-foot-10 body.”
While the draft itself hasn’t been a building block, draft day has been.
Nelson was part of the franchise-shifting trades for Nowitzki and Steve Nash in 1998. In 2004, Cuban and Nelson sent Antawn Jamison to Washington for the rights to Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner.
There’s always the chance that it happens again Thursday.
“Because of economic stress, the belt-tightening that everyone is going through now, and just from fielding calls, there’s a lot more activity than usual,” Nelson said. “That usually translates into more deals being done. Now, all of a sudden, draft day may come and nothing might happen.”
Or, as Cuban wrote in a Twitter posting Monday: “Could be a week of lots of talk, no action.”
Cuban has been saying for months that the Mavericks will listen to any offers from teams looking to shed payroll. For those teams, it would seem logical to go ahead and do it already, so they can have a better idea of who to take in the draft and which free agents to target.
“But the reality is that people generally hold their cards right up until the draft,” he said. “Then it’s draft day and there’s so much going on that some stuff gets done, some stuff doesn’t. … There are more deals that are walked away from than are consummated.”
Stackhouse and Erick Dampier have the kinds of contracts that are good trading chips for Dallas. The Mavericks also might be willing to deal Howard. And, of course, there’s always that No. 24 pick.
“We’re not going to do something for a lateral move,” Nelson said. “It’s got to be a significant upgrade. All those scenarios are on the little greaseboard back there.”
Some of the names most often linked to Dallas’ spot in the draft include point guards like Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague and Darren Collison, or big men B.J. Mullens, James Johnson and Sam Young.
“Our strategy is to be knowledgeable about everything at all times,” Nelson said. “We just want to be ready when and if we pull the trigger.”
LOL Big Talk Donnie at it again
Cuban is stupid. Doesn't know what he wants to do, but cant just sit pat, he has to do something!
What a tool.
Spin control after all the negative backlash over their little bull trade that did nothing to even minutely help the team.
omg lolz im so xcited srsly
Expect the Mavs to do nothing, then promise big things in July.
Then do nothing, then promise big things before training camp.
Then do nothing, then promise big things before the trade deadline.
Then do nothing, then promise big things for the 2010 offseason.
The biggest move Donnie may probably make this off-season is nothing more than the exchanges of draft picks, now the preliminary mission is ransoming the first rounder of 2010 back from the Nets, just like what the suns are about to do with the Thunder.
Mavs aren't going to do anything this offseason. The 2006 championship still haunts them to this day. Instead of moving forward their stuck in 2006.
Is that you Ghazi?
Like my man DMX said - talk is cheap, mother er.
I have to laugh at all Mav fans, they all think Nets should trade them VC because Nets owe them after the trade last year, sorry if Mark Cuban and Donnie are dumb as and are scared to lose so they made the trade, Nets don't owe Mavs anything
what the are you talking about? ive never heard a mavs fan say this. quit making sh!t upI have to laugh at all Mav fans, they all think Nets should trade them VC because Nets owe them after the trade last year
Yah me either..
go over to www.dallas-mavs.com and read a few of them want VC and Kaman, but of course some of the Mav fans over on that board seem pretty stupid and come up with stupid trades so doesn't suprise me, I'm sure smart Mavs fans don't care what happens as long as one day it helps them win the finals
reading that seriously made me lol
It must really suck to be a Mav fan. Teams are busting their nuts to make deals happen and the Mavs cant even get a hard on...
I wonder which is worse, the curse of the bambino, or being the only team in Texas with no les.
thanks!
You're quoting dallas-mavs.com and bringing it back here? That place is the Internet's abortion bucket.
I guess it's funny to you cuz the Mavs own the Spurs.reading that seriously made me lol
thanks!
Mark Cuban needs to be fired from his GM duties. He should just be on the sidelines with hot chicks on his arms.
lol 4-1
lol game 7 in san antonio
Well, technically...
well that tells why I've seen pretty dumb trades on that board, other mav boards I've seen have good mavs fans who seem smarter
that place is full of Dirk groupies from Germany...only place worse is MavsTalk
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