Mavericks owner Mark Cuban held a press conference this afternoon in Dallas and discussed the club's future as they look to rebuild. Here are some highlights..
- In referring to new additions Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo, Chris Kaman, Elton Brand, and Dahntay Jones, Cuban said “Our goal is to have these guys in Mavericks uniforms for a long, long time," according to Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. However, all of those players are essentially on one-year deals with Mayo (player option for 2014) and Collison (restricted free agent) as the only exceptions.
- Collison said that he and Mayo will be entering this season with a chip on their shoulders as both will have to prove their worth in order to stay in Dallas for the long haul, writes McMahon. Mayo was almost certainly hoping for a better deal before he settled for the Mavs' one-year, $4MM offer.
- While the Mavs were unable to land Deron Williams in free agency, Cuban insists that the club is better off without him, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “You know, (it was) on the advice of our basketball people,’’ Cuban said. “No disrespect to Deron, but sometimes from a team perspective, the best deals are the ones you don’t get done. We would have made it work with Deron. But I think it’s better for our team the way it turned out.’’