Texas Notes: Spurs, Mavs, Matthews

Malik Rose swears he’s happy in retirement, but he saw the offseason moves the Spurs made, he wished that he could make a comeback, Lorne Chan of Spurs.com writes.

I still feel like I can get out there and play, but I know I can’t,” Rose said. “I see guys out there that I played with still going strong, and I live through them. Especially Tim [Duncan].

Rose was elated to see LaMarcus Aldridge land in San Antonio, but he wasn’t surprised, calling the current team “talented guys with the right mindset.”  Here’s more from the Lone Star state..

  • Wesley Matthews is determined to prove that the Mavericks made the right decision when they signed him to a five-year, $70MM deal and silence the critics who say that he won’t be the same after his Achilles injury. “Maybe this [injury] happened to continue my push, continue my drive,” Matthews told Jason Quick of The Oregonian. “Maybe I was getting too content. Maybe I was resting on everything that I had done. I felt myself getting to the point of being entitled.” Matthews reportedly turned down a four year, $64MM offer from the Kings and had interest from other clubs this summer before landing in Dallas.  Last year he averaged 15.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in an injury-shortened season.
  • In an interview with Grantland.com’s Zach Lowe, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stuck up for Rajon Rondo, who disappointed in his time in Dallas.  Cuban also explained that the front office was split on whether or not to trade for the guard and ultimately “it came down to a coin flip” that resulted in them pulling the trigger.
  • The Spurs are nurturing their D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, as Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News writes.  In recent years, the Spurs have used the D-League as a way to help their end-of-the-bench players improve.  In fact, Cory Joseph actually asked the club to go to Austin in 2012/13.  “I could be sitting on the bench in San Antonio,” Joseph reasoned at the time, “or I could be getting better. I needed to play. I was learning and trying to simulate the stuff they wanted me to do [with the Spurs] in Austin. The coaching staff there did a great job of helping me.”
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