Texas Notes: Mavericks, Dwight, Denmon
Mark Cuban of the Mavericks and James Dolan of the Knicks are polar opposites when it comes to their willingness to talk about their teams, but both of them opened up this weekend. The loquacious Cuban went into a lengthy soliloquoy about his roster-building philosophy on his personal blog, as we passed along yesterday, while Dolan consented to a rare 90-minute interview with Shalini Ramachandran of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Dolan held forth on high finance, his Cablevision empire, and even his rock-star experience touring with The Eagles, but said nary a word about his Knicks. So, we'll focus on reflections from Cuban's comments instead, and round up the day's news out of Texas:
- The Mavs have traded away their own first-round pick in every draft since 2007, and SB Nation's Tom Ziller wonders whether Cuban's tactic of unloading those picks just as other teams are so eager to scoop them up will catch on around the league.
- Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM.com calls the Mavs inability to sign new Rockets star Dwight Howard a "death blow" to Cuban's plan, and opines that clearing cap space for a run at a superstar is an unreliable strategy.
- Spurs 2012 second-round pick Marcus Denmon spent the past season playing for Chalon in France, and this year he'll play for Tofas Bursa in Turkey, as the Turkish outfit announced on its website (translation via Sportando's Emiliano Carchia).
Cuban On Dirk, Dwight, Roster Construction
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is never shy about expressing his opinion, with the possible exception of his superstitious refusal to criticize the league or its referees during his team's 2011 playoff run. The latest post on his personal blog shows Cuban in typical form as he opens up about his feelings on the Mavs and player movement around the league. He begins with a history lesson of sorts, explaining his moves from the past two years, and he transitions into his conclusions about the team's summer, a second straight offseason in which marquee free agents spurned the Mavs. Cuban shares plenty, including a link to a cartoon the team put together as part of its pitch to Dwight Howard. We'll hit a few highlights from Cuban's piece here:
On Dirk Nowitzki and his presence on the team:
"Culture is very important to the Mavs. Your best player has to be a fit for what you want the culture of the team to be. He has to be someone who leads by example. Someone who sets the tone in the locker room and on the court. It isn’t about who talks the most or the loudest. It is about the demeanor and attitude he brings. It is amazing how when the culture is strong, the chemistry is strong. When the Mavs have brought in players that didn’t fit or buy in to our culture it created on-the-court and off-the-court problems. It's possible to handle one guy who may not fit it. It’s going to have a negative impact on your won-and-loss record if you have more than one. Our culture is one of the reasons I won’t trade Dirk."
On Howard and the way he would have fit into the team's culture:
"We saw it as somewhat of a risk, but felt like because Dwight, by all appearances and checking we did, is a good guy and with our support systems we believed we could make it work. If not, he was obviously a very trade-able asset. But, as everyone knows, we didn’t sign him. He went to the Rockets. I do have to say the meeting with Dwight was very interesting. He is a smart guy. Much smarter than people give him credit for. He is also a very, very good listener. Unlike most people, he spent far more time listening than talking. And he had the best response to an opening question that I have ever heard from a player, or anyone for that matter. When we asked him what his goal was, his response was very specific: 'I want to be Epic.' Which was a perfect lead-in to the video we created for him."
On building a championship team:
"I see quite a few teams taking what appears to be the same approach to building a team. I can understand why they are taking this approach. In the current CBA the value of a player chosen in the draft can be considerable because of the defined contract terms. And if you put together some great young players, it is very enticing to want to keep those players together for a long period. But I also know that even if you have the worst record in the NBA, you may not get the top pick and even if you do, there is a material chance you pick the wrong player, or it just happens to be a draft when there are not any IDENTIFIABLE superstar potential players at the top of the draft. In other words, while it may be popular, I think the quantity of teams taking the same approach makes it more difficult to build a team in this manner."
On the team's strategy this offseason:
"If we had gotten a single, max-out free agent that cost us $19 or $20MM, we would have had a good team. Possibly a great team if we were able to add the right minimum contract players around our core plus our new max-out free agent. But we probably would not have had a championship-contending team. It would be next year when we had cap room again and we would add what would hopefully be the finishing pieces either through free agency or through trade. If we didn’t get our max-out player, we had planned to accelerate what we would have done next year to this year. Which we obviously did."
On the coming season and the future for the Mavs:
"If we stay healthy, I think we can have a good team. How good? I don’t make predictions. I do believe that by having a core of players that we can grow and develop with, and cap room in the upcoming season and what we feel is the ability to develop and improve the performance of our players, we are in a good position for this year and for the future. We have been hurt by not having a core of players in place that free agents see as teammates they want to play with. That shouldn’t be the case next year."
Notes On Greg Oden
In wake of his decision to sign with the Heat yesterday, here are a few more notes to pass along regarding Greg Oden.
- Sam Amico from FoxSportsOhio.com writes that very few teams in the league had any actual interest in Oden's services, quoting a general manager who said, "If we got him, great…But if not, we sure weren’t gonna cry about it. I don’t think anyone is looking at him as anything more than an emergency backup. That’s nice to have, but it’s not like it’s impossible to find.”
- USAToday offers several reasons why Miami's decision to sign Oden was a good one that'll pay off dividends in the future.
- ESPN's play-by-play announcer Mark Jones tweets that after Miami, the Spurs and Mavericks were Oden's second and third choices.
Several Teams Interested In Lou Amundson
There are a number of teams anxiously awaiting Greg Oden's free agent decision today and many of those clubs all seem to have a common Plan B. Some of the same teams that are pursuing the former No. 1 overall pick are also showing interest in free agent Louis Amundson, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
The Heat, Kings, and Mavericks, who are all finalists for Oden, have registered some level of interest in the well-traveled 30-year-old (link). The Hawks, Knicks, and Pacers are also looking into Amundson.
The UNLV product averaged 1.9 PPG in 9.5 minutes per contest for three teams last season. In seven career NBA seasons with eight diffeent clubs, Amundson has career averages of 3.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 12.8 minutes per contest.
Odds & Ends: Oden, Thunder, Clippers
The Heat, Spurs and Mavs are the most likely to land Greg Oden when he makes his decision Friday, sources tell Jeff Goodman and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Goodman and Stein are hearing conflicting information on whether the Pelicans, Kings and Hawks remain in the running, but it appears New Orleans has the best chance out of those three. The Cavs, Celtics and Grizzlies have also expressed interest, but they declined to make formal offers, the report also says. Here's more on Oden and others around the Association:
- Whichever team signs Oden once he makes his decision tomorrow won't be committing more than a few million dollars, leading HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy to argue that he's worth the risk. Taking such risks is what shrewd GM's do, SB Nation's Tom Ziller opines.
- The league is reimbursing the Thunder $8MM, or roughly half of the difference between the money the team is shelling out for Kevin Durant and the smaller amount the Thunder agreed to pay when he signed his extension, Grantland's Zach Lowe tweets.
- The ESPN.com staff is high on the Clippers, as Chad Ford gives them the only A+ among his Western Conference offseason grades (Insiders only), while the 5-on-5 crew lauds the team's acquisitions of coach Doc Rivers and sharpshooter Jared Dudley.
- HoopsWorld's Nate Duncan profiles six players whom teams may have undervalued this summer.
Mavericks, Mike James In Contract Talks
Point guard Mike James started the final 23 games for the Mavericks this past season, a stretch when the team played some of its best basketball. Dallas has agreed to sign four players capable of playing his position this summer, and the Mavs wound up with 18th overall pick Shane Larkin in the draft, but the team and James' reps are nonetheless discussing the possibility of his return, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
James told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he's intent on playing in the NBA again this season, and agent Bernie Lee echoes those sentiments to Charania. The team expressed an interest in re-signing the 38-year-old when free agency began last month, and those talks continue, Charania writes.
The veteran averaged 8.2 points per game, dished out 4.4 assists and shot 41.9% from three-point range as a starter last season. He appeared in 45 total games for the Mavericks, his most NBA contests in any one season since the 61 he played in 2008/09.
Greg Oden To Make Decision On Friday
Free agent big man Greg Oden will decide where he'll sign on Friday, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). The Heat, Kings, Hawks, Pelicans, Spurs, and Mavericks are the teams in the running for the former first overall pick.
Spears initially reported last Tuesday that a decision from Oden was expected to come this week, and has since suggested that the 25-year-old is most intrigued by the Heat and Pelicans. Miami has been linked to Oden for the better part of 2013, and have always looked to me like the frontrunner, though New Orleans and other clubs are making a late push.
Of Oden's suitors, the Pelicans and Kings have the $2.65MM room exception available to offer, while the Heat have their mini mid-level exception worth about $3.18MM. The Hawks could waive some non-guaranteed salaries to clear a chunk of cap space, and the Mavs and Spurs can only offer minimum-salary deals. Of course, just because a team like the Heat has the flexibility to outbid other teams, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll offer that full MLE.
Odds & Ends: Wall, James, OKC, Haddadi
With John Wall's long-awaited max contract finally on the books for the Wizards, NBA writers around the league have already begun to weigh in. Sean Highkin of USA Today writes that Wall is definitely worth the risk for the Wiz, while J. Michael of CSN Washington crunches the numbers to show why the team values Wall like they do. There is sure to be more where that came from. Until then, let's take a look at what else is going on in the Association on Wednesday night:
- Free agent point guard Mike James, who spent last season with the Mavericks, will not retire at age 38 and is determined to play his 12th NBA season next year, tweets Chris Haynes of CSN Northwest. James emerged as a viable backup, starting 23 of the 45 games he appeared in last season for Dallas and averaging 6.1 points and 3.1 assists per contest.
- The Thunder have named Robert Pack and Mike Terpstra as assistant coaches, the team announced today in a press release. Pack spent the past three years on the Clippers staff after a year in New Orleans. This will be Terpstra's NBA coaching debut, but he has experience working in the D-League. “We’re excited to add Robert and Mike to our coaching staff for the upcoming season,” said head coach Scott Brooks in the release. “These additions bring diverse backgrounds to our group that will help the further development of our players.”
- The Knicks have shown interest in center Hamed Haddadi, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday, adding that nothing is imminent. Only able to offer minimum salary contracts, we heard today the Knicks were hoping to land Beno Udrih and yesterday that they had some interest in Delonte West. Haddadi finished last season in Phoenix after more than four years with the Grizzlies.
- Alan Anderson, who signed with the Nets yesterday, says he took less money to join a winner, writes Iannazzone. At 30 years old, it sounds like the veteran guard was more concerned with contention than playing time and therefore agreed to a contract in Brooklyn for the league minimum. He was a double-digit scorer in Toronto last season for the first time in his career, but the Raptors missed the playoffs. In his four NBA seasons, Anderson has yet to see the postseason.
Mavericks Sign Devin Harris
4:11pm: Harris' new deal with the Mavs is a one-year pact worth the veteran's minimum, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
2:57pm: The Mavericks have officially signed Devin Harris to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. Harris had previously reached an agreement on a three-year, $9MM deal with Dallas, but the team nixed it after news broke that the veteran guard required toe surgery.
A new deal between Dallas and the Excel Sports Management client comes as no surprise, since the team still had interest in bringing him aboard even as the two sides mutually agreed to call off the initial arrangement. Owner Mark Cuban essentially confirmed a couple weeks ago that the Mavs and Harris both still expected to finalize a deal, albeit a restructured one.
The financial terms of the latest agreement are unclear, but it looks as if the Mavs only have the flexibility to offer minimum-salary contracts after using all of their cap space and most of their room exception. I speculated after the first agreement fell through that a two-year minimum salary contract with a player option for the second season might work for both sides.
Harris, who spent the first three and a half seasons with the Mavs, appeared in 58 games for the Hawks last year, averaging 9.9 PPG and 3.4 APG while spending time at both guard positions. Since Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis look like the probable starters in the Mavs' backcourt, Harris figures to be called on to play both the one and two again next season.
Mavs In Serious Talks With DeJuan Blair
11:19am: If the Mavs and Blair agree to terms, it will likely be for a one-year, minimum-salary contract, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. While there was some talk of a sign-and-trade, Blair figures to sign for a year and test the market again next summer, says Kennedy, adding that the ex-Spur figures to choose Dallas' offer over similar proposals because he'll get a chance to play major minutes with the Mavs (all Twitter links).
9:58am: The Mavericks are engaged in serious talks on a deal for DeJuan Blair, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). According to Stein, the odds of the two sides reaching an agreement are "promising."
It'd be a little surprising if the Mavs were able to land Blair, since the team appears to be capped-out, and Blair's asking price was said earlier this month to be in the $3MM range. The big man was also reportedly seeking a multiyear commitment. Based on reported contracts and salaries to date, it seems as if the Mavs have used their cap space and signed Wayne Ellington using the $2.65MM room exception. Assuming that's the case, Dallas could only offer Blair the minimum, unless a sign-and-trade deal can be worked out with the Spurs.
Blair, 24, has spent all four seasons of his NBA career with the Spurs, but saw his role reduced as Tiago Splitter emerged as a productive starter for the team. After averaging 8.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and a 17.5 PER in his first three years, Blair's rates fell to 5.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and a 14.6 PER in 2012/13.
According to Stein (via Twitter), the Mavs are also likely to complete a new deal for Devin Harris later this week, and remain in the mix for Greg Oden.