"...within the collective bargaining agreement we did everything possible to put the best possible team on the court," he said. "Period. End of story. "
I love Mark, but this simply is not true. He could have signed Chandler to a long-term deal. It may have been risky for the health of the franchise, but he doesn't say that. He only refers to this year. I'm not even sure that it's really that risky long-term. Even that's a debate. Would signing Chandler have precluded the team from signing DWill? Well certainly they couldn't have gotten both DWill and Howard, if so. So, why not keep Chandler and try to make a three year run with Dirk/DWill/Tyson?
It was a risk either way, even if that wasn't possible because we don't know how long Dirk will be Dirk. It may be that the team's only legit shot at another title for many years was this year if he'd brought back one or more of last year's free agents. So he's taking the risk that he can reload with a contending team for the remainder of Dirk's career, as opposed to just this year and next, I suppose. But nobody knows if that will happen, including him. It may be the smartest move, i.e. lowest risk, but that doesn't change the fact that he could've put a better team out there this year within the terms of the CBA. So, he either mispoke or he is selling his decision.
As to whom he's referring, it is definitely the media.
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