In a radio interview Wednesday on The Ticket, Donnie Nelson (the Mavs point man on the trade front) was asked to characterize the team's current efforts to make some sort of trade.
His response: "To me, [a trade would be] a bailout. We're going through tough times. The only way to get through it is to stay in there and fight it out: we love our pieces...The guys in the locker room, the hard times that we've gone through, its really galvanized us....
"That being said, if somebody lays something in our lap, that's a no brainer, we're not afraid to make a change around here - but it's gotta have a good reason behind it."
Alluding to the continuous rumors that Dallas is heatedly pursuing Rasheed (the latest: Jamison, Delk and Najera for Sheed), this folllowup question was asked: "Well, the Portland paper every day insists that there's conversations. Would you like to say that rumor is ridiculous?"
Donnie Nelson: "Well I'll tell you this: the last time I talked with John Nash [the Portland GM] was when we were in Portland [Dec 23]. I think that should pretty much say it all."
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