[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by dayman

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba...tim&id=4873941

The front office will keep working the phones. ESPNDallas reported earlier this week that the Mavs are "looking very hard" at their options, according to a source. That's what president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson always does at this time of year, with the trade deadline in less than three weeks.

However, Cuban said he doesn't see any bargains in the trade market at the moment, so he doesn't like the odds of making a blockbuster deal. Carlisle recognizes that trade talk will be prevalent until Feb. 18, but he isn't counting on help coming from elsewhere.

"Rarely do they happen. Rarely does anything come to fruition," Carlisle said. "We have a good enough team to be a contender. But right now, we've got to sort of shift our thinking and we've got to recommit to defense."

Cuban hopes that the Mavs can put the $2.4 million trade exception they created in the recent cost-cutting deal with the New Jersey Nets to use. The ideal situation for the Mavs would be to use that exception to help facilitate a deal between two other teams and acquire a talented young player to add to their bench for the trouble.

wow..........