Cuban holding up trade for Big Z?

[Speedy]

ESPN trade talk here

[MightyToine]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...arc&id=1691419

Yes, we can talk trades as well as taxes

Last February, Dallas was divided regarding the prospect of trading Van Exel for Miami's Brian Grant. Coach Don Nelson wanted Grant. Owner Mark Cuban didn't want to give up Van Exel or absorb Grant's long-term contract. After Van Exel got hot in the playoffs and carried Dallas to the Western Conference finals, Cuban was asked about Grant and said through a smile: "Who? ... Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make."

The Mavericks subsequently discussed a trade for Grant over the summer in which they were the aggressors, with Miami balking because this time the deal didn't involve Van Exel or any players of consequence, only offering the Heat some salary-cap relief.


The back-and-forth continued last week when the Heat seized back the initiative and pitched Grant to Dallas for Antawn Jamison. The Mavericks, though, have cooled considerably on the 6-foot-8 power forward, having decided that he's too small and too expensive to help them significantly in the mighty West.


The divide in Dallas these days centers around Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Nelson wants the 7-3 Lithuanian, who might or might not be available ... depending on the day in Cavsland. Cuban, though, is apparently reluctant, concerned about Ilgauskas' ability to play at an up-tempo pace.


Another center from Cleveland whom the Mavericks like is DeSagana Diop, the third-year behemoth from Senegal, a homeland shared by Dallas director of scouting Amadou Fall. Diop, though, is injured and likely unavailable anyway. Dallas has inquired about him, but the Cavs think Diop is finally starting to blossom as an athletic defensive presence -- and they aren't peddling centers like they were before sending Chris Mihm and Yogi Stewart to Boston in the Ricky Davis trade.

Guess which 'TWAN' the Mavericks are willing to trade.

[MavKikiNYC]

The divide in Dallas these days centers around Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Nelson wants the 7-3 Lithuanian, who might or might not be available ... depending on the day in Cavsland. Cuban, though, is apparently reluctant, concerned about Ilgauskas' ability to play at an up-tempo pace.

This is ....not encouraging. It's one thing for Cuban to nix a trade because of the financial impact on the team. But should he be weighing in on "personnel-fit" questions?


And if he is, why TF is he not orienting these trades toward some defensive personnel? Or has he been brain-washed by Nellie-ball too?

[MightyToine]

Originally posted by: MavKikiNYC

This is ....not encouraging. It's one thing for Cuban to nix a trade because of the financial impact on the team. But should he be weighing in on "personnel-fit" questions?


And if he is, why TF is he not orienting these trades toward some defensive personnel? Or has he been brain-washed by Nellie-ball too?

That's a very good point, Kiki. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

It's one thing to sign players for a boat-load of money....It's a totally different animal to make Personnel decisions. Isn't that what GMs ARE SUPPOSED TO DO? Hello, Donnie Nelson? EARTH TO DONNIE NELSON!!

[Speedy]

MT, why did you re-post the link? Is the one I posted not working?

[MightyToine]

Originally posted by: Speedy
MT, why did you re-post the link? Is the one I posted not working?

It works, speedy. It's just that some fans here may be too lazy to click on it to go there so I brought it here. Hope you don't mind. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Speedy]

Originally posted by: MightyToine

It works, speedy. It's just that some fans here may be too lazy to click on it to go there so I brought it here. Hope you don't mind. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Don't mind at all. Thanks for posting the article. I just didn't know why you re-posted the link.

[kg_veteran]

Kiki - I could even handle nixing a trade because you think a player is a "bad apple" (Rasheed, for instance). But making decisions about who would fit with the team is a bit of an odd position for the owner to put himself in.

Even if I don't agree with the owner getting involved in this manner, at least he's right here. "Big Z" does nothing to help this team's interior problems.

[Murphy3]

big z would definitley help..there's alot of people that would help. hell, cherokee parks would help at this point. however, just because they would help in one certain area doesn't necessarily mean that they're worth what you'd give up in other areas

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
Kiki - I could even handle nixing a trade because you think a player is a "bad apple" (Rasheed, for instance). But making decisions about who would fit with the team is a bit of an odd position for the owner to put himself in.

Even if I don't agree with the owner getting involved in this manner, at least he's right here. "Big Z" does nothing to help this team's interior problems.

He might even be right about Z's not being worth the investment. But it seems eerily Jerry Jones-like for him to try to do skills assessment.

And where was his judgment during the happily-failed pursuit of Zo? I don't know if it's a case of having just enough knowledge to be accidentally right or not, but when I look at the number of people on this board who correctly assessed Zo's chances of staying healthy, and FROM THIS DISTANCE, it amazes me that Cuban could have even considered that signing. {One can cite in Cuban's defense reports that Jerry West would've considered signing Mourning, and the fact that as knowledgable a figure as Rod Thorn ending biting (and getting bitten--Thorn basically had to promise to sign Zo to retain Kidd; Zo's contract could just be added on to Kidd's).}

It's his money. He can do with it what he pleases. But the same way that an attorney who has himself for a client is a fool, so is the sports owner who fancies himself his own GM.

[kg_veteran]

It's his money. He can do with it what he pleases. But the same way that an attorney who has himself for a client is a fool, so is the sports owner who fancies himself his own GM.

Genius.

[MavsFanFinley]

No Thanks
Mavs' Trade Gossip And One Certainty

By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com

The latest batch of NBAers rumored to be coming to Dallas – and one who definitely won’t:

Miami’s Brian Grant. Chris Mihm and Ricky Davis before they went to Boston. New York’s Kurt Thomas. Centers Zydrunas Ilgauskas and DeSagana Diop of Cleveland. Theo Ratliff and Shareef Abdur-Rahim of Atlanta. Rasheed Wallace of Portland.

DB.com can comfirm now that there really were talks with Cleveland, though how substantial they were – and still might be – depends on which end of the phone you’re holding. However, we can’t find much fire inside the smoke of most of the other names. Besides, the problem with virtually everyone on that list is that Dallas would have to give up a commodity for someone who does not necessary make the Mavs better.

‘There has been nothing of any substance with us,’ Mavs owner Mark Cuban tells us. ‘We just haven’t been that interested.’’

There is one another name, though, that wouldn’t cost Dallas a commodity to acquire. He’s 6-10, he’s 21, he’s got two years of NBA experience, he’s already shown he’s got double-double capabilities, and he’s free.

He’s Houston’s Eddie Griffin.

So, Tony Cubes, wanna take a flier on Eddie Griffin?
“
Griffin? No,’ Cuban responds, “no thanks.’’

Adds one Mavs exec: ‘He doesn’t add anything but headaches.’’

The Mavs do discuss virtually every possibility, and they discuss them both in-house and with other clubs. The have discussed Griffin, suspended from the Rockets since October after a series of alledged incidents ranging from missed practices to drug arrests to domestic violence.

‘We always answer the phone,’’ team president Donnie Nelson says.

Except, he could have added, if Eddie Griffin calls.