Cuban interview on Radio

[dude1394]

I'm also glad zo fell through. i think nj is going to catch it bad on this one.

I wanted Malone pretty bad.

However business is business. I cannot believe that these players/agents are so naive to think that an offer is somehow an iron-clad guarantee that the same offer isn't being laid out there. I also do not believe that cubes/nellie are nearly as ignorant as most of the folks on this board think.

Cubes has negotiated a LOT of deals that are more than 4.9 million, I would imagine they have told the folks they were interested in that they would give them the MLE. Those players then said ok, thanks for the interest, your on the top of the list.

Payton/Malone were heck-bent to go to la, nothing to do about that. Zo changed his mind, again nothing to do about that. Kandi seemed really strange as he probably could have gotten more money if he had waited more than a day for goodness sakes. He sounds like a nutcase and there is obviously a lot of teams that don't think he's worth having.

[Murphy3]

most of us were not on board with zo? it seemed to me that more were on board than not...perhaps some of your friends weren't on board, but i'd be willing to bet that at least half on this site were "on board" with bringing in zo

[MavsFanFinley]

I've wanted the Mavs to sign a young guy or two that could groom behind our core for a year before getting solid minutes. With all this talk that Daniels and Powell could make the team, would they sign knowing Nelson probably won't play them?

Cuban on Mourning: His agent said we had him

07/16/2003

By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News

Center Alonzo Mourning officially signed with the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday, as the Mavericks mulled over their options with most of the top free agents already signed.

The two events were linked, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote Wednesday in an e-mail response to a fan that was also sent to the Dallas media.

The Mavericks felt they had a oral agreement with Mourning, and planned accordingly, backing off pursuit of other free agents, especially Karl Malone.

“Our reality is that we focused on Alonzo and thought we had him,” Cuban said. “Zo's agent (Jeff Wechsler) told us he was basically a done deal. That there was no reason he could think of that Zo wasn't going to be a Maverick.

“I stuck to protocol and didn’t go around the agent after he told me that. You don’t just call up players and say, ‘Hey, I want to make sure your agent is fully informed and you aren’t doing something behind his back. Turns out he wasn’t and Zo was, and Zo went another direction.”

Wechsler did not return phone messages Wednesday.

The Mavericks made Mourning their No. 1 priority and were willing to offer him a four-year contract, even though he had missed last season with a kidney illness.

Cuban, who was in Miami to court Mourning when free agency began July 1, admits that Mourning was a gamble.

“In wanting to sign Zo, our feeling was that if we got two years at 80 percent of the Zo of two years ago, we would be very fortunate,” Cuban said. “We knew that there was also the risk that he may be able to play for a couple months, and realize his body wouldn’t be up to tolerate the grind of the NBA again …”

The Mavericks remain in the hunt, at least marginally, for Indiana free agent Brad Miller, although a complicated sign-and-trade is their only option.

Beyond Miller, the pickings are slim, with 7-footer Michael Olowokandi signing with Minnesota on Wednesday.

“With the remaining free agents, there isn’t an over-the-top guy who is priced in the mid-level range,” Cuban said. “We are out there exploring options for trades, as we always are, but as Donnie (Nelson) has told everyone, we aren't going to sign someone just to sign someone, and if push comes to shove, we will invest in younger players and work to develop them.”

[MavsFanFinley]

All's fair in free agency
Mavs don't get any love from Mourning, Olowokandi, anyone

07/17/2003

Courtship is never easy, particularly when it doesn't work out and one of the parties has access to a keyboard or microphone.

Remember when Juan Gonzalez spurned the Mets? Relations soured quicker than some of his marriages.

One week, the headline in the Daily News was "A Juan-derful New Year."

The next week, from the apoplectic Post: "WEASEL!"

Memo to New York media: If it's any consolation, the union didn't turn out so hot here, especially now that they can't get Igor off the couch with dynamite.

Anyway, people sometimes get emotional in affairs of the heart, not always for the best.

Take Mark Cuban. No one questions his passion and drive, as David Stern's e-mail log will attest.

So, when Cuban took off for South Florida at the end of last month, you knew he was on a mission.

Goal: Alonzo Mourning. Cuban correctly concluded that the Mavs needed him, or some reasonable facsimile. Several big men were available through different routes, including Karl Malone, Brad Miller, Michael Olowokandi and Rasho Nesterovic. But Mourning was Cuban's man.

And it seemed mutual. Cuban characterized their first meeting as "great." Called the 6-10 center "an amazing guy."

In fact, all went so well that club officials decided a follow-up meeting the next week in Dallas wasn't necessary.

Result: No Zo.

What happened? Mourning undoubtedly noticed that the Lakers came to an agreement with Malone and Gary Payton, which was like New York annexing Connecticut and Vermont.

A little overkill, really. You can carp about the old guys and wonder how Kobe's going to wrestle the ball away from the Mailman, but it's probably moot. Once Shaq drops a few pounds and gets into his best shape in years, the Lakers will once again terrorize the West.

Jason Kidd likely noticed this, too, and reminded Mourning of as much. Come back East, he probably counseled, where the living's easy and the way to the Finals easier.

Here's how hard it is in the West: San Antonio had a title and more money to spend under the cap than Saudi Arabia, and what did the Spurs get for it?

Rasho Nesterovic.

A nice pick-up, and the Mavs would certainly like to have him. But he's not exactly Kidd or Jermaine O'Neal, the subjects of Spurs speculation all along.

Meanwhile, names keep dropping, but not here. After Olowokandi signed with Minnesota for the same mid-level exception the Mavs could offer, a fan fired off an angry e-mail Wednesday morning to local sports personalities as well as Cuban, demanding to know how the Kandi man got away.

Twenty minutes later, Cuban responded. Told the fan that the Mavs were interested but that Olowokandi was represented by Bill Duffy, a former roommate of Kevin McHale, the Wolves' GM.

Cuban went on to explain that the Mavs knew "there was no way that agent was going to leave his former roomie high and dry, and that Kandi was as good as delivered to Minnesota."

Just for fun, Cuban noted that Duffy is the agent who recently forgot to exercise an option for the Heat's Anthony Carter, which will cost Carter, oh, probably $4 million.

Cuban wasn't finished with agents, either. Said Mourning's agent, Jeffrey Wechsler, gave him bad information, telling him that Zo-to-Mavs was "basically a done deal." Because of it, Cuban said, he didn't hound Mourning to make sure his agent was informed or that he wasn't doing something behind the agent's back.

"Turns out he wasn't and Zo was," Cuban wrote, "and Zo went another direction."

Back East, to be exact.

You could understand if Cuban's upset. A guy puts his heart into acquiring Mourning and doesn't get him, and now probably won't get anyone else, either.

And it has to hurt even more when you hear that he could have had Malone, who wanted to play closer to home.

You could get emotional. You could even blame agents, which gets dangerous, especially when you consider that Duffy also represents Steve Nash.

Hey, Mark: You done with Duffy?

"No, I'm not 'done' with him," Cuban wrote in an e-mail. "He did what he felt was right. He actually is a good agent. It's just that the relationships he had kept us from doing anything with those players. In other situations, the relationships could benefit us."

Exactly. No need to alienate anybody, then, not when you're still out there, looking.

[uberfan]

I just think the "McHale and Duffy were college teammates and roommates for one year decades ago in Mimmesota" is a lame excuse to cover up the fact that Cuban is not on top of the situation. It doesn't appear like they are running buddies or fishing buddies. In other words, whatever relationship they have kept up over the years appears to be professional and not one where McHale could say, "Good 'ole Duff, he is just like my brother!"

Did anyone else on this board ever go to college? Maybe I am wierd, because I even had teammates and roomamtes in college many years ago. And we all went our on ways, didn't stay running buddies or even fishing buddies. A couple for more than one year. Let me see, those relationships mean what, basically that we could pick up the phone on call each other and have a conversation. Doesn't mean that they owe me anything special nor do I owe them anything special.

Like I said, maybe I am wierd. I am sure every body else in the world owes their college roommate/teammate life-long allegiance and you all are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure your college buddy gets a better deal than anyone else, even if it is detrimental to your client.

[mavsfanforever]

All I can see from this is Cuban is making excuses. Basically they still had 3 -4 days time to go after Rasho, Kandi. Cuban is blaming ZO for the inablility of Mavs organization to not have a plan B.

[MavsFanFinley]

I would think someone who does as much business as Cuban would have a backup plan. Even with a verbal agreement from an agent that a player is as good as ours would have some sort of plan B in case the original fell through.

If we hadn't heard excuses before, I might be inclined to believe Cuban about his comments and blaming Zo for our off-season blunder. Not buying it this time.

[jacktruth]

1. I think if Malone really wanted to come to Dallas but was upset at being the second option, it just underlines what a whiney-ass he is and reminds me of why I hated watching UTAH for all those years.

2. It won't matter if Mourning signed with NJ because they are all barbie dolls to Shaq. LA will win the West this year. The odds of mourning staying healthy all year not great.

3. I don't think it is Cuban's ignorance, it is his inexperience and his pride in thinking he can do anything (which I guess really does amount to ignorance, so scratch that).

4. I honestly hope this forces the mavs to package NVE for a real rebounder and hire this M. Daniels kid. We really could use a new face on this team and get younger.

Just some thoughts.