Dallas Mavericks

In case you missed it, Cuban's pitch is going to be that the Mavs put a max guy on the team with Dirk, Marion, Carter and fill for this coming season and then offer him the opportunity to help Dirk and the MBT find two more max contract guys next summer. For a guy looking at the "Big 3" teams slugging it out in the finals from the comfort of his couch, that has to be pretty intriguing. Especially if he is texting with a couple of friends who are due to come up for new contracts next year. The major drawback to this plan is that next year might as well be a million years from now to an NBA max player in his prime. I think Howard will go to Houston, but CP3, who I happen to like more, seems to be a little bit of a frustrated GM and I think he could bite on a deal like that. So my question to you, Mavs fans, is what do you think are the chances that CP3 bails and if he does, how do you like the Mav's chances? Poll Would CP3 look good in a Mavs Uniform this year? Even Donald Sterling is not dumb enough to let THAT happen He leaves the Clippers, but doesn't go to the Mavs. Hello, Big Four! 0 votes | Results

Flopping has been a major source of conversation during these playoffs. There have been multiple instances, so much to the point that the league has had to invoke a new ant-flopping policy. The purpose of the policy was designed to put an end to the flopping. It certainly hasn’t worked as we saw Heat forward Chris Bosh get fined $5,000 for violating the policy in Game 4 of the Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Mark Cuban has stepped up, as he usually does, and is willing to take a chance on trying to provide more information to help the cause. The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU, Dallas. “The physics just don’t support the way we call things,” Cuban said while speaking to KTCK-AM earlier this week. “The issues of collisional forces, balance and control in these types of athletic settings are largely uninvestigated,” said SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who leads the research team. “There has been a lot of research into balance and falls in the elderly, but relatively little on active adults and athletes.” While speaking to KTCK-AM, Cuban discussed this grant in a little more detail. “I can talk about it all I want, but it doesn’t mean that the league is going to do anything,” Cuban said. “I told the league that I was reaching out and I did some homework on who were some of the biomechanics in the country. It turns out that they’re at SMU. It took six months to formulate the whole thing. I told them I would fund the research to figure out the science of flopping.” Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki commented on the issue of flopping last week. There is a definite science to flopping and Nowitzki sees the upside to it. “We’re never going to get rid of it,” Nowitzki said recently, according to The Dallas Morning News. “But you got to limit it. It’s part of sports. It’s part of winning. Some people are smart and do a little extra thing to kind of sell the call. To me, that’s part of sports.” There is a fine line as Nowitzki doesn’t want to see the “obvious ones” or the “really, really bad ones.” That’s the crux of the issue though. There is a fine line where it’s trying to get the competitive advantage in order to show that there was a form of wrong doing and showing that to the referee. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is a member of the NBA’s competition committee. When asked about flopping, he said he doesn’t see an increase in penalties for flopping happening anytime in the near future. “The competition committee met this week and a lot of progress has been made this past year and in the playoffs with the rule decreasing the amount of flops and attempted flops,’’ Carlisle told reporters last week. “I believe we’re going to stay the course with the rule basically the way it is, and just continue to work to clean it up. “And as time goes on, if it needs to be addressed again, it’ll be addressed again.’’ The policy certainly needs to be cleaned up. If you have the average league salary hover around $5.5 million, $5,000 is peanuts to them. You have to make the penalty be more severe in terms of a hit to the wallet. I think that is the more of a likely outcome that is realistic because I don’t see a quick fix in making penalties harsher in the moment and affecting the game. Cuban certainly sees the value in trying to rectify this issue. “If we can learn anything about that, then I’ll take that and apply that to soccer,” Cuban continued. “It would be huge in soccer, even bigger than it would be in basketball. We’ll learn.” Mark Cuban is a polarizing figure as a sports owner, but he has the game’s best interest in mind. This is just another example of it. Time will tell on whether or not Cuban’s efforts bear any fruit. Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @B

What kind of birthday present do you get a guy who has $200 million in career earnings, 11 All-Star appearances and a championship ring? Dirk Nowitzki, who turns 35 today, would love to get a legitimate co-star. But Mark Cuban and the Mavs’ front office have to wait another week and a half before they can go shopping. Perhaps the Clippers’ front office gave Dirk an early birthday present by backing away from trade talks with the Celtics that would have brought Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett to Los Angeles.

Kentucky's Nerlens Noel has long been the favorite to go No. 1 overall in the upcoming NBA Draft, but the hype has been growing in the past week for Alex Len. The Maryland big man has been sidelined this summer after having surgery for a stress fracture in his ankle, but that has not stopped him from rising up draft boards. Len (scouting report) received more good news on Tuesday, as he was cleared to walk without crutches, according to the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell. Based on the suggested timetable for recovery, Len should be able to start running again in August and make a full recovery in time for training camp in October. While Len has his own injury concerns, ESPN's Chad Ford says in his latest mock draft that there are some in the Cleveland Cavaliers organization that prefer him over Noel (scouting report) due to lingering questions about Noel's knee. Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops has heard similar rumblings, which is why he has Len on the top of his latest mock draft. Barring a setback, Len will be back several months before Noel and could help contribute more to a possible run to the playoffs, a goal of owner Dan Gilbert. Speaking of Noel, Mary Schmitt-Boyer of The Plain Dealer reports that the Kentucky star will visit with the Cavs on Thursday instead of the weekend as initially planned. -- Kansas' Ben McLemore (scouting report) has seen his stock slip because of poor workouts, which could be great news for Indiana's Victor Oladipo (scouting report). Ford says that McLemore and Oladipo are seen as the two-best fits in Orlando, but Oladipo has the upper hand in part due to McLemore's less than stellar workout with Orlando. -- It has been known for a while that the Dallas Mavericks want to get rid of the No. 13 pick in order to make cap space for a run at Dwight Howard, and Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News reports that there's essentially a zero percent chance that pick will be on the Mavs' roster next season. The most likely scenario is a trade, but a draft-and-stash is also a possibility. Ford believes Russian star Sergey Karasev (scouting report) would be the most logical pick if Dallas keeps it. -- The Minnesota Timberwolves hosted Lehigh's C.J. McCollum (scouting report) on Tuesday, but Ford believes the team has zeroed in on Georgia's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (scouting report) or UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad (scouting report). The Wolves need shooters, and Caldwell-Pope is arguably the best one in the draft. -- The Utah Jazz need a point guard, and they have worked out almost every top prospect available at that position -- every top point guard except for Michigan's Trey Burke (scouting report), that is. And according to The Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm, the Jazz aren't expected to work out Burke prior to the draft, as it's extremely unlikely that he'll fall all the way to No. 14. Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams (scouting report) likely won't fall that far either, but he was in for a workout on Tuesday. More from SB Nation: • Miami rallies to force OT, survives with 103-100 win • Like a Bosh: Chris saves game with block at buzzer • GIFs: Shoeless Mike Miller | Ray Allen forces OT • Chris Paul OK without Doc in LA • SB Nation's blogger mock draft • NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

The gut-kicking nature of the Spurs’ come-from-ahead overtime loss in Game 6 of the NBA Finals reminded Mark Cuban of one of the most miserable moments in Metroplex sports history. “Hate to say this, but this game felt like the Rangers in the World Series,” Cuban tweeted after the Heat’s home rally from 13 down to even the series, including a five-point comeback in the final minute of regulation. As far as historic Game 6 meltdowns go, the Spurs’ crunch-time crumbling certainly conjured memories of the Rangers’ blowing leads when twice being a strike away from finishing off the St.

While the 27 year old Ellis is nowhere near the PG Paul is, he is one heck of an offensive talent. No doubt a Dirk/Howard/Ellis trio puts Dallas back in contention for top team in the West.....and with the ability to add more the following season when Dirk takes a paycut gives it the potential for something great. This to me has much more traction than a Howard/Paul combo...as Paul is not going to leave the Clippers. It also gives Howard more incentive to pick Dallas if his buddy Ellis is coming as well. They could choose between us and Atlanta.....Howard has sounded reluctant to go play in his home town. Ellis has made it clear that he is not staying in Milwaukee. I still would not put it as likely....I would put the odds at 25% right now but on the rise. Nothing is a sure thing when Howard is involved. He can change his mind in an instant. Even without Howard, I can see Dallas going hard after Ellis as one of their pieces of the offseason. Monta Ellis has informed the Milwaukee Bucks that he will opt out of the last year of his deal, according to league sources. Ellis, who had one year, $11 million left on his contract, will become one of the most coveted free agents on the market this summer.Sources say the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericksand the Los Angeles Lakers have interest in Ellis, although the Lakers could get Ellis only via an unlikely sign-and-trade deal. Ellis, who originally signed a six-year, $66 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, is close with Lakers free agent Dwight Howard. The two have long desired to play together. If Howard cannot achieve his top goal of playing with Chris Paul, teaming up with Ellis may become an option he would strongly consider. Ellis' goal in signing his original deal was to give him the flexibility to become a free agent in his prime. The Bucks reportedly had offered Ellis a two-year, $24 million extension earlier this month, but the offer was contingent on him not opting out of the final season of his contract. Ellis led the Bucks with 19.2 points per game in the regular season, his eighth in the NBA after being drafted by the Warriors 40th overall in 2005. While the 27 year old Ellis is nowhere near the PG Paul is, he is one heck of an offensive talent. No doubt a Dirk/Howard/Ellis trio puts Dallas back in contention for top team in the West.....and with the ability to add more the following season when Dirk takes a paycut gives it the potential for something great. This to me has much more traction than a Howard/Paul combo...as Paul is not going to leave the Clippers. It also gives Howard more incentive to pick Dallas if his buddy Ellis is coming as well. They could choose between us and Atlanta.....Howard has sounded reluctant to go play in his home town. Ellis has made it clear that he is not staying in Milwaukee. I still would not put it as likely....I would put the odds at 25% right now but on the rise. Nothing is a sure thing when Howard is involved. He can change his mind in an instant. Even without Howard, I can see Dallas going hard after Ellis as one of their pieces of the offseason. Monta Ellis has informed the Milwaukee Bucks that he will opt out of the last year of his deal, according to league sources. Ellis, who had one year, $11 million left on his contract, will become one of the most coveted free agents on the market this summer.Sources say the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericksand the Los Angeles Lakers have interest in Ellis, although the Lakers could get Ellis only via an unlikely sign-and-trade deal. Ellis, who originally signed a six-year, $66 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, is close with Lakers free agent Dwight Howard. The two have long desired to play together. If Howard cannot achieve his top goal of playing with Chris Paul, teaming up with Ellis may become an option he would strongly consider. Ellis' goal in signing his original deal was to give him the flexibility to become a free agent in

Saying the Bank of Cuban is open might sound cute, but it is a stupid move. What is going to happen is the Lakers, Clippers and possibly the Rockets will be players for CP3 and DHoward. The Mavs are again being mentioned only for negotiating purposes. The Mega Super Stars want to play on either side of the coast in a large market. Dallas is a really nice town! Nice is nice but it isn't Los Angeles or New York. Getting a local car dealership commercial might be nice but to get the national attention and bigger endorsements you need to be in the biggest markets! You think CP3 is doing a national spot for State Farm if he is playing for the Pelicans? By saying the bank of Cuban is open, means we will be OVERPAYING for marginal players which will handicap us in the future of getting a max player. Josh Smith, Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, Andre Iguodala, etc are not max players and it sounds like Cubes might be willing to overspend to get them and keep the powder dry for next year? Lebron is NOT coming to Dallas, Bosh doesn't want to come home (and I wouldn't max him). Get ready for adding a couple of overpriced players and using a over the hill Dalembert. 41-41!! Saying the Bank of Cuban is open might sound cute, but it is a stupid move. What is going to happen is the Lakers, Clippers and possibly the Rockets will be players for CP3 and DHoward. The Mavs are again being mentioned only for negotiating purposes. The Mega Super Stars want to play on either side of the coast in a large market. Dallas is a really nice town! Nice is nice but it isn't Los Angeles or New York. Getting a local car dealership commercial might be nice but to get the national attention and bigger endorsements you need to be in the biggest markets! You think CP3 is doing a national spot for State Farm if he is playing for the Pelicans? By saying the bank of Cuban is open, means we will be OVERPAYING for marginal players which will handicap us in the future of getting a max player. Josh Smith, Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, Andre Iguodala, etc are not max players and it sounds like Cubes might be willing to overspend to get them and keep the powder dry for next year? Lebron is NOT coming to Dallas, Bosh doesn't want to come home (and I wouldn't max him). Get ready for adding a couple of overpriced players and using a over the hill Dalembert. 41-41!!

There might as well be a neon “FOR SALE” sign on the No. 13 pick. The Mavs aren’t just listening to offers for their lottery pick. They’re actively pursuing them, hoping to pick up a future asset while preventing the pick’s $1.655 million cap hold from getting on their books before free agency begins. What if the Mavs don’t part with the pick? A pair of point guards – Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams and Germany’s Dennis Schroeder – are the most intriguing possibilities.

Continuing to make his sales pitch to big-name free agents, Mark Cuban returned to the radio airwaves to detail his plan, writes Earl K. Sneed.

The Mavericks seem to have but one plan for the offseason: Plan Powder. Get Dwight or CP3. Get one at all costs. It's not a plan I'm particularly fond of, but it's the plan we're stuck with, like it or not. Regardless of whether Plan Powder is a massive success or a massive failure (because it can only be massive, one way or another), the Mavericks need one important thing: max money. They NEED max money, either for Dwight, for CP3, or for picking up high enough quality role players to fill out a decent roster. Max money is an absolute necessity. The Mavs have dug themselves in a hole. They're wildly mediocre, and it's really hard to get good again without getting really bad first. It may not even be possible without scoring the wildly unlikely D12 or CP3 in free agency. It'll take a lot of smarts, a lot of work from development, and...a lot of money. We here at Mavs Moneyball have consistently been of the mind that the Mavericks can't keep trying to manage by buying a good team. It takes development, the draft, trust, good scouting, and smarts. But if the Mavs are gonna get good without getting bad first, it's going to take all of that, plus the funds necessary to pick up a new cast. It turns out, regardless of how you play it, it takes a lot of funds when you have over $31 million committed between two players (Dirk and Marion). Without any of the disposable assets (expiring contracts, etc.), the Mavs have $19 million in cap space. That's $19 million to spend on a player for every position other than wings and power forwards and a bench. That's not max money, and it's not enough to build the team that everyone wants. Dirk has already said that he'll come back at a discount in 2014 to make the financial side of free agency easier, but there's nothing really the Mavs can do with his contract for the time being. More: Kirk on the Hole the Mavs Have Dug Chart of Mavs' Assets But there is one other thing the Mavs can do: address the Shawn Marion issue. If you don't love the Matrix, then...I dunno, I guess you're just wrong. He's the defensive anchor to a team that's hanging onto -- at best -- a passable defense; he keeps the defense from flying wildly off the cliff to "worst-in-the-league," at about 120 points allowed per 100 possessions. He has the weird ability to do absolutely whatever necessary at any point in time. He's the jack-of-all-trades who does just enough to make sure that every necessity for the Mavs is covered. He's a wildly underrated player who is probably the second most important foundation of this Mavericks team. The Mavericks shouldn't trade him. He's very good, he's not as valuable on the trade market as he is on the court, and he's integral to the team's scheme as it is typically laid out. These are per 48 minutes stats, above average in almost every category for his position, and this isn't even taking his foundational defense into account: Similarly, his shot chart for the last year is shockingly good, minus some dead-zone horror: But he is also being payed $9,316,796 next season, almost half of the Maverick's max available cap space. That's too much for the Mavericks to pay if they're going to try and pull something like Plan Powder. Paying Marion that much and getting Max money for a superstar (or, hopefully, for just really good role-players) are mutually exclusive goals. Luckily, there is a way to get that money off the books without trading him. Marion has an Early Termination Option on his contract for this next coming season, meaning that Marion can choose to terminate his contract now and enter free agency. In doing so, he opens up the ability to have the Mavs resign him at a discount, much in the same way as Dirk. Ultimately, whether the Mavericks have the kind of money and freedom in free agency that they want hinges on whether or not Shawn Marion will agree to keep playing NBA basketball for way less money. ----------------------------------------------------