Jerome Miron-US Presswire
First and foremost, let me just say that Mark Cuban is one of the best owners in the NBA today. His passion and love for the game is refreshing and his first-hand approach has helped the Dallas Mavericks to its most successful era in team history.
On that note, the Mavericks and Cuban have struck out in free agency the last few years which led them to sign second tier free agents. This year, they struck out on Deron Williams when he decided to stay with the Brooklyn Nets. They also saw their rival Los Angeles Lakers swoop in and take Dwight Howard via trade. The two superstars were in Cuban’s wish list which is why he broke up his championship team last offseason. The unfortunate turn of events must not sit well with him at the moment as he has issued negative remarks with regards to the Deron and Dwight saga.
Cuban was quoted as saying that the Mavericks were in a much better position now and in hindsight, they were glad that they were unable to sign Williams earlier in the offseason. He claimed that they now have flexibility and they got younger in the process. Now I have no qualms about his reason as they are actually valid. Williams at 16 or 17 million per year would jeopardize what little salary flexibility they had left. But what Cuban failed to see was the recruiting power Williams would’ve had if he signed with the Mavericks. Deron could recruit other stars to the Mavericks in the coming years. Now the Mavericks will have a harder time to sell future stars to sign with them with only an aging Dirk Nowitzki and spare parts in their roster.
Cuban was also quoted as saying that he compared the Lakers acquisitions of Steve Nash and Howard to that of the acquisitions of Karl Malone and Gary Payton almost a decade ago. This comparison is completely ludicrous in my mind because both Malone and Payton were on their way out while it can be argued that Howard is not yet in his prime. Cuban is shooting himself in the foot here with all of his comments. He should just mind his own business and concentrate on creating his best team out there; otherwise he will just come across as both extremely petty and childish.
