I can say without question that this was the most amazing, annoying and difficult deal we have ever done since I bought the Mavs.
The annoyance. One agent who made a truism of the saying that "no good deed goes unpunished". That said, I have nothing but respect and admiration for Devean George. He told me that he would trust his agent as he had done for the last 10 years and take whatever may with that decision. He had the balls to stick to it. Even with people yelling and screaming at him. That said, as I write this, I really have no clue why the agent made the decision he did.
The dirt. Peter Vescey's ridiculous assertion that Avery asked me to trade Dirk. Even in the Nellie years where we discussed trading every other player on the roster, Dirk was never mentioned. There has never been a discussion of trading Dirk during my tenure, EVER. Vescey's source is an out and out liar.
The thing about dealing with the media in this business is that they thrive on rumors and get bored with reality.
For example. Several local media outlets had no interest in sending anyone to New Orleans to cover the All Star game or Dirk's appearance there. That changed once the trade rumors started. Then all of the sudden, every media person they could find was there. Newscasts led with the rumors. Newspapers speculated and comments on the impact of the rumors if true or not true. There was reporting on rumors about rumors. All of which is fine. I get that and in many many ways, its good for the Mavs and the NBA. It drives interest.
My job, Donnie and Avery's jobs include trying to protect the team from those rumors. The fact of the matter is, we are going to "love our team" no matter what. Every team can be made better with the right deal. We are always going to be opportunistic and try to improve, but we are not going to add any fodder to the rumor mill. Until this deal, we were always able to keep things quiet. To their credit, the NY media takes things to another level, or low, depending on your point of view.
The difficult. Saying goodbye to Devin, Gana and Trenton. All 3 are great guys in every way. On and off the court. It was far from an easy deal to make. We know that all 3 will continue to grow and get better and like other players we have traded or lost, come back to haunt us in some manner. That comes with every and any trade of players who are talented and work hard at their profession. I also think this will be a great chance for Mo Ager to start fresh.
The amazing. We think that Jason Kidd will immediately make the other players around him better. He is a different kind of point than Devin is. There are certain things that Devin does that JKidd can't. No question about it. That said, through experience and talent, we think JKidd can make the game easier for JET, Dirk , Josh, Damp, Stack and all of our guys and as a result make our team better.
The business side. I think we were stagnating some. I think the spark and excitement that JKidd will bring is more than just what his talent offers. There is a reason why Kobe and Lebron were lobbying management to bring JKidd in. We think he will recharge the batteries of not just our players, but the organization, fans, media and even merchandise and advertising sales.
That's the reality of this business. Wins and losses are not just about talent, its about energy and teamwork. The best leaders recognize when a spark is needed and are honest enough to admit it, and get it. Even when things are going well, its sometimes hard to sustain the energy of being a start up or of levels year past. In business it might be an acquisition, or a sale that may not be the perfect transaction, but its the most impactful. We have been discussing this now for at least a month. We think this deal will have impact.
I've said before this was the best NBA season ever. It just got a little better.
Doing the Deal and Dishing the Dirt
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(Page 1)2. Hopefully Kidd will last and give us a few more productive years to get a title or more as opposed to break down at his mighty age of 35 and leave us biting the dust.
Posted at 2:39PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Alex
5. Thanks for all of inside info on the trade. Please, please, please buy the Texas Rangers. You can take all of your posts about how winning teams try to compete and inversly compare them to the MO of Tom Hicks. How about an NL team? Dallas is the largest market without 2 teams.
Posted at 2:51PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Chris Price
6. Who's gonna back up Damp? Please don't say Dirk, Bass or Juwan. Who's gonna be the back up PG? Barea is a nice project and a sparkplug on occasion, but not experienced enough to cut it in the playoffs.
Posted at 2:52PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Chicago Joe
7. Peter Vescey is a jackass...yesterday, today, and always will be. How he keeps a job and how his editor allows him to keep writing and speaking the slander that he's known for is beyond me. Since it wouldn't be prudent for you to b!tc# slap him, call me. I'll be happy to do it.
Posted at 2:53PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Mike
8. It took balls to make this deal and you should be commended for doing so. Hats off to you and your staff and most of all the professionalism that OUR MAVERICK ORGANIZATION displayed during this time. Good luck to Devin and the others, they will all be missed. Kidd will take us to the ring improve Dirk's shot selection and be a complete floor general on the court. GO MAVERICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted at 3:01PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Jerald B
9. Devin is most definitely a stud. He had many, many strong points, and any team would be lucky to have him. That being said, JKidd is going to bring a level of excitement to a team, as Mark said, was seemingly getting a little stagnant. The stretch to the playoffs is going to be great and he will indeed make every player around him better. I think our Dallas Mavericks just got a LOT stronger!
Posted at 3:07PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Bryan Crouch
10. I hope there is some plan to bring Fazekas back. This team will rue the day he was cut if he ends up on another team.
Posted at 3:21PM on Feb 19th 2008 by bogdog
11. I just don't get this, Mark. It seems to me more like a panic move than anything else.
If Devin doesn't get injured, if the team doesn't get embarrassed during his time off the depth chart, does this get done?
I just think we're sacrificing too much to get a 1, PERHAPS 2 year run at this thing.
Posted at 3:23PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Or
12. Mark,
What do you focus on daily that keeps your mind thinking forward?
Posted at 3:25PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Scott C. Knudson
13. That's fine that you made a trade to better the team. I don't think brazenly lying to the media, and in essence, your FANS is right, though. It's beyond misleading to say that anyone proposing a trade for Jason Kidd is "on crack." Seems like a panic move to me, in response to what the Lakers did. Being reactive is never good. Note how that worked out for Avery in the playoffs against the Warriors last year. Instead of imposing his will on them, he changed to deal with them. Would you have made this trade if the Lakers hadn't made theirs? I don't think so. I guess we can look forward to Tony Parker torching us again. On the other hand, the coach didn't trust Devin to "lead" the offense. It wasn't a great thing that the team was in the bottom of the league on assists. Hopefully, Kidd will better that situation. What about signing Earl Boykins as a backup for Kidd? I don't think JJ Barea can cut it when it comes to the point guards in the west. Boykins would be an excellent counterbalance as a stone cold shooter compared with kidd's 36% shooting. Plus he's quick enough to stay in front of people like Parker, Nash (big mistake on your part btw), and Chris Paul Is there a free agent big man available? PJ Brown maybe?
Posted at 3:26PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Marls Barkley
14. Mark, despite being a dedicated Spurs fan, I also love any trade by a team trying to get better. That being said, I don't like this. Sure, Kidd is going to help you for a couple of years, no doubt about that. I thought that this was a good deal for you, everything in looked great, then I read TWO first round draft picks, which I believe is where you went wrong. You've got a great team, Kidd will help you a lot, but those two picks are going to come back to haunt you more than the loss of Devin Harris.
15. Mark has proven again why he is, in the words of Charles Barkley, "the greatest owner in all of professional sports." What other owner would open up and talk about a situation like the epic saga that was the Kidd trade. Thanks for being willing to give us fans a side of sports that we never see anywhere else.
Also, I really think this move makes us A LOT better for this year and next. I'm betting Terry will start now (why else would Mark mention JET before Dirk becoming better from this trade?), which will give us more offense right up front. Also, Dirk is turning 30 this summer and by the time Devin is hitting his prime we will most likely be talking about Dirk being almost too old in much the same way we're now talking about Kidd.
16. I'm sure the Mavs front office knows more about basketball operations than do I but this deal scares me. The fact is that Dallas proved it could get past San Antonio. It proved it could get past Phoenix. And I think the biggest reason for that was an injection of youth and speed in the back court. In other words, the emergence of Devin Harris. I pray that I am wrong. You guys must be something in Barrea.
Posted at 3:31PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Brandon
17. I think it was a mistake. I have been dreading this for over a week now.
Posted at 3:31PM on Feb 19th 2008 by sb
18. I love you having you as an owner. Buy the Rangers, please.
BUT this deal is bad for one reason - Segana Diop "it like it's hot". Are we going to replace him? Otherwise, how do we not backslide into becoming the smallish beat-up-by-the-spurs-in-the-playoffs Mavs of old?
19. Thank you Chicago Joe. My thoughts exactly. Unfortunately our weakest point has always been at center. So let's trade away our backup while our starter is hurt. Real smart. Let's trade away our up and coming point guard for an old man who's going to be useless in 2 years when that's not even our problem area. I am baffled. We may have needed a "spark" but this was not the way to go and I can't imagine why anyone would think it is. If this is what we wanted we should have kept Nash.....
Posted at 3:47PM on Feb 19th 2008 by SP
20. I find it astounding that no one is pointing this out. I assume this trade for JKidd is your backhanded way of saying that you made a colossal mistake with your loss of Steve Nash. Since getting JKidd goes against every reason you gave for letting Steve Nash go. Never thought I would see the day where Mark Cuban would admit a mistake. I know it it is not an explicit admission, but admirable none the less.
I hope in the future you will see what everyone else sees (most recently at the ALL-Star game)- that your faith in Dirk as a franchise player is misplaced. You are way to emotional and not objective enough with your bball decisions...and it shows. You can't make him something he is not with all the support in the world. You didn't win with Nash. You didn't win with Harris. You won't win with Kidd. The common weak link here is Dirk.
Posted at 3:48PM on Feb 19th 2008 by aw
1. The sports media is even crazier than in the business world. Despite lots of hungry sports bloggers nipping at their heels, I don't think the media has had to adapt they way the tech and biz press were forced to. Maybe that will change. Regardless, congrats to you, the Mavs and Jason Kidd. The stretch is going to be incredibly exciting.
Posted at 2:39PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Steve Rubel