If only Mark Cuban could pull the trigger on drastic changes to the Dallas Mavericks today while the bitter disappointment of another early playoff exit is fresh on his frayed nerves. The Mavs were a number two seed, built to win now and well, they didn't.
The Mavs have a lot of high-priced assets and breaking up this bunch may be Cuban's summer project. If he could start today, there would probably be a fire sale, but still, there will likely be some major moves which ripples through the league. The Mavs can carve out cap space to put LeBron James in play or any of the big-name free agents.
One thing I don't expect to see is Dirk Nowitzki passing on his $21.5 million player option. Hasn't even been 12 hours since the Mavs were sent home and I've already read and heard radio and TV voices mention that Dirk may just want to leave and pass up the option. Do you think Dirk will get $21.5 million from another team next year, especially in the current NBA economic climate? Me neither. Let's get real, if Dirk goes, it will require a sign and trade.
The beauty for the Pacersis that this is just one example of how things can change and open up opportunities elsewhere. Maybe the Pacers don't get in directly on the Mavs blowout roster sale, but they might be able to work with another team trying to deal with the Mavs.The more chaos and unsettled rosters the better this summer for the Pacers.
After the jump, more links of interest.
2010 NBA Draft To Feature 103 Early Entry Candidates, Plenty Of Tears
The early entry list for the NBA draft keeps growing as players prepare to begin working out for teams. Should be interesting to see how the list shrinks by May 8th when players must decide whether or not to stay in the draft.
Suns D Up, Surge to Victory Over the Blazers, 99-90. BRING ON THE SPURS!
The Phoenix Suns took care of business on the road by taking out the Blazers.
Boston’s answer for LeBron: Marquis Daniels
Quisy only played sparingly in one game for the Celticsin the first round, but may be called on for more action against the Cavs. This is the type of situation where Quisy usually excels, coming out of nowhere without minimal expectations. Still, making a major impact on LeBron James is a bit much to ask.
Tracing the history of the NBA's silhouette logo (psst: It's Jerry West)
Cool story confirming what we all know about the creation of the NBA's logo.
Tony Dungy speaks at Tom Brady Awards?
Not NBA related, but I found this kind of funny even if Thomas A. Brady isn't the Patriots QB. I think his name is Thomas F. Brady.