Mark Cuban wants to bring back same team next season if they win championship, chances of which are negligible
For Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, nothing succeeds better than success. He dismantled the Dallas Mavericks roster the summer after they won the 2010-2011 NBA championship, parting ways with Tyson Chandler and a number of other players. At that time, his plan was to keep cap space to tackle the 2012 free agency class aggressively and go after Deron Williams in particular. After that plan failed in the offseason when Williams re-signed with the Brooklyn Nets, Cuban decided to build up his roster on players with one year contracts, so that he could still hold on to ample cap space to once again pursue free agents next summer. However, having learnt his lesson, Cuban recently said that if his current team wins the NBA championship next season, they will all be coming back for the 2013-2014 season.
“I’ll tell you exactly what I told them, the best situation is everybody kills it, and they’re all back. Then, I don’t have to deal with all the idiot questions over the summer and we’ve got a great team to build on. That’s what I want,” said Cuban before the Mavericks Wednesday night preseason game against the Phoenix Suns, as reported by the Star Telegram.
Although Cuban may be right in his own way about bringing back a championship team for another season, the Mavericks current roster does not have all the pieces to contend for an NBA title. In fact, with all the competition in the Western Conference this season, the Mavericks will have to work really hard to clinch a playoff spot. Teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers are all looking good next season, which means the battle for the final three spots in the Western Conference is going to be a tough one.
Cuban did whatever he could after Williams decided to sign with the Nets in terms of player acquisition. By that time, most of the front running free agents had already been picked up, and Dwight Howard was in no mood of going to the Dallas Mavericks. Hence, Cuban smartly picked up some good role players on one year contracts, which included O.J. Mayo and Elton Brand, who was amnestied by the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason.
The Mavericks will once again be heavily reliant on Dirk Nowitzki, who is now reaching the twilight of an illustrious career. Nowitzki is also facing injury troubles, as he had some swelling on his knee at the start of last season, and the injury came up again a few days ago, forcing him to sit out preseason games and practices. The Mavericks can hope and pray that Nowitzki returns quickly, and is able to have the sort of season he had in 2010-2011, otherwise the Mavericks are going to have a hard time staying competitive in the Western Conference next season.
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