mavsman

I heard Mark Cuban on the radio yesterday with Randy Galloway. He said "No Way" when Galloway asked him if they would consider a trade before the deadline.

Cuban says he wants this team to grow together and he feels like we have all the pieces we need to be successful. He said what this team needs now is time together to grow and he intends on giving them that time.

From the way he sounded even in the off season nothing big will happen. Other than dealing with the people with expiring contracts ( Henderson, Armstrong ) I guess the Mavs will stay put and try to build some real continuity by just letting them all get real used to playing together.

I still think that backup PF (Henderson) is the one area we have to resolve. If we could resign Hendu at 2-3 mil per in the off-season than I guess that is all we will do.

Let Armstrong walk. We should have a healthy Daniels back and we will have a year older Harris.

Mbenga and Podkolzine will continue to try and improve thier games as they watch from the sidelines. We should have a very good summer team with Harris, Mbenga, Podkolzine and I could even see Daniels playing in the summer again if he does not get back to 100% this year. He may need Summer league to get back into playing shape. I hope that is not the case as I would really like to see him back after the All-Star break. I like having that extra guy in the rotation when somebody is having a bad day.

Kekai

Thats good. I am glad they aren't gonna do any big trades. This team seems to do awesome together and there is no reason to trade anybody.

Tersk

This is great news, hopefully he'll keep this team over the summer aswell.

I love this team, we have a great mix of offense and defense. The only real (minor) place we could get better in, is a backup PF/C

Gambino

Great News.

Ragsy

I didn't take this to mean we wouldn't trade at all. I think we will make a deal at the deadline with a team trying to clear some cap room for a better backup PF. We have 10.5M in the expiring contracts of Alan Henderson and Darrell Armstrong. Armstrong isn't getting any minutes now with Terry and Harris both playing better and Alan Henderson's contribution would be replaced.

Ragsy

I didn't take this to mean we wouldn't trade at all. I think we will make a deal at the deadline with a team trying to clear some cap room for a better backup PF. We have 10.5M in the expiring contracts of Alan Henderson and Darrell Armstrong. Armstrong isn't getting any minutes now with Terry and Harris both playing better and Alan Henderson's contribution would be replaced.

mff4l

trade hendersen for who? then we'd have no backup pf unless we got a pf in return

Dragnsmke1

I like Henderson...good rebounder and solid D...a good Vet...

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All Or Nothing

Ragsy

Right, we need to get a PF in return.

Henderson is in the last year of his deal. Both he and Armstrong combined are a valuable commodity for a team trying to clear cap space.

Since the Mavs are never going to be under the cap we need to trade players in the last year of their contracts to keep our depth.

Dragnsmke1

Circle Feb. 24 on your calendar. That's the NBA trading deadline.

It will pass without the Mavericks making a major deal.

Normally, this is the point of the season when I'd pontificate about what the Mavericks lack and speculate how owner Mark Cuban will rectify those shortcomings. But this team exceeded Cuban's expectations in the first half of the season. He's intrigued by what lies ahead.

Intrigued enough to keep it together.

"There's no question about it," Cuban said. "We've got the young guns. We've got Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, who are still real young. We've got veteran leadership with Mike [Finley] and Stack [Jerry Stackhouse]. We've got a power center.

"We've got all the basics. Now, it just takes some time to play together."

It's one thing to make that statement. It's another to follow through. Paris Hilton will pass up a photo op before Cuban turns up his nose to a trade.

Does he really intend to give this team time to develop?

"Absolutely," Cuban said. "I said the same thing after the Raef [LaFrentz] and Nick [Van Exel] trade. I wanted to give it time. That's exactly what we did.

"That's the same with this team, barring injury."

That team advanced to the Western Conference finals less than two years ago.

This team has the potential to be better. It's certainly more complete.

It starts with Nowitzki. He must be included in any serious discussion about the league's Most Valuable Player award.

Now that point guard Jason Terry is beginning to push the ball, the Mavericks are getting the fast-break points that were scarce to start the season. The defense continues to improve.

Criticism of center Erick Dampier overlooks the subtle, yet significant ways in which he has made the Mavericks better. Josh Howard has been the defensive presence and high-energy glue that has helped pull all this together.

It's too early to declare that this team is special. But it can be if given time to jell.

"Obviously, that's your goal," Nowitzki said. "A championship team needs time to develop. It takes time to learn each other.

"I think we have a good team. I think we're fine. I think Damp [bruised knee] has to get healthy again. The way he's running, he's not looking good. He's not moving the way we want him to move.

"Once he's healthy, I think we have all the intangibles we need."

Last season's team had more offensive talent, and we all know how that turned out. The Big Three is no more. The Mavericks revolve around Nowitzki's brilliance and expect everyone else to accept a supporting role.

"It's funny," Cuban said. "Last year, people talked about the numbers people put up. This year, we talk about the numbers guys don't put up.

"We have role players who don't need to put up numbers, players who can rebound and don't need shots. In Damp's case, he's in a critical spot. In Josh's case, the same thing.

"Those were the things we needed last year and didn't get enough of. This year, we've gotten it."

Five players on the Mavericks' roster are in their first or second season. Howard is the only one making a major contribution right now. But we've seen flashes of what Marquis Daniels can do when healthy. Rookie Devin Harris is going to be a very, very good player. Pavel Podkolzin and D.J. Mbenga are two big players with an upside.

The Mavericks have built a bridge to the future without sacrificing the present. Cuban believes the nucleus of this team is in place for years to come.

And yes, he did say years. Not months.

"I think that it will be good to keep us together as long as we can, as long as our movement is in a positive direction," Finley said. "From a player standpoint, that will be beneficial for us.

"If the team stays as is, I think we have a chance to become a powerhouse in this league."

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All Or Nothing

mavsman

Yep, Cuban said basically the same thing a week ago on the radio as he did in the above article.

At this point I would be surprised to see even a minor trade involving Armstrong or Henderson.

So will this team continue to be a solid 55 win team that makes it to the 2nd or 3rd round but can't get over the hump as we or the Kings have been for the last 5 years?

Is this team in it's current makeup good enough to hoist the trophy?

Personally I think with all guys healthy we can beat anyone. The Spurs would be very difficult and maybe with a few bounces our way we could get by them. Kings, Suns, Sonics are all very good but I believe that we could be them in a 7 game series.

The East has some good teams but again nobody that I would fear as unbeatable for this Mavs team.