Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Etan Thomas, Hubert Davis, Courtney Alexander, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones and Antoine Rigaudeau and cash for Raef LaFrentz, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Antawn Jamison, Chris Mills, Danny Fortson and Jiri Welsch. This is the genius of Mark Cuban. Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Hubert Davis, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones and Antoine Rigaudeau were all free agent signings that cost the Mavs nothing. Etan Thomas and Courtney Alexander were both 1st round picks that have done almost nothing. Over the course of a few years the Mavs have parlayed those players into: - Antawn Jamison, a legitimate star that can put up 25 points a night and is just entering the prime of his career - Jeri Welsch, a 1st round pick that can play PG, SG or SF and will likely flourish under Don Nelson. - Reaf LaFrentz, a pansy of a PF that so many people seem to drool over. Nothing more than a three-point specialist that can block shots. - Danny Fortson, is as good of a rebounder as there is in the league when he is on the floor. Jamison alone would have been worth that list of spares that the Mavs gave up. Here is the anatomy of the deal for those that were not paying attention. Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Hubert Davis, Etan Thomas and Courtney Alexander were traded to the Wizards for Juwan Howard, Obinna Ekezie and Calvin Booth. Ekezie and Booth both left the team after the season but Howard was traded the following year to the Nuggets for Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson, Nick Van Exel and Tariq Abdul-Wahad. Nick Van Exel, Evan Eschmeyer, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones and Antoine Rigaudeau have of course been traded to the Warriors for Antawn Jamison, Chris Mills, Danny Fortson and Jiri Welsch. Pure Genius. A bunch of crap for some real NBA talent. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the players the Mavs got back, if I or anyone else on this BBS proposed a trade of Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Etan Thomas, Hubert Davis, Courtney Alexander, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones and Antoine Rigaudeau and cash for Raef LaFrentz, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Antawn Jamison, Chris Mills, Danny Fortson and Jiri Welsch we would be slammed immediately. Imagine what Mark Cuban could have traded the 3 J’s for if he had owned the team before any of them were traded. Mark Cuban gets my vote for top owner in the NBA.
I like Cuban. Saw him once in a yellow ferrari driving next to me. Seemed like he was having fun. If anyone had 2 billion dollars, anything would be fun
lol...where was this? Yeah...Mark Cuban is a genius..that's how he became rich! And now that he has all this money...he can do whatever he wants! I wish I was like him..
He's a good gm. But he's a good gm mostly because he's willing to fork over a lot of money. I don't even see the point in listing the players he traded away. Most of them were overpriced scrubs that he signed and the teams weren't trading for the players, but rather the contracts.
He's a gambler on a roll. Props and a half to him. Don't forget he'll likely parley Mills into a 5 (maybe for the return of Booth?, probably someone better).
Of the four guys you listed, Jamison is the only one who doesn't bring a lot of baggage. Welsch? Yeah, he may be good, but he also may be Antoine Rigadeau or Mirsad Turkcan, he's done nothing yet and may never do anything. LaFrentz? Decent player, but he's got limits and a huge contract now. But that was a good trade when it happened I'll give you that. Fortson? the guy has been on the block forever, has missed large portions of the last few seasons, and was pretty much untradable due to his contract until cuban came along to take the lux tax hit. He's a negative value player as far as trades go. I don't know, I get the feeling that one day, Cuban's free spending is going to leave him with a bunch of capped out suckers. Or at least I hope.
It isnt just about the money. Anyone with that type of coin can own an NBA team, but Cuban is different. I was born in Dallas and watched the Mavs growing up. What he has done with that franchise is nothing short of amazing. Granted, he had the key pieces in place prior to buying his team (ie Dirk, Nash and Finley) but he has managed to keep them together, and keep them happy. Dallas used to be the armpit of the NBA, not anymore.
It's a combination of desire and money. He'll absorb a Tariq Abdul Wahad to get a Van Exel and LaFrentz but he won't throw money away on someone like Vin Baker. He is almost the perfect owner. He'll buy the CoCo Puffs just to get the prize inside.
<b>xiki</b> I don't know about that gambler on a roll theory. He started brodcast.com and did what no one else was smart enough to do in the internet boom. He sold it for top dollar. 4 Billion I believe. He bough the Mavs and has turned them around. He has started a new media company that is doing quite well. Doesn't sound like gambling. His real talent in Ownership is trusting the people he has hired. He trusts Don and Donnie to pick talent and he backs them up. He is willing to inquire into trades and players that most people won't and it pays off. I have also been suprised at how good he is at spin. The Dairy Queen incident and the matching funds to charities for fines imposed by the league are good examples. He got David Stern to give the Team lots of free press his first two seasons. Every admonission from the NBA front office brought more attention to his team. Turned Dallas from the pit on the NBA to a favored estination for players. T Best went to Dallas this year for less money because it is where he wanted to play. I just wish he had made his billions in Houston and grew up a Rockets fan.
It was meant as if it said, 'he is like a gambler on a roll...' He's hot and smart -- took a moribund franchise and turned it into pure gold. Yeah, me, too...he should have grown up in Rocket red...
Well, from the salary perspective we also have to remember that Cuban essentially traded away expiring contracts for bad multimillion dollar long term contracts.
the only one that comes to mind is Juwan Howard. He then parlayed that into Nick and Reaf, neither of which were overpaid at the time IMO. Reaf of course is now grossly over paid (not one of Cubans finest moves) while Nick has turned into a young star, 2nd year 1st round prospect and a potentially league leading rebounder. Not to shabby.
I see you got the point of his post. Mark Cuban traded a lot of nothings for some very good somethings. And, most of them he paid little or nothing to or for, either. Look what he has done to this franchise since he bought it. It was one of the consistently worst teams in the league and now they are probably one of the favorites to take the title. The other owners only wish they could horse trade as well as Mark Cuban. And that includes the Rox very own owner/GM.
Good post, crash5179. You can fix almost anything with money (unless you're the Red Sox), but it takes a certain amount of instinct and scouting talent to make it work. Cuban has done a *fantastic* job helping turn Dallas around. Remember, five years ago, this franchise was disgusting.
Here's what I don't get: Why does everybody outside his team hate him? (Except for us here, of course)
Yeah, we resent people with power and money. Add success and a "My way or the highway" attitude, and you've gotta guy who people just don't like. But you *know* he'd go to the mat for any Maverick. He loves that team. And if they like him, rock on.
I'm not so sure, i think Cuban is getting more credit here than he deserves. When he bought the team, the core was already there. I say the development of young players is what got them to where they are. No one really expected Nash to be as good as he became, and no one really expected much from Dirk either. Don Nelson probably deserves a lot of credit for the development of these players. True, he has made many good additions, but i think he is just really good at taking advantage of the worst franchises in the league. The nuggets deal and warriors deal leave me scratching my head, frankly. Overpaying for players does not make you a great owner to me. Raef got 70 mill, finley got 100 mill, hell even bradley got like 30 mill. but his willingness to take on undesirable contracts in order to get other good players is the major difference between him and the other owners.
