Dallas Basketball

Mavs Almost Made 2 'Really Big' Trades Before NBA Deadline, Says Cuban

Mark Cuban Says His Dallas Mavericks Almost Added "Two Really Big Pieces" At The NBA Trade Deadline
Mike Fisher|
Mavs Almost Made 2 'Really Big' Trades Before NBA Deadline, Says Cuban
Mavs Almost Made 2 'Really Big' Trades Before NBA Deadline, Says Cuban

DALLAS - The critic can argue that "an almost-trade'' counts for nothing. But the Dallas Mavericks fans who finds compelling the intricacies of the NBA Trade Deadline will be interested to know about a pair of Mavs "almosts.''

"We tried,'' Mavs owner Mark Cuban told 105.3 The Fan's "Shan & RJ'' in his post-NBA Trade Deadline review. "We came close on a couple of deals.''

Deals that were "big''?, asked co-host Shan Shariff.

"Two really big pieces,'' Cuban answered, noting what on the table in a pair of "three-team deals.''

"They were both three-team deals,'' he said. "In one case, it was a trade-and-extend, (but) we couldn't get the player to agree on terms. In the other case, one of the teams decided they didn't want to trade a key guy to make it happen.''

That latter concept sounds like the idea we wrote about here, Dallas inserting itself into a swap that would've landed long-coveted Danny Green from the Los Angeles Lakers. (Another version of that deal did go down, with no Mavs/Green involvement.) The trade-and-extend concept? The Mavs would be wise to keep a lid on that, as it would reveal an interest in a player who figures to come available this summer. ... maybe a player like Luka Doncic pal Bogdan Bogdanovic, who recently turned down a Kings extension offer. Or maybe a player like OKC’s Danilo Gallinari, a Miami trade-seeker that reportedly wasn’t able to work out an extension with him.

In the end, as Cuban told DallasBasketball.com's "Mavs Step Back'' Podcast, the Mavs were content to stand pat and let their "great core'' - featuring Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis - grow together.

"We can't sneak up on anybody,'' he said of a Dallas team that has surprised this year. "We're looked at as a good team. We still haven't played our best basketball. But it's not how you start, it's how you finish. The (last quarter of) games, if we can get a good run going toward the playoffs, everybody on this team believes it can beat anybody.''

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NBA and the Dallas Mavericks since 1990. He has for more than 20 years served as the overseer of DallasBasketball.com, the granddaddy of Mavs news websites.

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