Mavs owner Mark Cuban took a sarcastic tone last month when discussing Derek Fisher's decision to sign with the Thunder a few months after securing his release from Dallas earlier this season, ostensibly so the veteran point guard could spend more time with his family. Last night, Cuban took a more direct swipe at Fisher, insinuating that he tried to deceive the Mavericks, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas chronicles.
"My personality is to try to help somebody, particularly somebody that I thought one thing about, even if it didn't turn out to be that way," the owner said. "So I was just trying to be nice and help. Usually when you help somebody, you expect at least some semblance of loyalty back. When you don't get it, then it's more disappointing. With his history, I shouldn't have been surprised what happened."
Fisher's exit from Dallas was the third time in his career that he's negotiated a premature end to one of his contracts, as MacMahon and Jeff Caplan of NBA.com point out. There's more news today on the Mavericks, as well as a couple of their Southwest Division rivals, and we'll round it up here:
- Caplan looks at the revolving door in the Mavs' backcourt this season, a group that lost another member last night when Rodrigue Beaubois broke his left hand, likely knocking him out for the season (Sulia link).
- David Aldridge's Morning Tip column at NBA.com has a heavy Southwest feel this week. Aldridge examines the state of the Spurs, chronicles the journey of Mavs' 10-day signee Chris Wright, who's dealing with multiple sclerosis, and catches up with No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis for a Q&A.
- Davis spoke about leading Rookie of the Year candidate Damian Lillard in the interview with Aldridge, and Hornets coach Monty Williams believes it's helped Davis' development to have Lillard steal some of the spotlight this year, notes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune.