Dallas Mavericks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Mark Cuban Shares Proposal For Return To Play

May 26th, 2020 at 3:36pm CST by Luke Adams

As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski detailed earlier today, the format for the NBA’s potential return to play this summer is a topic of much debate within the league right now. Teams at the top of the standings will have different motivations than bottom-feeding clubs or those on the fringes of playoff contention, leading to disagreement over which format would make the most sense for the league as a whole.

On Monday, we discussed the possibility of the NBA re-seeding playoff teams, regardless of conference, for its 2020 playoffs. Earlier today, we explored the idea of what a World Cup-style play-in pool would look like in place of the usual first round. Now, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has shared his own proposal with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

Cuban would like to see all 30 teams return to action and play approximately five to seven regular season games, as MacMahon relays. Once those games were completed, these steps would follow:

The top 10 teams from each conference would make the playoffs.
Those teams would be re-seeded from 1 through 20 based on regular season record.
The Nos. 17 and 20 teams and the Nos. 18 and 19 teams would face one another in a pair of single-elimination or best-of-three matchups.
The winners of those matchups would advance to face the Nos. 15 and 16 teams for the final two spots in the playoff bracket.
The postseason would proceed with its usual best-of-seven format from there, using 1-16 seeding rather than an East/West divide.

Cuban pointed out that such a format would give every team except the Warriors and Timberwolves a chance to qualify for at least the play-in tournament. Assuming safety and scheduling concerns didn’t get in the way, bringing every team back and playing several regular season games would also help out the league financially, allowing a number of clubs to fulfill their local TV deals, tweets MacMahon.

Cuban, who referred to his proposal as “fair” and “entertaining,” expressed concern about the play-in pool format that has been discussed by the NBA, according to MacMahon. The Mavericks owner argued that the group-stage concept “throws away the value of the whole season.”

Of course, it’s worth noting that Cuban’s proposal would benefit the Mavs. They currently hold the NBA’s 13th-best record and – given their current cushion – would have no chance of slipping to 15th and being part of his proposed play-in tournament. If the NBA used another form of play-in tournament, putting the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference up for grabs without playing any regular season games first, Dallas would be at risk of losing the No. 7 spot in the West.

Rick Carlisle Making Sure Team Stays Ready

May 24th, 2020 at 6:05pm CST by JD Shaw

Despite having multiple opportunities to join the Warriors and play with his brother to this point, Mavericks guard Seth Curry has decided he’d rather compete against Stephen Curry and has turned down those chances, as he explained on Uninterrupted’s “Go Off” with Austin Rivers.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is making sure his players stay ready ahead of the NBA’s decision on whether to resume, as The Athletic’s David Aldridge writes. Dallas has yet to open its practice facility, with Mavericks players relying on virtual instructions, at-home workouts, yoga sessions and more since the league went on hiatus. “I don’t have any doubt that the players are very motivated to play, but (they’re) also, very smart guys, and they understand, I think, that we’re in a very serious part of our history, and things need to be handled the right way,” Carlisle said.

Cuban Praises THJ

May 21st, 2020 at 8:36pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban is excited about how Tim Hardaway Jr. has fit with the squad during his first year in Dallas, according to an interview with WFAN recounted by Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Quickest release in the NBA,” Cuban raved. “Probably one of the top three catch-and-shoot players in all of the NBA now.” This season, the 28-year-old shooting guard has averaged 15.8 PPG, 3.1 PG, and 2.0 APG on 43.7% shooting from the field. He has converted 40.7% of his 7.2 three-point attempts per game.

Silver Wants Best-Of-Seven Playoff Series If Season Resumes

May 21st, 2020 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

One of the many topics discussed by the NBA in the 10 weeks since COVID-19 shut down the 2019/20 season is the possibility of adjusting the playoff format if the season resumes. Reducing the number of games per series or even shifting to more of a tournament-style postseason could significantly cut down on the amount of time players and teams would have to remain in a “bubble” location to complete the season.

However, appearing on ESPN’s Get Up this morning (video link), Adrian Wojnarowski stressed that commissioner NBA Adam Silver continues to prioritize a best-of-seven format for playoff series, assuming the season can resume.

“Adam Silver wants to have seven-game series in the playoffs,” Wojnarowski told Mike Greenberg. “He doesn’t want to have shortened series early on. He wants to try to legitimize the champion as much as he can.”

While it seems inevitable that some NBA fans and observers will attach an asterisk to whatever team wins the 2019/20 title, maintaining that best-of-seven format would at least ensure that this year’s winner doesn’t make it through the playoffs under entirely different circumstances than usual.

Of course, the end of the season – again, assuming it can be completed – will still be very atypical. As Wojnarowski noted on Get Up and during a Wednesday appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter (video link), the NBA still hopes to bring back all 30 teams – or as close to 30 as possible – this summer, and may need to provide some sort of incentive to convince those lottery-bound teams to return.

One of the biggest ongoing conversations around the league is how many clubs will be invited to the NBA’s “bubble,” how many will have an opportunity to make the playoffs, and what a potential play-in tournament for the final postseason spot or two could look like.

As Woj pointed out during both of his TV appearances, the league will have to walk a fine line as it attempts to make things fair for teams like the Mavericks and Grizzlies, who comfortably hold the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds, while potentially incentivizing a return for current lottery teams by putting those playoff spots up for grabs.

Mark Cuban Talks Mavs, Practice Facility, 2019/20 Season

May 12th, 2020 at 10:36am CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said last week that his team will proceed with caution when it comes to reopening its practice facility. Speaking this week to Tim Cato of The Athletic, Cuban provided a few additional details on his stance, reiterating that he doesn’t feel the need to reopen the club’s facility until frequent coronavirus testing is possible.

“The way the White House protects the president and vice president is the way that I want to protect our players and employees, you know?” Cuban said. “We’ll just try to just copy what they do as a means of knowing when the time is right. As of now, for all we know, for all we’ve been informed, anyways, they’re testing everybody. And they test their top people on a daily basis. And so they have access to the best science, the best information, and so it just makes sense to me that we just copy them.”

Noting that the NBA is limiting players to one-hour workouts at practice facilities, with limited resources available in those sessions, Cuban suggested that opening up the Mavericks’ facility wouldn’t hugely benefit his own players, who all have access to hoops. For that reason, Cuban also doesn’t believe that teams opening their facilities now will have a major leg up over the Mavs.

“I don’t think it matters because the competitive advantage of one guy on one basket for one hour at a time isn’t all that significant,” Cuban told Cato.

Here’s more from the Mavs owner:

Cuban isn’t worried about the possibility of lottery-bound teams resisting participation in regular-season games this summer, if and when the season resumes, as he tells Cato. “Guys realize there’s something bigger at stake,” he said. “And that’s the best way to put it. NBA players are smart. They recognize there’s something bigger at stake than, you know, the aggravation of playing five, six, seven, whatever-it-may-be more regular-season games even if they’re completely out of the playoffs.”
Cuban pointed to the most recent episodes of The Last Dance when he explained one reason why the NBA wants to play regular season games rather than jumping right into the playoffs if the season resumes. “If you watched Sunday, when Michael Jordan came back?” Cuban said, referring to Jordan’s 1995 return to basketball. “And we’re talking Michael Jordan, right, in his prime. And he talked about how he didn’t have his legs for the playoffs.”
The Mavericks won’t necessarily have to make major changes to their roster in order to become a championship contender, in Cuban’s view. Asked if he could picture eight or 10 players from the current roster being part of a title-contending Mavs squad a few years from now, he replied, “Yeah, absolutely. I expect our team to grow.”
As for what he’ll remember about the pre-pandemic 2019/20 season, Cuban singled out Luka Doncic‘s growth, Kristaps Porzingis‘ return, and the “great progress” that the Mavs made. “We went from being a team that, you know, was out of contention for everything to being a team that, if we’re healthy, can potentially compete,” Cuban said.

Doncic Returned To Slovenia During Hiatus

May 8th, 2020 at 8:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic flew home to Slovenia on a private jet shortly after the NBA suspended the season, Shelburne reveals in a separate story. Doncic will have to go into quarantine once he returns to the U.S., though domestic players who flew out of state during the shutdown will also have to quarantine.

Brunson Talks Rehab; Mavs Not Reopening Facilities Yet

May 7th, 2020 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is holding off reopening the team’s practice facility for the time being, suggesting to Brian Dameris and Mark Followill on their 77 Minutes in Heaven podcast that an inability to test players and staffers for COVID-19 is a roadblock (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN). “I just don’t think the risk is worth the reward,” Cuban said, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that other teams share the Mavs’ concerns about not being able to test asymptomatic players entering their gyms.

Appearing recently on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson said his rehab from a shoulder injury is “definitely going well,” but that he’s still a ways off from being able to suit up and play. “As much as I would want to, as much as I would try my hardest to force them to let me play (if the season resumes in June), I don’t think it would be a possibility,” Brunson said, per The Dallas Morning News.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is holding off reopening the team’s practice facility for the time being, suggesting to Brian Dameris and Mark Followill on their 77 Minutes in Heaven podcast that an inability to test players and staffers for COVID-19 is a roadblock (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN). “I just don’t think the risk is worth the reward,” Cuban said, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that other teams share the Mavs’ concerns about not being able to test asymptomatic players entering their gyms.

Powell In Great Shape Due To Home Workouts

May 1st, 2020 at 8:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks big man Dwight Powell was well prepared to stay in shape during the suspension of play, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. After rupturing his right Achilles tendon in January, Powell was unable to drive to the Mavericks practice facility, so he invested in fitness equipment. One of those machines, a Concept 2 Skier, mimics the upper body motion of cross-country skiing while standing still. “Ten seconds on that at full bore will get you up to max heart rate,” Powell said. “I’m a push-up master and mixing in that cardio, so I’m actually in great shape, considering I’m not able to run right now.”

Spurs, Mavs Interested In Facundo Campazzo

April 30th, 2020 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs and Mavericks are among the NBA teams with interest in Real Madrid guard Facundo Campazzo, according to a report from Croatian outlet Crosarka (hat tip to Jeff Garcia of Spurs Zone). Campazzo, who is averaging 9.9 PPG and 7.1 APG in 28 EuroLeague games this season, spoke back in 2016 about wanting to play in the NBA, but said about a year ago that he’s no longer “obsessed” with that idea.

2020, 2021 FA Periods Will Be Crucial For Mavs

April 27th, 2020 at 12:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the Mavericks reentered the playoff picture this season, they’re not yet a legit title contender. Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News examines how the club might try to ascend to that level during the 2020 and 2021 free agency periods.