Hypocritical Reporters

Dirk made comments a couple of days ago how Mark Cuban should try to control himself during the game. During Pardon the Interruption, they showed clips of Cuban reacting to bogus calls, and at one point was spinning(!) onto the court. Quickly, the Mavs' bench grabbed Cuban and dragged him back to his seat.

Somehow, Dan LeBatard doesn't see how Cuban hurts the Mavs. Or he just ignores it. He is, in fact, a writer from Miami.

David Stern even admitted that Cuban hurts the Mavs. At least he can acknowledge it.

Either way, I only see one possible explanation for this series of event.

Dirk is trying to wrestle away the status of being "the face of the Mavs" from Mark Cuban.

Let's look at this step by step. First, Dirk calls his contract extension a "no-brainer," but decides to wait a while before signing it. Then he calls out Cuban to act with more self-control. And next on his list is to play with the German national team.

He's telling Cuban, "I'll sign it, but only when I want to." And, "You need to take a backseat." Dirk is asserting his power in the organization further than any player ever has before. He is giving orders to the owner.

This is going to put more pressure on Dirk to be even better. Given that he improves over every off-season, we should expect a better Dirk. He always adds something new to his game. And, as ESPN quoted from an interview with his trainer, Geschwindner, "When [Dirk's] training is complete, he will be able to play all five positions, on offense and defense." (I might be wrong on the wording.)

As far as the rest of the Mavs go, DJ Mbenga was signed to a new contract. Keith Van Horn is out of here. Adrian Griffin is probably done. And the first thing accomplished was signing Terry to a new deal.

We were chasing Speedy Claxton and Mike James. Claxton has agreed to terms with the Hawks and Mike James is still undecided. James is hearing offers from Houston as well. From what I hear, Drew Gooden is on the block via a sign and trade. Gooden is a restricted free agent who made near $4 million last year.

Marquis Daniels will most likely be traded before the season starts. If the Mavs want to get new talent through free agency, they will use him in a sign and trade. If it's Mike James, I'm fine with that. However, I would not mind seeing a deal with Cleveland for Gooden. This would give us a legit backup power forward.

While I am fascinated by the project center Podkolzine, I also think we should test the market with him. We need to focus on the next 3 years, and he is not part of that plan.

As for the rest of the NBA, I'm curious to know why LeBron hasn't agreed to his new deal yet. We know it's been offered, but we haven't heard about a verbal agreement. Carmelo already said yes to Denver. Is something going on in Cleveland?

Yes, I know it's 6AM. Bedtime.