Mark Cuban is getting personal. In a 3,000-word blog, the Dallas Mavericks owner detailed the team's offseason moves and his thought process throughout each decision. The Mavericks have done an overhaul of the team's 2011 championship roster and have been going through a slight rebuilding phase that will likely lead to a successful future. Cuban went into detail about the attempt to get Dwight Howard and the decision to release Tyson Chandler.
The Mavericks are far from the team that won the NBA championship back in 2011. Cuban notes that there were plenty of tough decisions made after that season leading into the lockout. The first was not re-signing defensive star Changler, a decision mainly due to the collective bargaining agreement. He could not justify holding on to veteran players during a compressed seasons.
"Would i do it the same way again?" Cuban wrote. "In a heartbeat. Why? Because in the NBA, like in the non-sports business world you have to take chances in order to be rewarded. You have to be smart and you have to be more than a little lucky."
Cuban goes on to admit the team was very hopeful on landing free agent Dwight Howard or Chris Paul. They had done their best to save plenty of cap space to offer big contracts, but in the end the Mavericks missed out on both players. Instead, they signed a slew of cheaper free agents including Jose Calderon, Monta Ellis, Samuel Dalember, DeJuan Blair and Devin Harris. Cuban thinks in the end, everything worked out for the best.
"We got players that we think fit our culture," Cuban wrote. "That have a skill set that will allow us to be successful , that complement each other, fit well with [coach Rick Carlisle's] system and can be a good team.
The Mavericks have not had the best record the past two seasons. Since winning the championship, they have yet to win a playoff game, breaking an 11-year 50-game win streak after the lockout season. The missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2000 after going 41-41. They dumped a roster filled with one-year contracts and have re-built with a fairly decent team. Cuban's confidence is through the roof with this team, remaining positive that a championship will come again.
"If we stay healthy, I think we can have a good team," Cuban wrote. "How good ? I don't make predictions. I do believe that by having a core of players that we can grow and develop with, and cap room in the upcoming season and what we feel is the ability to develop and improve the performance of our players, we are in a good position for this year and for the future.
