Yeah, hard to believe Cuban didn't know anything. Especially given someone was arrested at work, unable to accompany the team to Canada, etc.

I highly doubt that Cuban was completely oblivious to all that was going on, but then again, maybe he was. I do like the fact though that he is participating in the sensitivity training with his own employees. I hope he gets it cleaned up real quick.

They do apparently say that he's never around the actual offices, so if that's really true, his not knowing much or the extent is at least plausible. I just don't buy "i had no idea any of this was happening" given so much of it seems like it was fairly overt.

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Sounds like it centers around 3 people with the team- the team president (who "quit" in 2015), the Mavs.com reporter Earl K Sneed and the director of HR. The other two guys were fired yesterday

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If that were true, there would be no real need for an investigation or any real changes as the problem individuals are all gone. Had that been the entirety of the problem (and maybe it indeed was) Cuban could have come out and said something like, "When I realized there was a problem a few years ago, we got rid of the President; now that it has been learned of other, similar issues, I've taken action on those individuals..."

Since he didn't make that statement, it seems to me that (one or more possibilities; not all consistent):

-- he has no idea what has been going on and is at least smart enough not to lie right now when he doesn't know what he can hide and what he can't;
-- he has absolutely no involvement with the front office and hasn't for years in spite of assertions to the contrary;
-- he knew exactly what was going on and is offering those named as sacrificial lambs in hopes that this will all blow over;
-- he is counting on his media popularity and Trump bashing resume to pull him through;

Make no mistake: this is all a PR issue now to Cuban. If he can survive the storm and keep everything the same, he will. Although I'm pretty much out on the NBA (and pro sports in general), I'd love for this to be what forces Cuban to sell the Mavs.

Agnzona said:

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In the NBA being a 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs or just out at 9 or 10 can doom you to a decade or longer of futility. If tanking is bad what's the fix to help those teams? Keep in mind in the draft there may be 10 decent players in any given year. If taking works at least you rotate out the bad teams.

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I'm not for completely removing the lottery, I'm just for slightly modifying the way the odds are calculated.
When the bad Mavs play the bad Grizzlies or bad Hawks or bad Kings, there should be an incentive to win, and to build the team to win. I'm not for taking away the lottery, but right now teams plan the whole season to lose or release/trade players to in order to be as bad as possible.

The Mavs should be rewarded for pursuing the playoffs and getting 9th or 10th in the West, not penalized.
Or even in the bad year, like this year, fans could actually go to the Mavs-Kings game and cheer the team on to win because it helps them for next year, not hurt them.

Not a bad idea but the 9/10 seeds will end up getting the top picks. Of course, if the tanking teams didn't trade/drop everyone then maybe they'd have somewhat of a chance against the 9/10 seeds.

The lottery has done nothing to improve competition, so why have it?

Why not just say that no team can pick in the top 3 two years in a row?

91AggieLawyer said:

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Quote:

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Sounds like it centers around 3 people with the team- the team president (who "quit" in 2015), the Mavs.com reporter Earl K Sneed and the director of HR. The other two guys were fired yesterday

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If that were true, there would be no real need for an investigation or any real changes as the problem individuals are all gone.

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So Penn State shouldn't have investigated their issues either since Sandusky had been gone for multiple years?

So, are either of these two situations likely to happen-

- Cuban is forced to sell the team
- Mavs lose their draft pick this year

True Anomaly said:

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So, are either of these two situations likely to happen-

- Cuban is forced to sell the team
- Mavs lose their draft pick this year

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No and No

True Anomaly said:

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So, are either of these two situations likely to happen-

- Cuban is forced to sell the team
- Mavs lose their draft pick this year

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Draft pick? I don't think so. The issues aren't really related to basketball operations (coaches, players, owner cheating, etc...).

Sell the team? Possibly. But that depends on what the investigation finds. If it shows that Cuban was trying to cover up this behavior, it could be really bad for him. If it shows that he was just ignorant (what he claims) then he will just be slapped with another fine.

I still can't believe he openly admitted to tanking in the media. That was just stupid, another 600K fine. What a bad week for Cuban.

The tanking comments guaranteed that the NBA will rig the lottery to where the Mavs don't get the first pick. The harrassment stuff double guaranteed it.

Worst week for Cuban since the 2006 NBA Finals.

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So Penn State shouldn't have investigated their issues either since Sandusky had been gone for multiple years?

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Sandusky was an assistant football coach at Penn State. He reported to a head coach, who reported to an AD, who reported to a school president and/or someone a level lower or higher. That was while he was actually on staff, which he wasn't after the 1999 season. He wasn't GONE; he continued to come on campus -- I think even having an office -- and so there were MANY unanswered questions when the story broke, including:

-- who let him on campus after he was no longer a coach
-- who knew what he was doing
-- who was actively running interference
-- where there any actions not taken that the law required to be taken

Probably a few dozen more. But the situations aren't similar. You had state agency leadership turning a blind eye to child rape. There were criminal and civil legal issues all over the place at PSU that no one knew about.

In this case, if there were only 2 individuals involved, both of whom reported to Cuban (or one to the President who reported to Cuban), there isn't any question about who "allowed" them to stay in their jobs. The only questions that need answers are ones that Cuban can answer himself. Plus, in the Mavericks case you don't have underlying criminal behavior -- or at least, none that has been reported to the police. You don't have alleged minor victims or a duty on someone's part here to report.

My point wasn't that there shouldn't be an investigation; it was that, as alleged, if the only 2 individuals involved have already been fired, then none is needed other than Cuban answering questions for his own political survival.

TheMasterplan said:

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Worst week for Cuban since the 2006 NBA Finals.

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Just got worse

Just read the SI article. Wow, that's not good on the organization and Cuban.

Dang, another close one against OKC last night. I have to admit: I was following on my phone, and when the clock hit 0:00 in the 4th, it showed us down by 2, so I thought it was over. Didn't realize it went to OT.

Full tank ahead!

NoahAg said:

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Dang, another close one against OKC last night. I have to admit: I was following on my phone, and when the clock hit 0:00 in the 4th, it showed us down by 2, so I thought it was over. Didn't realize it went to OT.

Full tank ahead!

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Great, fun, exciting game. Glad DSJ was the one who took the final shot just to get some clutch experience. Even better that we lost, although it's still hard to be at a game like that and not want them to win because the crowd still gets really into it, and it's infectious

Dwight Powell seems to have finally found his role- he's kinda picked up where Brandan Wright left off. It's nice that we are still using him on a regular basis as the secondary prize from the Rondo trade

Oh, and Nerlens was back? I was starting to forget that he, Curry, and Finney-Smith were on the roster.

Wouldn't it be something if the Mavs went through all this crap to get the number one pick and Silva takes it away from them.

gomerschlep said:

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Wouldn't it be something if the Mavs went through all this crap to get the number one pick and Silva takes it away from them.

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You would just be punishing fans and players for that. I don't think the NBA would do that.

3/5 Tank Check -

New York Knicks - 24 Wins
Chicago Bulls
Orlando Magic
Sacramento Kings
Brooklyn Nets
Atlanta Hawks
Dallas Mavericks - 19 Wins
Phoenix Suns
Memphis Grizzlies - 18 Wins

Looks like the Grizzlies are the clear favorites for #1. I clicked on a recent box score of theirs and that looks like a G-League roster. A true masterclass in tanking, they have now lost 13 in a row.

If the Mavs play .250 ball over the final 18 games then they will finish with between 23 and 24 wins. The bad news is they play 6 times versus fellow tanking teams. I think 23 wins is very likely a top 5 pick, so that only allows for 4 more wins. If they can go 22 wins or under then they are very likely in the top 3.

The Mavs could easily finish between picks 2 through 8 at this point, I didn't realize tanking was so difficult.

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I didn't realize tanking was so difficult.

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Well, there are about 27 teams who would be better off tanking. In other words, it's much harder to finish with the worst record than with the best record.

This won't help tanking at all, especially when it was Cuban himself that talked about tanking which lead to this memo.

So....they're definitely not gonna be the most successful team with tanking

Silver is such a tool. If you don't want tanking, don't incentivize teams to tank.

I don't follow college ball much, except for the Aggies. Will there be much difference in picking 1st or say 5th/6th? Is there a clear cut #1 we should go after?

NoahAg said:

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Silver is such a tool. If you don't want tanking, don't incentivize teams to tank.

I don't follow college ball much, except for the Aggies. Will there be much difference in picking 1st or say 5th/6th? Is there a clear cut #1 we should go after?

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Top 4-5 are all bigs, but I think Ayton (Arizona) and Bagley (Duke) are clearly the top two. I'd be thrilled to get either.

Ayton has that body type where he could be the next Greg Oden or the next Patrick Ewing. Human beings aren't supposed to be built like that. Bagley has the more "sure thing" body type.

I know, very subjective, but there have just been too many Yao Ming, Sam Bowie, Bill Walton, Oden big men over the years.

thirty-two said:

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NoahAg said:

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Silver is such a tool. If you don't want tanking, don't incentivize teams to tank.

I don't follow college ball much, except for the Aggies. Will there be much difference in picking 1st or say 5th/6th? Is there a clear cut #1 we should go after?

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Top 4-5 are all bigs, but I think Ayton (Arizona) and Bagley (Duke) are clearly the top two. I'd be thrilled to get either.

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Bagley won't be top 2. I'd honestly be surprised if he was top 4. The top two at this point are clearly doncic and Ayton. I have doncic as my 1 but I get the love for Ayton. I would be very disappointed if my team drafted bagley top 3.

And doncic is tall but he's not a big. From what I've seen and heard, He will play 3 position and could play some 2 or 1. He's my clear #1 if we get lucky enough to pick first.

But m sure they will rig it against us after the tanking comment and the harassment story.

Just want to add, I think bagley is a great college player. Just don't think his game will translate as well to the nba

Yesterday-

Today -

mavsfan4ever said:

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Just want to add, I think bagley is a great college player. Just don't think his game will translate as well to the nba

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Yeah, He might not be any better than Anthony Davis.

NoahAg said:

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Silver is such a tool. If you don't want tanking, don't incentivize teams to tank.

I don't follow college ball much, except for the Aggies. Will there be much difference in picking 1st or say 5th/6th? Is there a clear cut #1 we should go after?

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Based on reading a few mock drafts there isn't much difference between 3-9. There only seems to be one consensus player. DeAndre Ayton, center from Arizona. Luka Doncic (SG) is also highly regarded and probably consensus #2. The Mavs would have to be holding a lottery ticket for one of those guys.

After that it is a grab bag. Michael Porter Jr. was the #1 player in High School but hurt his back. Risky pick with high upside. Then there are a bunch of big guys with decent upside (Bagley, Jackson Jr., Bamba, Carter Jr.). Impossible to say who will develop into the best of that bunch. Really depends on who develops a consistent jump shot. Next best bet is wing player Mikal Bridges. I've never seen him play but his shooting numbers are elite. High floor, low ceiling guy. Could be a good fit for the Mavericks.

Then there is Trae Young. Polarizing player, wouldn't shock me if he goes in the top 8 though. Seems like a terrible fit for the Mavs as he and Smith Jr. would be the worst defensive back court in the league. Overall, I will feel pretty good if the Mavs finish with top 6 odds. Would be a disaster if the Mavs finish 9th and are staring at Trae Young. I would just trade down at that point.

The Spurs, at 37-30, are currently 10th in the West

The Mavs, at 21-46, are currently 12th in the West.

Crazy

True Anomaly said:

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The Spurs, at 37-30, are currently 10th in the West

The Mavs, at 21-46, are currently 12th in the West.

Crazy

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Username checks out

Per BR:

NC State has released the subpoena in the FBI's investigation into college basketball. Seeks info on DSJ, and Gottfried.

Not the Mavs year. What penalties could come from this, if any?