MVN - Most Valuable Network

Thoughts on Cuban, Dirk, and the RMR

Here’s some quick hits for Friday…

Cuban in the running for Cubs

With the recent news that Mark Cuban made the top-5 in the bidding for ownership of the Chicago Cubs, a question naturally arises out of Dallas: how will the Mavericks be affected?

From what I’ve witnessed this decade, Cuban is a hands-on guy when it comes to his team (just look at the Jason Kidd trade as proof).  He’s as passionate and competitive as they come.  The players all love playing under him, the fans are consistently satisfied, and the team wins. His commitment to the team is undeniable, and that won’t change if he adds the Cubs to his portfolio.

Dirk leads Germany to Beijing

Earlier in the week Dirk Nowitzki and the German national basketball team beat J.J. Barea and Puerto Rico to earn the final spot in the Olympics in Beijing.  Dirk was understandibly emotional after he finally fulfilled his dream of qualifying for the Olympics, and I couldn’t be happier for him.  There have even been reports that Nowitzki could be the German flag bearer at the opening ceremonies, which would be an awesome experience for him.

Germany was placed in a very strong Group B with the likes of Spain, Greece and the United States, which should make for some great drama on the court and feature a ton of NBA talent even outside Team USA.  Germany’s combination of Nowitzki and Chris Kaman gives them a fighting chance.

Mavs finishing up Summer League

Charles Rhodes led the Mavs’ summer league squad to a win over the Nets last night to improve their record at the Rocky Mountain Revue to 3-2.  I haven’t been able to watch any of the summer league games, but from what I’ve been hearing Rhodes is a possible candidate for an invite to training camp along with guards JaJuan Smith and Shan Foster, who have both showed promise as well.

Rhodes’s chances of making the team would go up if he were brought in as a replacement for Brandon Bass in case Bass were somehow involved in a trade for someone like Ron Artest.  Too bad the Kings already rejected that offer of Bass and Stackhouse, because I would have done that in a second. Sacramento obviously wanted Josh Howard instead, and the Mavs wisely said no (Artest is too risky and Howard’s stock will go back up next season, trust me).

Rhodes has looked good throughout the summer and plays a lot like Bass, but it remains to be seen if he can consistently make an impact against NBA-quality talent like Bass did last year.  I guess we’ll have to see what happens on the trade front before we can assess his future in Dallas.

He and the rest if the Mavs’ summer league squad are 6-4 overall this summer with one game left tonight against Utah.  Also be sure to check out Jason Kidd and Team USA in their warm-up game against Canada tonight on ESPN.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Brandon Bass, Shan Foster, Mark Cuban, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.