Dallas Mavericks Trade For Caron Butler

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Dallas Mavericks have just completed their rumored trade with the Washington Wizards, and the deal will be announced later tonight.

The biggest pieces in the trade are Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood going from the Washington Wizards to the Dallas Mavericks, and Josh Howard and Drew Gooden moving from the Dallas Mavericks to the Washington Wizards.

Full description after the jump. Read more

2010 NBA All Star Slam Dunk Competition

The 2010 NBA All Star Slam Dunk Contest will be held in Dallas at the American Airlines Center on Saturday. The competition will not feature Lebron James or any other of the top tier NBA All Stars, but this event is exciting with out them anyway. I mean would we all like to see Lebron compete sure, but Lebron and other top tier All Stars don’t compete because the event will not do much to help them and could potentially hurt them. If Lebron wins, we would all say “Lebron should win the Dunk competition”, and if he loses everyone would question him like they did when the video of him getting dunked on surfaced this summer.

Lets take a look at who is competing as well as what tv channel, time & date and other information you will need to know heading into Saturday’s slam dunk competition. Gordon and DeRozan will compete in a Dunk-in to see who will compete in the competition.

Nate Robinson
Gerald Wallace
Shannon Brown
Eric Gordon
or
DeMar DeRozan

2010 NBA Slam Dunk Competition TV Channel, Day / Date, Location
Slam Dunk Competition Day / Date: Saturday, Feb. 13, 8:30 p.m. ET
Slam Dunk Competition Location: American Airlines Center
Slam Dunk Competition TV Channel: TNT

Previous NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champions
Nate Robinson – 2009 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion
Dwight Howard – 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion
Gerald Green – 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion
Nate Robinson – 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion
Josh Smith – 2005 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champoion

A quick guide to the Cuban-Perot lawsuit

So apparently, Mark Cuban’s legal troubles aren’t over.

Right after learning that his suit with the SEC had been dropped, Mark Cuban has been sued by a company controlled by Ross Perot, Jr., claiming the Mavs owner wrongfully diverted millions of AAC-related profits to fund the Mavs.

To read the full story from The Dallas Morning News and get all the details, click here.

Lots of legal jargon and seemingly complex terms, so let’s sort it all out.

• Mark Cuban currently owns 76% of the Mavs, making him the majority owner. Perot, called a “very minority” owner by Cuban in an e-mail to The Dallas Morning News, does still own part of the team. Cuban said his biggest mistake was not completely buying out Perot’s interest of the team.
• The lawsuit: Perot’s company, Hillwood Center Partners, said Mark Cuban has used profits from a company he controls (Radical Arena, Ltd.) to help fund the Mavs.
• Perot’s company says the profits from that company should have been redistributed to the partners.
• Cuban owns 92.5% of Radical Arena while Hillwood owns the rest.
• Radical Arena owns around one-third of Center Operating Co., whose ownership is split evenly between Mark Cuban’s Mavs and Tom Hicks’ Stars.
• Hicks is not involved in any way.
• The complaint says Radical Arena’s loans to the Mavs total more than $29 million with an interest rate of 3.5% – a very low rate.
• Cuban guesses that the total amount of interest owed to Perot is somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 million.

So why is Perot lodging this complaint against Cuban? His company can only gain the 7.5% of the $29 mil + interest. The other 92.5%? It goes back to Cuban.

Cuban, in the DMN article, compared this lawsuit to Perot “trying to find nickels in the sofa cushion.”

Take that for whatever it’s worth, but I’ve got a feeling this lawsuit is going to fade away just as quickly as the last one did.

Cuban pic: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2007/11/mark_cuban_dives_into_the_mixe.html

ESPN announces plans to come to Dallas

According to multiple sources, ESPN has announced a plan to launch localized sites in Dallas, Los Angeles and New York similar to the site already launched to cover Chicago sports. Details can be found here.

I have a bit of a mixed reaction to this story. First of all, I think that more coverage of Dallas sports teams is a good thing. There are a ton of voracious sports fans in this city, and I think that more coverage can be beneficial to fans who are looking for more coverage of our teams. ESPN Dallas is supposedly going to be launched sometime this fall, and I think that if it is similar to ESPN Chicago, it won’t fail miserably.

However, there are plenty of reservations I have when hearing about this move. One of the problems with ESPN Chicago is that, especially early in its lifespan, it didn’t seem like the reporters were actually doing any groundbreaking reporting; they were simply regurgitating what they found on other websites and putting all of that information in one place for Chicago sports fans. If that happens in ESPN Dallas, I think it will fail. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are big enough markets  to draw enough curious interest to sustain itself simply by regurgitation. If ESPN Dallas hopes to survive, I think that they must come up with original content people aren’t going to find in other places. Unfortunately for Dallas fans, that could mean more Ed Werder and Skip Bayless, since they have some experience in the area. Although it also could mean more Matt Mosley, which I would be all for.

And of course there’s the apocalyptic feelings of some blogs that ESPN is eventually going to have an outpost everywhere. I would be more concerned about this, but I kind of already figured it was going to happen anyway, so whatever. Besides, people get their sports news from ESPN most of the time anyway. If the coverage is better than what we have, I’m all for it. If the coverage of Dallas sports does not improve, I probably won’t acknowledge that ESPN Dallas exists.

No pressure, Worldwide Leader.

The Top Ten: Best Sports Video Games

With the release of Madden ‘10 looming on the horizon and NCAA Football ‘10 still fresh on the shelves, it seemed like the perfect time to break out a list. What list? The ten best sports video games ever conceived by mankind.

There are no fancy ranking systems or formulas to determine which of these is the best sports video game; purely my own personal experience and bias. If you don’t like my choices, post your own in the comments. Before we get to the list, though, we’ve got a few games that didn’t quite make the cut for best sports video game. And just as a point: racing games were not included for consideration. Read more

Links of the Day: Power through!

With none of the four major sports going today, it is officially the slowest sports day of the year. A good chance for sports fans to catch our breath however, because starting tomorrow, things will get ramped up in a hurry. The Open Championship kicks off tomorrow from Turnberry, and Tiger Woods is still in search of that 15th major after two top-ten finishes in the majors this year. We’ll have more on the British later today, but first, here are some links for your perusal:

Baseball Time in Arlington’s Top 25 Prospect Rankings – (Baseball Time in Arlington)

Mike Hindman’s prospect rankings (split into three parts) – (InsideCorner)

B.J. Ryan’s job interview – (Food Court Lunch)

The Showdown: Whitlock vs. Bennett – (Deadspin)

A defense of the Mavs front office – (dallasbasketball.com)

Why the 2009 Dallas Cowboys feel different – (Blogging the Boys)

Marcin Gortat vs. 15 Big White Stiffs — Overcoming Mavericks Mediocrity

***UPDATE*** According to the Orlando Sentinel’s Josh Robbins, the Magic will match the Mavericks’ offer for Marcin Gortat. Great. Looks like we got Otis-ed, with the quite aptly named Magic GM Otis Smith making Brandon Bass AND Gortat disappear from beneath Mark Cuban’s nose like a puff of smoke. Ah well. At least we still have The List.

Brandon Bass was recently snatched up by the Orlando Magic by way of free-agency. So that sucks. There goes the only player on the team that played with any sort of intensity (read: cajones). The good news: looks as if that makes way for Marcin Gortat to be playing his home games at the AAC next season. Though Orlando still has until later this week to match the $5.854 million offer sheet that the Mavs have given to the Polish Hammer, it’s unlikely that will happen considering that the Magic are already over the league’s luxury tax. Any offer will likely cost them twice of what Dallas would end up paying.

Read more

Dallas Sports Offseason Update

Dallas Sports Offseason Report

As UFC 100 betting grabs most of the sports headlines entering the weekend, Dallas’ top sports teams continue to retool and prepare for their upcoming season. Let’s check in with the Mavericks, Cowboys and Stars to see what’s new.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are easily the busiest of all Dallas teams in the front office of late. First, they retained point guard Jason Kidd by signing him to a new three-year contract worth over $25 million. The deal pays Kidd through his 39th birthday. While Kidd’s 9.0 points per game was the lowest average of his career, his 40.6 three-point percentage was his second best single-season mark and his 8.7 assists fit his normal lofty standards.

The Mavs also just completed a multi-team trade that could significantly change the hoops betting landscape next season. While the biggest name moving in the deal may be Hedo Turkolgu going to Toronto, the Mavs make the biggest roster shakeup of any team involved. Dallas says goodbye to Jerry Stackhouse (going to Memphis), Devean George (Toronto) and Antoine Wright (Toronto). On the way to Dallas are Shawn Marion, the centerpiece of the deal, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai and Greg Buckner. It’s safe to say the Mavs will look very different on opening night of the 2009-10 season, and offshore sportsbook odds makers have taken notice.

Dallas Cowboys

Nothing major to report for the ’Boys, though their summer of offense experimentation continues. The latest idea: using Marion Barber and Felix Jones in the same backfield. The plan would extend beyond two-back sets, possibly spreading Jones wide, though his pass-catching ability wasn’t tested last season. The plan sounds reminiscent of New Orleans’ use of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush a couple of seasons ago.

Dallas Stars

For the most part, the Stars have sat idle as other teams spend like crazy this NHL offseason. The Stars lost the Jonas Gustavsson sweepstakes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, meaning Marty Turco looks safe to retain the No. 1 goaltending job next season. Jere Lehtinen will be a Dallas Star for at least one more season; he signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal just before unrestricted free agency began on July 1. One of my main sports predictions for the season: If the Stars fall out of the playoff race come winter, I’m betting management trades Lehtinen to a contender.

What the Mavs could do next

Yesterday’s news that the Mavs were getting Shawn Marion energized a lot of Mavs fans, including myself. While this trade doesn’t necessarily push the Mavs over the top, I definitely think it makes them better. But, the Mavs are far from a finished product, and Cubes and Donnie could have another couple of ideas about what they want to do to improve the team.

There are still a couple of big trade pieces the Mavs could use as part of a package to improve their team once again.

What the Mavs need the most right now is a shooting guard. As presently constructed, Jason Terry is the best on the roster, but he was also the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, so the Mavs needs to find a shooting guard worthy of starting. If they pull off a trade like this, that shooting guard which they would trade for could be used as part of a smaller crunch-time lineup.

Does Dallas really need to do anything? I think they do, but their roster as presently constructed is definitely an upgrade over last year’s. With a starting five (probably) looking like Kidd-Howard-Marion-Dirk-Gortat, and a bench with Terry, Dampier, Humphries, Barea and Ross, the Mavs probably are near the top of the Western Conference contenders. Still, to get themselves on the same level as the Lakers, I think they need to make another move.

There are a few different shooting guards I think the Mavs can pursue (I have no info to suggest that they have already), including Detroit’s Richard Hamilton, Phoenix’s Jason Richardson and Milwaukee’s Michael Redd.

Redd comes with a hefty contract, though, as the soon-to-be 30 year old guard is due to make more than $16 million next season.
Richardson is slated to make a little more than $13 million, and Hamilton is due to make a little more than $11 million.

In order to make a trade like this work, the Mavericks would probably have to give up Josh Howard, whose contract expires after this coming season but holds a team option for 2010-11. Erick Dampier will be entering the sixth year of a seven-year contract in 2009-10, so he won’t be going anywhere.

It’s still possible that the Mavericks could be able to make a trade, but judging by their salary situation (loaded with contracts already), its unlikely that the Mavs will be able to take on too much more money. So while I don’t think the Mavs are going to make another deal, I’m not ready to count them out of the trade market either.

Contract data taken from USATODAY.com

A nice day in Dallas sports

A couple of relatively big events in Dallas sports yesterday. A big series win against the Angels for the first place Texas Rangers and a major (read: complicated) trade for the Dallas Mavericks. So let’s break them down, starting with the Mavs.

Dallas Mavericks trade for Shawn Marion

There are a lot of complicated parts to the trade the Mavericks made yesterday, but the most important fact for Mavs fans is that Shawn Marion will be in Big D next season. Devean George and Antoine Walker are headed to Toronto, Jerry Stackhouse is headed to Memphis and Kris Humphries and Greg Buckner are reportedly coming here. Buckner is supposedly going to be released, though, although it seems Humphries will stay.

Some quick stats:

Marion – 12.9 PPG (14.3 with Toronto), 8.5 RPG, 35.8 MPG, 1.28 SPG

Humphries – 3.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 9.1 MPG

Marion always did give Dirk problems whenever the Mavs and Suns matched up in the playoffs, so I think he can still be a comptent defender along with a good rebounder and decent scorer. Don’t look for him to shoot 3’s though – only 18.9% last year. Still, Marion is a very nice player that definitely made the Mavericks a better team.

Humphries isn’t going to add a ton to this team, although he could fill some of the void left by Brandon Bass (as it looks more and more that Bass is not going to be back). He appeared in only 29 games last year, so don’t expect to see a ton of Humphries.

Is this a spectacular trade for the Mavericks? Probably not. But is it a horrible trade? Absolutely not. This trade does Mavericks better than they were before, as Stackhouse was too beset by injuries to be of much use. Somehow, though, I don’t think the Mavs are done. I think Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson might have something else in mind in order to make the core of this team younger. We shall see.

Rangers reclaim first place; take two of three from Angels

On the West Coast last night, the artist (no longer) formerly known as Andruw Jones ripped three homers to lead the local nine to another series victory over the hated Angels; their third straight series victory and 7th victory in 8 games. The Rangers now hold a slim one-game lead over the formerly Anaheim Angels heading into a four game series in Seattle.

The Mariners had a very nice June – going 15-10 to climb back into the race, but there’s something about them that doesn’t scare me too much. Not that they are a bad team, but I don’t really fear their lineup (fewest runs scored in the AL) and their bullpen is questionable at best. The Rangers do have to face the top of the Mariners rotation, with Felix Hernandez slated for tonight and Erik Bedard going Sunday, but the Rangers are countering with Tommy Hunter, Scott Feldman and Kevin Millwood on Thursday, Friday and Saturday respectively.

Currently the Rangers sit 1 game ahead of second place Anaheim (3 games against the red-hot Yankees this weekend) and 4.5 ahead of Seattle. The Rangers are already 5-0 against the Mariners this year, including that crushing three game sweep in May, complete with two straight last at-bat victories against Brandon Morrow (starting Friday). Apart from that stretch in May, the Rangers might be playing their best ball of the year, having won 7 of 8 against the Angels and Rays, two teams who just about everybody would agree are better than Seattle.

The Mariners completed a grueling three city trip to Los Angeles, New York and Boston with an impressive 5-4 record, but just followed it up with two straight losses at home to the Orioles, the AL’s worst road team. Yesterday was particularly infuriating for M’s fans, as closer David Aardsma gave up five runs in the ninth, blowing a 3-0 lead in the process.

Anything worse than a split of this series for the Rangers would be a massive disappointment, but if the Rangers took 3 of 4, they would push the Mariners to 6.5 games behind them and remain in first no matter what happens with the Angels. Not to mention the psychological effect it would have on the Mariners with the Rangers holding an 8-1 advantage over them in the season series.

Quite frankly, I’m kind of expecting the Rangers to win three games in this series. It’s a radical departure from past years, but watching this team over the past week and a half, it just seems that if they get a quality start (at least 6 IP and 3 runs allowed or less) or close to it, they are going to win. And the Mariners, as good a season as they’ve had, just don’t strike me as a team that are going to bludgeon Rangers pitching.

Lots of good vibes in the Metroplex right now – let’s hope it carries over to Jerry’s team.

Shawn Marion Photo: http://dunkside.com/nba/?tag=shawn-marion

Andruw Jones Photo: http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2009/07/09/ap/sports/bba_rangers_angels.txt

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