Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE
Dallas Mavericks‘ owner Mark Cuban lost out to the Brooklyn Nets this offseason for the services of point guard Deron Williams. His hopes of Dwight Howard were also dashed when the Los Angeles Lakers acquired the big man.
It has not been the best season for Cuban and the Mavericks as they also lost Jason Terry to the Boston Celtics. This is not making Cuban concede to the Larry O’Brien Lakers or the Nets this season.
Cuban told ESPN Dallas:
“The Lakers have done this before. Gary Payton and Karl Malone and Kobe and Shaq were all together, and it didn’t work. It takes great chemistry. … It takes guys wanting to be there. I don’t know if all their guys want to be there.”
Of the Nets, Cuban said:
“I never get too excited about what teams do on paper. It all comes down to what you do on the court, and I think we’ve put ourselves in great position to really do good things this year, and I think we’ve put ourselves in position to keep our players. So when they do great things, they can all grow together. And that’s our goal.
“Again, the Lakers will do what the Lakers do. The Nets or whoever will do what they do. But I think we’ve put ourselves in great position.”
The Nets and Lakers both have definitely put themselves into better positions from just a year go. The Lakers and the Mavericks were out played by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs while the Nets have not seen a post-season since 2007.
With the Nets acquiring Joe Johnson and re-signing Williams this offseason and the Lakers signing Steve Nash and acquiring Howard, both teams could contend for a championship. However, it is going to be hard to stop the Miami Heat, especially after signing Ray Allen this season.
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