Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 45 – NBA Blog

Who is the best teammate Dirk Nowitzki has ever had?

Here’s one take from ESPN Dallas on Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki and the type of help he’s had:

The hodgepodge of players such as Michael Finley, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Josh Howard, O.J. Mayo, Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler leaves a very mixed bag to select from. It also shines a light on the fact Nowitzki has had to carry the load in Dallas without legitimate, surefire star support. It comes down to Steve Nash, before the point guard hit his MVP stride, and Jason Kidd, returning after he had passed his prime. Nash was the perfect teammate for Nowitzki earlier in his career, and Kidd was just as perfect later in Nowitzki’s career. I’m going to go with Kidd. While Nash could shoot the lights out, Kidd had the better all-around game out of the two point guards. As Nash helped Nowitzki grow as a player, Kidd helped guide him to immortality as a champion.

Mavs recall Shane Larkin from D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have recalled rookie guard Shane Larkin from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Larkin (5-11, 176) has played in 32 games for the Mavericks and is averaging 3.6 points and 1.8 assists in 12.5 minutes per contest.

Larkin was originally assigned to the D-League on Jan. 31 and played in one game for the Legends. In that game, he recorded 9 points and 7 assists in 33 minutes against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Former NBA player Jim Jackson discusses his time on the Mavericks

Here’s the Dallas Morning News talking to former NBA player Jim Jackson, who discusses why the era of the “Three Js” never flourished:

Jim Jackson: “It’s a couple of things. It’s not as easy to point to one thing, but I try to tell people this all the time that I was the first when I came in in ’92. Jamal came in the following year, so we got a chance to play 82 games together, Jamal and myself. When Jason [Kidd] came in my third year (Jamal’s second) I got hurt 51 games into the season, so we never completed an 82-game season. The following year, Jamal got hurt 20 games into the season, so we never completed an 82-game season. Then the following year, we all got traded. Now, couple that with that during my five years here in Dallas, had three different ownership groups … Then you also have four different coaches … We never really had an honest shot at it really working because of all the moving parts that took place.”

“It’s more so the outside influences that kind of took hold of what was going on. And a lot of it had to do with management that didn’t understand how to really get these three young guys and build around it, and I love Donald Carter to death, but from a management perspective, I think you can see a difference between a Mark Cuban and what the past ownerships were able to do.”

Mark Cuban is probably not going to sell the Dallas Mavericks to you

Here’s the Dallas Morning News blog with an update on Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who, if you haven’t figured this out yet, kind of likes owning the team:

The Mavericks have been valued at $765 million by Forbes magazine, but that’s a low-ball number as far as owner Mark Cuban is concerned.

“They’re way too low,” he said.

So if somebody showed up with $765 million in his pocket and wanted the team he’s owned since 2000, what would Cuban do?

“I’d laugh at them,” he said. “I think we’re worth well over a billion. I think within the next five years, and this is just a guess, if the economy continues to get a little better and sports still stays in demand, every NBA franchise will be worth at least a billion dollars.”

Mavs assign Ricky Ledo to D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have assigned Ricky Ledo to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Ledo (6-7, 200) has seen action in nine games for the Mavericks and holds averages of 1.9 points and 3.3 minutes per game.

Ledo will join the Legends and be available for tonight’s game when they take on the Austin Toros at 7:00 pm CT at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

Mavs guard Gal Mekel out after knee surgery

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that guard Gal Mekel underwent arthroscopic surgery to address a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. The surgery was performed by TO Souryal at Texas Sports Medicine in Dallas.

No timetable has been set for his return.

According to the Dallas Morning News blog, “This means Shane Larkin will continue to log meaningful minutes, even when Devin Harris returns, possibly as soon as Saturday. Harris will not play in tonight’s game at Phoenix, but nobody would rule out the possibility that he could make his season debut Saturday in Dallas against Portland.”

Mavs recall Ricky Ledo from D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have recalled Ricky Ledo from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Ledo (6-7, 200) was originally assigned to the Legends on November 30 and played in 14 games with the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate. The rookie swingman started nine of those 14 games and averaged 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.14 steals in 29.8 minutes per game.

Ledo has seen action in six games for the Mavericks this season and holds averages of 1.2 points and 2.6 minutes.

Center Dexter Pittman now on Austin Toros in D-League

The Austin Toros today announced that they have acquired center Dexter Pittman from the Springfield Armor in exchange for the Toros third round pick in the 2014 NBA D-League Draft. Kyle Hunt was waived as a result.

Pittman was selected by the Miami Heat in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2010 NBA Draft. He played three seasons with the Heat before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. In 48 NBA games, Pittman averaged 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 7.2 minutes of play. While on the Heat roster, Pittman was assigned to the D-League Sioux Falls Skyforce (10-11, 12-13) where he averaged 13.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in 37 games played (34 starts). He participated in the 2013 NBA Summer League with the San Antonio Spurs followed by a training camp invite from the Chicago Bulls.

The 6-11, 285 pound center played four seasons at the University of Texas. He appeared in 134 games (59 starts) averaging 6.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 12.2 minutes.

Knicks race past lackluster Mavericks

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on the Mavericks not playing well at home Sunday and dropping a game they probably expected to win:

Before anyone and started pointing fingers, coach Rick Carlisle stepped forward and pointed a finger at himself for the Dallas Mavericks’ lackluster performance Sunday night against the New York Knicks.

In another ho-hum outing that’s becoming more mysterious by the game, the Mavs allowed the Knicks to bang them around on the backboards and get out of American Airlines Center with a 92-80 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,892.

It was the Mavs’ fourth straight home loss and dropped them to 19-15 overall and 0-2 on this three-game homestand that concludes Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

And if the Mavs don’t put up a better fight against the Lakers than they did against the Knicks, they’re facing the prospect of being swept on the homestand.

“I didn’t have them ready,” Carlisle said after the loss to the Knicks. “I will take the blame for that.

“It’s pretty clear. It starts at the top.”

DeJuan Blair plans to have fun against Spurs

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on DeJuan Blair of the Dallas Mavericks, who may be quite excited to battle his former team:

DeJuan Blair plans to have fun tonight against the Spurs

If there’s ever a player who wears his emotions on his sleeves, it’s DeJuan Blair.

And right now, the Dallas Mavericks’ center is walking around with a lot of pin-up emotions.

Blair is still steamed at the way the San Antonio Spurs treated him last season. Especially since they barely played him at all against Miami during the NBA Finals in a series Blair believes he could have helped the Spurs win if given the chance to play.

Thus, when Blair became a free agent, signed a one-year, $884,293 contract with the Mavs, and then saw that their first game against the Spurs was today, he made a big fat circle around it on his calendar.