Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 67 – NBA Blog

Deron Williams prefers Nets, Mavericks

When NBA free agency begins at midnight July 1, Brooklyn Nets star guard Deron Williams will be choosing from a two-team list that only features the Nets and the Dallas Mavericks, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources told ESPN.com on Saturday night that, while this summer’s No. 1 free agent remains “up in the air” about which team he’ll ultimately chose, Williams already has made the decision to narrow his list of potential destinations to those two franchises.

Other teams, including the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets, had been hoping to lodge their own bids for Williams once free agency begins, sources said. The Los Angeles Lakers, likewise have continued to express interest in a sign-and-trade package built around Pau Gasol for Williams, sources say, despite the Nets’ longstanding insistence that they have no interest in Gasol and would only consider such a move if they were getting back All-Star center Andrew Bynum, whom the Lakers have not made available.

Sources say Williams, in any case, already has instructed his representatives to advise any team that calls starting at 12:01 a.m. July 1 that he intends to either re-sign with the Nets or return to his hometown with the Mavericks after a glittering high school career in the Dallas area.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Video: Mark Cuban owns Skip Bayless in debate

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was recently a guest on ESPN and had a discussion with ESPN TV personality Skip Bayless that mostly centered around LeBron James and NBA championship games.

And Cuban made some fantastic points worth hearing, on LeBron and more. Here’s the video:

Jason Terry hopes to stay with Mavericks

At a festive, daddy-daughter bash on Father’s Day, Jason Terry delivered some tough news for Mavericks fans to hear.

If the 2011 NBA champions elect to rebuild their team with one-year contract “rentals,” Terry will be playing elsewhere next season.

Terry, whose six-year, $57 million contract ends on July 1, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, said Sunday he wants to sign another multiyear deal, preferably with the Mavericks. But as the Mavericks’ free-agent possibilities start to take shape, it won’t happen for one year.

“It’s a tough situation,” Terry said. “I’m finally in a position where I can kind of predict my own future, so to speak. I want to stay here in Dallas. That’s always been my goal. But it needs to be long-term. If they’re not ready to step up and do that, then I’ll have to make my home elsewhere.”

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Penny Marshall ripped off by scammer pretending to work for Lamar Odom

Attention filthy rich LA Lakers fans — Lamar Odom does not have a cash-strapped assistant … something director Penny Marshall learned after getting jacked for several thousand bucks.Sources tell TMZ the double-cross started at a Lakers game last month … when a man claiming to be LO’s assistant gave Penny a phone number he said was Lamar’s.

We’re told Penny and the person she thought was Lamar texted back and forth for several days — when finally “Lamar” asked her to loan his assistant a chunk o’ cash. Ever the faithful Lakers fan, Penny forked over more than five grand to the faux “assistant.”

Hook. Line. Sinker.

— Reported by TMZ

Mark Cuban still wants NBA players out of Olympics

Mark Cuban’s repeated criticism of the NBA for allowing its stars to play in the Olympics is no longer falling on deaf ears in the commissioner’s office.

David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that they are no longer sure they want to see NBA veterans playing in the Olympics beyond this summer’s Games in London and will look into a 23-and-under age limit, as soccer does.

The news came as a welcome surprise to Cuban, who touted a 22-and-under age limit as recently as April.

“Yes, I’m thrilled,” Cuban told ESPNDallas.com on Wednesday night.

The most outspoken of the league’s owners regarding the NBA’s participation in the Olympics and all international competition during the NBA’s offseason, Cuban said in April that he believed the topic of NBA players’ availability was a dead issue, saying, “The commissioner’s office won’t open it up to discussion. They’ll take calls about it, but won’t put it up for a vote. Hopefully, I can get him to move it to a vote at some point.”

Silver made it clear Wednesday that Cuban’s voice is resonating.

— Reported by Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas

Dallas Mavericks re-sign coach Rick Carlisle

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have re-signed Head Coach Rick Carlisle.

On May 9, 2008, Carlisle became the ninth head coach in franchise history. In his first four seasons with the Mavericks, Carlisle has led the team to a 198-114 (.635) regular season record, three 50+ win seasons and the franchise’s first-ever World Championship.

“We are excited that Rick will be back with the Mavericks for at least the next four years,” Owner Mark Cuban said. “He is a proven winner, a great teacher and a coach that will help the Mavericks improve as a team and as an organization.”

Carlisle led the Mavericks to the postseason in each of his four seasons in Dallas and has been named Western Conference Coach of the Month on two occasions (April, 2010 and Feb., 2011). He holds a career 53-46 (.535) postseason record, including an impressive 16-5 run to the 2011 World Championship. Carlisle is one of only 11 individuals to win the NBA Finals as both a player and head coach.

Carlisle holds a 479-325 (.596) record as a head coach with Detroit, Indiana and Dallas. Before joining Dallas, Carlisle took both Detroit and Indiana to the Eastern Conference Finals and earned 2001-02 NBA Coach of the Year accolades in just his first year as a head coach.

A native of Ogdensburg, N.Y., Carlisle graduated from the University of Virginia where he was co-captain of the Cavaliers’ 1984 Final Four team.

Don Nelson graduates from Iowa 50 years later

Fifty years ago, Don Nelson left the University of Iowa eight credits and a student-teaching requirement shy of a degree. Nelson took correspondence classes to complete the credits. But it took the most coaching wins in NBA history for the university to decide Nelson didn’t need to be a student teacher to earn a diploma.

On Saturday, the former Hawkeyes’ star player returned to receive his bachelor’s degree in physical education during Iowa’s commencement ceremony at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

”I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. I wish it would have happened 50 years ago. But it didn’t,” Nelson said, ”and I think that the moral to that story is it’s never too late as long as you keep working and keep having dreams. They can come true.”

Nelson is known for the 1,355 coaching wins he picked up over 31 seasons as an NBA coach, a career he wrapped up with Golden State following the 2010-11 season. It’s easy to forget that it all started over five decades ago in the Midwest.

Nelson, who turns 72 on May 15, starred for Rock Island High in Illinois, just across the river from Iowa, and joined the Hawkeyes in 1959. Sporting a spiky blond flat top and a versatile game that would serve him well in the pros, Nelson finished his Iowa career as a two-time All-American.

— Reported by Luke Meredith of the Associated Press

James Harden wins 2011-12 NBA Sixth Man of Year award

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden is the winner of the 2011-12 NBA Sixth Man Award as the league’s best player in a reserve role, the NBA announced today. Harden, who led all NBA reserves in scoring (16.8 ppg), came off the bench in 60 of 62 games he appeared in, helping Oklahoma City finish with the NBA’s third-best record (47-19).

Harden received 584 of a possible 595 points, including 115 of a possible 119 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Louis Williams, who led the Philadelphia 76ers in scoring (14.9 ppg) despite not starting a single game, finished second with 231 points. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, who won the award in 2008-09, finished third with 81 points.

In order to be eligible for this award, players had to have come off the bench in more games than they started. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Harden, the third overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, was a model of consistency, scoring in double figures in 58 of 62 contests, while averaging 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. He topped the 20-point mark on 15 occasions, with the Thunder going 14-1 in those games. He shot .491 from the field, .846 from the free throw line, and .390 from three-point range.

Don Nelson to get college degree after nearly 50 years

Just a week after Shaquille O’Neal received his doctorate degree, Don Nelson will receive his Bachelor’s degree in physical education that was nearly 50 years in the making.

The winningest coach in NBA history, the now-retired Nelson, who turns 72 next week, will take part in commencement ceremonies this Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the campus of the University of Iowa.

“The reason I coached all these years was that I enjoyed so much being around young, talented people,” Nelson told the Des Moines Register. “This will be like coaching my teams, really. I love talented, young kids.”

Nelson, who spent 14 years as a NBA player, followed by 31 seasons as an NBA head coach, needed to require foreign language requirements to finally obtain his long-desired degree, which he put on hiatus when he left Iowa in 1962. He was able to complete those language requirements through correspondence/online classes.

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Dirk Nowitzki will adjust off-season workouts

Dirk Nowitzki will adjust his off-season program to avoid a repeat of the physical problem that limited him at the start.

The Mavericks held Nowitzki out for four consecutive games in January so that he could strengthen a balky right knee. The condition improved, and Nowitzki will not require surgery. He must focus in the off-season on maintaining the knee’s strength with increased weight work.

“I struggled physically for the first time in my career,” Nowitzki said. “I’m going to really try to keep my legs strong so we don’t have to go through what I did at the beginning, because that was ugly.”

Nowitzki had the lowest regular-season shooting percentage (.457) since his rookie year. He rallied in the postseason and averaged 26.8 points per game.

— Reported by Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News