The NBA trade deadline is less than a month away, meaning some added excitement to the league's regular schedule of games. Even if a team doesn't pull the trigger on a deal, speculation and rumors make for entertaining what-if scenarios.
However, if Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was speaking the truth earlier this week, it's unlikely that the Mavs will be part of the fun.
While Cuban said his team's top priority is winning a championship, reality is that he has set the Mavericks up to be a major player in free agency this summer. So adding a contract doesn't make sense. Well, unless there's an offer that is heavily in Cuban's favor.
"If there's something that takes up cap room but puts us over the top, I'm in," Cuban recently told The Dallas Morning News. "We're going to be opportunistic. If it's something good, we'll take advantage of it."
Cuban added: "We're not out looking to do anything. We're not looking to shake anything up. We think we've got a good team. We still haven't played good basketball yet. There's still a lot of room for improvement. But if someone makes us an offer we can't refuse ..."
Barring a trade that sends Magic superstar center Dwight Howard to the Nets, Lakers, Clippers or Bulls, the Mavericks are in good shape to attempt to sign Howard and Nets star point guard Deron Williams when both are eligible for free agency at the end of the season.
It would take an extraordinary offer by the March 15 trade deadline for Cuban to jeopardize a chance at missing out on Williams and Howard.
