I don't disagree with anything you said in your response to my post, Biz.  I agree that it would be noble of Cuban to back away from any players in the controversial deal, but that there is no way he would.  To me, that's talking out of both sides of his mouth, though, if he is the first to jump on one of these specific players in this specific deal.  He, clearly, objected to the deal.  One could even speculate that he grabbed Odom to prevent the deal from reconsideration.  But he won the championship.  He's not a weak sister team.  And, while making such objection on the grounds that it was unfair to a 'lesser' team, it's clearly hypocritical to step immediately into the into the post-veto void.  Show some fortitude, live by your words and yell to the hillsides "we could have gotten Odom...but we didn't for the sake competition in the new NBA environment!" (Never happen, I know.)  But, as you said, Cuban is beholden to the Mavericks.  No dispute.  Although, again, here he is also attempting to speak on behalf of the NBA.  Can't be done, for the reason you suggest.  I've made the same argument myself.  I also completely agree about the Hornets....find an owner or fold the team.  There is ZERO chance the rest of the owners care about the Hornets on an equal level as their team.  They are an afterthought.

As for Lamar Odom's star level, can't argue that either.  But take Odom AND Gasol from the Lakers for Paul, and I suggest they have some tall (pun intended) gaps to fill, despite adding an undoubted great player.  I also feel like the Hornets were getting a nice group of players in the deal.  Not really sure what the Rockets were thinking.  But they liked Gasol a lot.  At first glance, the trade was "Lakers get Paul....that's bs."  But I don't feel the Clippers trade was anything earth shatteringly different.  Other than the fact the Clippers haven't ever won anything.

Good chat, man.

ld, I agree with you....I don't buy it either, but I also don't think he should be. That's what they have a commisioner and front office staff for. I don't care for Cuban the man and don't like his style, but he absolutely cares about the Mavericks and, I believe, their fans. He does everything in his power to put a contender on the court every year. Dallas has never been one of the so-called "destination spots" like say LA, Miami or NYC and Cuban does all he can to bridge that gap and attract players.

Agreed, he can be disingenuous and dishonest. Of course, I'm not so sure who in the NBA is honest after the recent lockout and the drama that went with it. But as a pro sports franchise owner, Cuban's one of the best and someone who a lot of people who can't stand him would be very happy to have own their favorite team.

Cuban can say he only wants what's in the league's best interest until he's blue in the face, I'm still not buying it. Mark Cuban ants what's best for his business interests, whcih include the Dallas Mavs and the NBA. So while yes, he complained about the initial CP3 trade, if you think he's complaining for anything but selfish reasons you're high. So OF COURSE he'll take that Odom deal-it;s not in the best interest of the league, but who cares if it benefits your team, right?

I would respect Cuban more if he were more honest-he;s doing the best he can for the team he owns. I don't buy for one second that he's some sort of ambassador for the NBA.

One last point I forgot to make in my sequel......

Odom is not the kind of player small market teams are upset they can't get or hold onto. Those teams are upset about guys like LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, etc......Odom is good, but he ain't that good. Cuban turning him down would have done nothing to address the small market issues.

Damn, sometimes I hate this website. I wrote a long post that made a lot of points in response to No Pepper's post and then it just disappeared when I tried to post it. It was actually a pretty good post. So glad I spent the time and energy on that. Not going to do it again, so here's the short version.....

No Pepper, I get what you're saying and while it would have been noble and high-minded of Cuban to turn that down "for the good of the league," that is just unreasonable to expect any owner to do. Had Cuban turned Odom down, some other team would have grabbed him and most likely it wouldn't have been a small market team. Cuban would look stupid and he would be justifiably ripped apart by the media and Mavs fans.

Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. That is his primary basketball business. David Stern and the league front office are hired to look out for the good of the league. With the Hornets, because they can't stomach the idea of folding the team anbd contracting the league, instead they have created a conflict of interest for all the other owners. Expecting those owners to worry about the Hornets' interests more, or even just as much, as their own teams' interests makes no sense. As a Celtics fan, I would be livid if Danny Ainge and Wyc Grousbeck turned down a deal that was good for the Celtics because it might not be so good for other teams.

And if anyone argues that what's good for the Hornets is good for the NBA, I would suggest the Hornets right now are a drain on the league, both financially and as far as the NBA's credibility....what little the NBA has left, anyway. There are a lot of things the NBA needs to fix. Giving the owners control over a struggling team while also expecting them to run their own franchises isn't the answer to any of those problems and has just created a few more.

I think the point would be YES, he should have turned it down.  For the good of the league, he should have allowed Odom to go to a small market team (maybe one that hasn't just won a Championship!) in order to allow the league to begin to balance.  But he didn't.  So he's fine with improving his team, but he's not fine that other 'good' teams improve themselves.  (i.e. Can't let Chris Paul go to the Lakers.)  If he wants to call Stern out, he should be a leader, not an exploiter.  (Is that a word?  I just made it one.)

Of course, Cuban didn't have any trouble upgrading his team with the addition of Lamar Odom for whom he gave up essentially nothing. Talk about a hypocrite.

You're comparing apples and oranges. Cuban didn't get Odom from a small market and the Lakers didn't trade Odom because they couldn't afford to keep him or because he was threatening to leave at the end of free agency. The Lakers made a mistake from Odom's persepctive, and then the Lakers panicked when they gave him up for nothing. What was supposed to do when he was offered Odom? Should he have turned it down? Of course not. I'm not a huge Mark Cuban fan, but he is right.....this is a mess and David Stern better find an owner for the Hornets soon because this isn't going to get any prettier for him and the league.

Of course, Cuban didn't have any trouble upgrading his team with the addition of Lamar Odom for whom he gave up essentially nothing. Talk about a hypocrite.

Lerner isn't a problem... He has deep pockets and spends money... Keeps his nose out of the football operations... I want Cuban to buy the Indians.... Oh God, that would be phenominal!

Clarification:  You would suck less [than the present owner], not you would suck less [than you already do] because I don't think you suck (as if you are reading this).  Help a team that needs an involved owner.  We have hurt long enough.  BUY US!!!!  er...THEM!!!