Hmmm... Busted:


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-stackhousesnag021508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


Think they would have been punished as severly as the Wolves were if this went down???

I saw that. They were going to buy him out and then re-sign him. Of course, they probably didn't write anything down like Glenn did with Joe Smith. What's even worse is that the league is probably now telling Cuban that if he wants to get back in the good graces of the league, he'll have to include Keith Van Horn to make the deal work and go way the hell over the luxury tax.

What's really sad about this whole deal is that George wasn't going to get early Bird-righted by the Mavs anyway. He was straight getting cut. I really wonder if this was an internal deal by some of the Mavs players who didn't like the trade. This hold makes zero f'ing sense...just like the trade.

College Wolf wrote:
You have to wonder... Stern does have a propensity to come down on Cuban.

I know that I should know this. The Twolves debacle... was the deal that Joe Smith would sign cheap that year and would get big money the next season. Or was it that he signed cheap and would get big money under the table?

stopnpop wrote:

I KNOW! How does he NOT realize that?!?!? Blows my mind...

This whole thing is hilarious...

College Wolf wrote:
Watch, the Mavs will have to throw in KVH and George will get straight cut from the squad in favor of a d-league call up.

stopnpop wrote:

That would make me laugh... a lot.

The Smith deal involved an agreement for Smith to sign three one-year contracts for between 1-3 million with the promise of a big payday between 40-80 million once they got his Bird rights in 2001. They weren't ever going to pay him money under the table.

I don't think they would've busted the Mavs like they did the Wolves because #1 - I doubt Cuban would've been dumb enough to write up a formal contract, and #2 Stern was obviously trying to screw the franchise over and get KG into a big market.

I don't see how the league could come down on the Mavericks for trying to get Stackhouse back. It's 100% within the rules for him to come back 30 days after he's been cut. Also, it's not like Dallas can force NJ to cut Stackhouse so they are very limited in their control of the situation.

Basically, if the league doesn't want stuff like this to go down, then change the rules to where a traded player can't resign with the team that traded him until the season is over if they've been cut. Until you do that, you're asking for situations like this.

I 100% think the Mavericks should be able to do this without retaliation. It's completely within the rules.

DeROK wrote:
He can come back but it can't be agreed upon ahead of time. That's collusion. Also, the big problem with the Smith deal is that they frickin' were stupid enough to put it in writing. Not only did the deal piss off league officials, but it pissed off the players association because Smith took under-market value in hopes of a big payoff at the end of the 3 1 year deals.

As for Stack and his big mouth, it also begs the question of additional terms that may be involved with his re-signing. He's an expiring contract as well and was he promised a payday for coming back on the cheap after being bought out by the Nets? Either way it's collusion as he made it sound like he had something worked out with the Mavs front office. The Mavs really FUBAR'd themselves on this one. If I'm Harris, I'm asking out. If I'm Diop I'm done. If I'm Stackhouse I'm leery about re-signing for big money in Dallas if the deal goes through because it looks bad and Kidd sucks. They're in a no win situation right now. I hope they enjoy Devon George.

Yea I completely agree, the Mavs have really backed themselves into a hole now. They're gonna have to make this crap deal happen now using Van Horn because like you say Harris and Diop probably wouldn't wanna resign there now after this season. Haha they're getting so ripped off by the nets it's funny. Suddenly it's in style to give up good players and draft picks for old guys all because the lakers got pau.

stopnpop wrote:

Agreed. That is the big issue here. Like you said Derok, I have no problem with Stackhouse returning to Dallas either, it's just that the way they went about doing this.

roundhouse wrote:
What's really kind of funny (and don't get me wrong, I don't think injuries are funny; this is more of a ying-yang cosmic thing) is that all these Western Conference teams are going apes#$t because the Lakers ripped off Memphis and then we find out that Kobe jacked up his pinky finger on his shooting hand and doctors are saying he needs surgery...therefore reducing the chances the Lakers can win it all. The Suns and Mavs are blowing up teams that have either a) led the Western Conference in the past 2 weeks or b) been to the Finals in the past 2 years for a scenario that probably won't play out like they thought it would when the Lakers were staring at a Bynym, Gasol, Odom, Bryant, Fisher starting 5 in April. Hell, they may just have Gasol at full strength...if they make the playoffs at all.

Keep blowing them up boys. Portland, Utah, and New Orleans have to like what is going on for their chances in the next few years. Oh, and a healthy Laker squad next year is going to be horrifying.

Meanwhile...deep in the heart of Texas, a team prepares for its 5th championship.

stopnpop wrote:
No doubt... they are still my choice (from pre-season.)

I'm thinking Spurs vs Pistons/Celtics