The San Antonio Spurs may be the reigning NBA champions, but it’s the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets who are stealing headlines out of Texas. From players swapping teams to front office members trading barbs, there’s been no shortage of drama in the state where everything’s bigger.
On Monday, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey took the gloves off and returned shots at Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
In an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Morey responded to the consistent jabs that Cuban sent his way. With questions about his business practices and strategy, there was no shortage of topics to discuss.
Morey gave his take on why Cuban is so upset with his in-state rival:
“I think [Cuban’s] pissed that we went after Dirk [Nowitzki] in free agency, however unsuccessful it was,” Morey told Yahoo Sports. Yes, Morey respects the tactical purposes behind Cuban’s crusade, but rejects his reasoning as flawed – even downright untrue.
“We’ve been pretty good, and I think he’s doing a smart thing to take on a rival,” Morey told Yahoo Sports late Sunday. “He should want to beat up on San Antonio, too, but it’s hard to paint the Spurs that way. So he’s directed his bully pulpit onto us. Our owner stays above the fray, so I’m outgunned honestly.
That’s not inconceivable.
The Rockets and Mavericks have competed for big-name free agents since Morey took over as Houston’s general manager. Houston’ has been more successful than Dallas in that regard, but pursuing Dirk Nowitzki may have struck a chord.
Nowitzki’s been with the Mavericks since they acquired him on draft night in 1998. He’s the organization’s all-time leading scorer, a sure-fire Hall of Famer and still ranks as one of the best power forwards in the league.
In Morey’s eyes, the only reason his pursuit of Nowitzki angered Cuban was because the latter feared it’d work out for the Rockets.
“But let’s be clear: If the money’s equal between the Rockets and Mavericks, I think players are picking Houston. Every time. For Dwight [Howard], I just don’t think it was a hard choice between us and Dallas. If you want to win, you’re going to want to join our organization. We have a first-team All-NBA player in his prime [James Harden]. They have an enormously talented superstar [Dirk Nowitzki] but he obviously isn’t 24 years old.
“The choice was pretty obvious between the two teams. Dwight is the smart guy in this.”
Nowitzki ultimately remained with the Mavericks. Nevertheless, Houston’s approach generated—or built upon—tension.
The previously alluded to back-and-forth banter seemed harmless in its nature. At most, it came off as friendly competition with a bit of a rivalry-based edge.
Or so it seemed.
Debating which team has the superior roster is all fine and well. Fans and analysts will be doing the same thing throughout the course of the preseason, regular season and playoffs. That’s where the basic nature of this debate ends and the controversy begins.
Cuban’s most recent comments called into question the way Morey does business and how little he seems to care for player chemistry. Morey inevitably responded to these comments.
Here’s what he had to say:
In Cuban’s most recent baiting of the Rockets, he proclaimed that Morey had little regard for player chemistry, relying largely on the merits of math. Morey seethed over the premise and fired back to Yahoo Sports: “I completely reject it.”
“Our teams have had great chemistry, and it’s something we believe in. Hey, if Mark believed so much in chemistry, he wouldn’t have busted up a title team for cap room. He’s trying to reunite a lot of those people now, bringing back the center [Tyson Chandler] from that title team. Maybe he’s got some chemistry religion recently.
“He’s tripled his analytics staff. If he’s equating analytics with not caring about chemistry, well, he’s tripling down on it. I think he’s smart to paint a competitor in a negative light, but none of those statements are lining up. He says that we’re the team that you sign with and then we will trade you, when that’s what he said he would’ve done with Dwight.
“We don’t care about chemistry, but he busted up a championship team for what he hoped cap room could do.”
Neither man is especially wrong.
Cuban’s accusation of not caring for team chemistry are suspicious considering he let Tyson Chandler walk directly after he anchored the Mavericks’ NBA championship run. Dallas also let breakout postseason star J.J. Barea walk for nothing at all.
Financially, the decisions made sense. A case could be made that either or both the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks overpaid for the respective players. As an owner with deep pockets and a recent championship, however, Cuban was expected to retain his key contributors.
He didn’t.
On Morey’s front, the lack of care for player chemistry isn’t the most atrocious accusation. He let fan and locker room favorite Chandler Parsons go for nothing and replaced him with Trevor Ariza.
Ariza is a fantastic asset, but he and Parsons are on similar levels of ability. Ariza’s been on a championship team before, but he’s also 29; Parsons is 25.
Regardless of their debatable decisions, suggesting that neither care for player chemistry—or in some ways, player happiness—seems to be a bit of a stretch.
In this powerhouse debate, both Cuban and Morey have made accurate and inaccurate statements. They’ve also extended accusations that are more personal than business-related.
The games between the Mavericks and Rockets are going to have an extra level of tenacity in 2014-15.
Reggie Miller’s Family Scare
In one tragic and terrifying moment, the NBA community was removed from its fandom and sports biases. Fortunately, the scare was neutralized by a happy ending.
It started with a missing person’s case.
Hall of Fame player and TNT analyst Reggie Miller sent out a tweet from his official Twitter account that his niece, Nikki Miller, had gone missing.
My niece Nikki Miller is missing. Anyone with info please contact the Orange County Sheriff Dept. at 714-647-7000. pic.twitter.com/0jMvOg53ii
— Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) September 29, 2014
Over 35,000 people retweeted the message to bring attention to this tragic incident. Roughly five hours later, the Indiana Pacers legend sent out a second tweet.
His niece returned home.
Happy to let everyone know that my niece, Nikki Miller is home. Thank you to everyone who sent prayers n thoughts, they were answered.
— Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) September 30, 2014
Say I love you to everyone you cherish. We’re both relieved and thrilled to hear that the Miller family has one of their loved ones back home.
Around The League
- According to Paul Coro of AZCentralSports, the Phoenix Suns have signed Marcus and Markieff Morris to contract extensions. Markieff signed a four-year deal worth $32 million, while Marcus inked for four years and $20 million. The 25-year-old twins experienced career-best seasons in 2013-14 with Markieff averaging 13.8 points in 26.6 minutes and Marcus tallying 9.7 points in 22.0 minutes.
- Per Marc Stein of ESPN, the Boston Celtics signed Evan Turner to a two-year fully guaranteed deal worth $6.7 million. Turner averaged 17.4 points in 54 games with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2013-14, but saw his production plummet upon being traded to the Pacers. Boston will utilize him early as a backup to Jeff Green and ball-handler in Rajon Rondo’s early-season absence.