Full-Court Press

Cuban making his Mark in Chicago

Well, it's official, Mark Cuban is in the hunt for the Cubbies.

If Cubs fans (and players) could vote for a new owner, Cuban would be their man -- no question. Cuban has the reputation of having a bottomless wallet. He is a billionaire, after all.  And the long-suffering Cubs lovers think he might make their team the Yankees of the National League.

Not so fast. If they've been paying attention to the Mavs the last few years, they'd realize Cuban has definitely tightened the purse strings and gotten more prudent about his spending. (Remember Michael Finley, member of the NBA champions San Antonio Spurs?)

While charismatic Cuban may be the people's choice in Chicago, there's no question he's not Bud Selig and the MLB owners'  choice. He's like Borat coming to dinner at that genteel Southern mansion. A turd in the proverbial punch bowl.

So, who knows? Cuban may be be serious about buying the Cubs, or he may also be doing this just to ruffle the feathers of the MLB peacocks. Cuban is not the only bidder in this high-dollar auction, and many of the other interested conglomerates have closer ties to Chicago.

For now, Cuban will be giving us a reason to pay attention to baseball in the second half. Heaven knows the Rangers can't say that.

-- Jeff Caplan, Rick Press

Help on the way?

Chris Webber, Steve Francis and James Posey are on the Mavs' radar, according to beat writer Jeff Caplan.

Who would you like to see join the team and why?

Mavs on 21 tonight

The Mavs' first Summer League game in Las Vegas today against Kevin Durant and the Seattle SuperSonics is going to be shown tape delayed at 7 p.m. tonight on TXA 21. It's also on NBA TV tonight at 11 p.m. Set your DVRs now.

-- Jeff

About the authors

Jeff Caplan is the Star-Telegram's Mavs beat writer. Now in his ninth year with the paper, Caplan will bring you an inside look at the home team as well as the entire league.

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Jan Hubbard has come full circle with the Star-Telegram. After covering the expansion Mavericks for the first three years of their existence, he left to work at newspapers and magazines in Dallas and New York before returning to the Star-Telegram in 2005. He is a bit cantankerous about certain things, most notably refusing to call the Mavericks "Mavs" because it is a distortion of the nickname they took 27 years ago.

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Joe Garza has been an editor with the Star-Telegram since 2003 and has been an NBA fan since short-shorts were the rage and the Finals were tape-delayed. Garza helps cover the Mavs and the league, but isn’t as close to the team, hence his role as “Mavs Lite.”

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Scooter Hendon works in the Star-Telegram newsroom, mostly sitting in front of a computer and digging up trivial NBA information that none of his co-workers want to hear. Swimming nightly in a sea of numbers, the self-proclaimed Hoops Nerd seeks out interesting, obscure nuggets of information.

Gerald Wallace, really?

So the Mavs have said they would really like to add Charlotte free agent Gerald Wallace. And on the surface, that sounds like a great idea. He's athletic, a good defender and likes to do the dirty work. But the reality is that he put up numbers on a bad team, and he is a flat-out awful jump shooter. It's either dunk or layup, because Wallace can't even make free throws.

This reminds me a lot of last off-season, when the Mavs just had to have Raptors free-agent guard Mike James. Thank goodness that never worked out.

The same thing will happen this time, because Wallace will probably be way out of the Mavs' price range. Besides, the Mavs already have a better version of Wallace. His name is Josh Howard. And he can shoot.

-- Garza, Mavs Lite

Mavs summer league roster

Here it is:

No.    Name                        Pos    Ht./Wt.    Birthdate    College

13    Maurice Ager               G       6-5/202    2/9/84        Michigan State

10    Eddie Basden               G       6-5/215    2/15/83      North Carolina-Charlotte

54    Brandon Bass                     F       6-8/240    4/30/85    LSU

11    Jose Juan Barea           G        6-0/175    6/26/84    Northeastern

30    Warren Carter              F        6-9/220    4/23/85    Illinois

7    DeSagana Diop               C        7-0/280    1/30/82     Oak Hill Academy HS

32    Leonardo Dos Santos    F        6-11/230    10/6/84    Brazil

33    Nick Fazekas                F        6-11/235    6/17/85    Nevada

45    Caleb Green                F        6-8/238    7/10/85    Oral Roberts

2    Jamon Gordon              G        6-3/212    7/18/84    Virginia Tech

21    Pops Mensah-Bonsu      F        6-9/240    9/7/83    George Washington                      

20    Jared Newson              G       6-5/215    9/26/84    Tennessee-Martin       

9    Renaldas Seibutis           G       6-5/180    12/25/85    Lithuania      
23    Reyshawn Terry           F        6-8/232    4/7/84    North Carolina 
24    Clay Tucker                G        6-3/195    6/14/80    Wisconsin-Milwaukee   

Mavs working the phones for free agents

Donnie Nelson initiated free-agent conversations Sunday with the representative for Devean George, James Posey, P.J. Brown and Mikki Moore, plus made an inquiry into Charlotte free-agent forward Gerald Wallace, widely considered one of the top free agents available.

Wallace, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward, has plenty of suitors and will be difficult for the Mavs to land. He’s coming off a breakout season, his third with Charlotte and sixth in the league, in which he averaged 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.

He made $5.5 million last season and could command a Josh Howard-like $9 million or $10 million. The Mavs can only go as high as their midlevel exception, expected to be about $6 million (the league is still working on the exact figure), so a deal to land Wallace would involve a sign-and-trade.

“As far as caliber of player, certainly athleticism has it’s place with us,” said Nelson, the Mavs president of basketball operations. “From a financial perspective, it’s hard to know if it’s a fit for us.”

The Bobcats have room under the salary cap and have indicated that they want to re-sign Wallace even though they made a draft-day trade for Jason Richardson, who can play the same position.

Wallace also plays the same position as Howard.

“Sign-and-trades are a little harder to do in all likelihood,” Nelson said. “A lot of things have to come together to make that happen.”

Several players agreed to terms quickly Sunday, including Jason Kapono, who leaves Miami to join Toronto, reportedly agreeing to a four-year, $24 million deal.

That could signal the departure of Toronto free agent Mo Peterson, a career 37.1-percent 3-point shooter. He made $4.6 million last season. The Mavs are looking for a shooter and want to add athleticism in the frontcourt.

Also on the Mavs’ radar is Matt Barnes, the gritty forward from Golden State. He has said his first option is to return to the Warriors, but they have to choose between Barnes and restricted free agent Mickael Pietrus, who could also interest the Mavs.

The Mavs are also moving forward on re-signing sixth man Jerry Stackhouse.

Rookies practice

Rookies Nick Fazekas and Reyshawn Terry went through their first Mavs practice Sunday at

American Airlines Center in preparation for the NBA Summer League, which starts Friday in

Las Vegas.

Fans can get an early peek at the rookies when the Mavs’ summer league team, coached by assistant Joe Prunty, takes on the Chinese National team and No. 6 pick Yi Jianlian on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as part of the Global Games at SMU’s Moody Coliseum.

-- Jeff Caplan