Full-Court Press

A long strange trip for Buckner

Greg Buckner didn't stay in Minneapolis long after being traded by the Mavericks to the Timberwolves on Friday. Buckner boarded a charter plane with his new teammates and took off for Istanbul, Turkey, where the Wolves will train. Minnesota will play an exhibition against a Turkish team on Saturday and then will fly to London for an exhibition against the Celtics.

Minnesota is in for a rebuilding year and there are already questions about whether the 31-year-old Buckner will stick with the team. The Wolves traded Kevin Garnett in the off-season and that move resulted in an early candidate for understatement of the year.

This is from Wolves GM Kevin McHale: "We're pretty committed to making some changes,"

You think? Here's a report on the Timberwolves travels.

-- Jan Hubbard

Mavericks acquire Hassell

The Mavericks announced on their official web site Friday night that they had traded Greg Buckner to Minnesota for guard-forward Trenton Hassell, a six-year veteran who had played for two teams. At 6-5, 233, Hassell is a bigger player than Buckner, who is 6-4, 210. But Hassell, 28, is three years younger and will fill in the role of adding depth at shooting guard and small forward.

-- Jan Hubbard

Dirk on the way

Dirk Nowitzki is scheduled to arrive in the area tonight and along with the rest of the team, will take care of physicals over the weekend. The first public appearance is schedule for 2 p.m. Monday, which is media day, and you think Dirk might be asked a few questions about Golden State?

It has been a strange summer for a team that won 67 games last year. Never has a team been so good and so many wonder what went so wrong. It's going to be another long season of answering questions and the Mavericks will get more than their share on Monday.

-- Jan Hubbard

There is a Sampson in the Mavericks' future

The Mavericks have confirmed that they have invited three additional players to training camp, including Jamal Sampson, a 6-11, 235-pound center who has been with five teams in five years and has played only 72 of a possible 246 games. Also invited are former Texas Tech star Darvin Ham and Jared Newson, who played for the Mavericks' summer league team. The roster now stands at 18.

-- Jan Hubbard

As long as we're talking about others

In the item below this one, Mark Cuban responds to a question about Donald Trump. In this item, Don Nelson responds to a question about Mark Cuban. It seems that some people never get tired of talking about others, which, of course, is entertaining for the rest of us.

-- Jan Hubbard

Multi-tasking with The Donald

Mark Cuban may not be the greatest dancer in the world, but he certainly is capable of focusing intently on a variety of areas. And he continues to have little patience with Donald Trump, whose intelligence was questioned in the most unlikely of venues. (By the way, is there really such a thing as Trump Vodka?) Here's the report in the Cleveland Leader.

-- Jan Hubbard

A close call for Cuban

Mark Cuban said he's been having the time of his life on "Dancing with the Stars." As it turned out, his life expectancy was almost very short

Cuban was one of the two lowest couples with combined scores by the three-person judging staff and viewers, but in the end, he and his partner survived to advance to the next round.

It was a little surprising that Cuban was almost eliminated. He was not graded the lowest by the judges on Tuesday night. Boxer Floyd Mayweather had the lowest score among men, but apparently his fans are either more active or there are simply more of them because he survived.

Cuban lives on for another week. It is clear, however, that among the remaining couples, Cuban has the toughest task. Even ancient singer Wayne Newton got more votes, although since Newton has sung to about 15 generations of voters, he probably has a lot of fans out there.

-- Jan Hubbard

Mavericks begin quest for title

Well, not really. That doesn't start until a week from today when they have their first practice. But there is someone competing for a championship tonight -- namely, Mark Cuban, who takes the floor for the first time in "Dancing with the Stars."

The six women competitors opened the show on Monday and the six men are tonight. Cuban was already having fun last night when he was interviewed and described himself as a "lean, mean, dancing machine,' -- or at least words close to that.

So it obviously will be interesting to see how he fares. And he also will be competing for the older set. At 49, Cuban is the third oldest competitor on the show, although he's a pup compared to singer Wayne Newton (65). Actress Jane Seymour is 56. The youngest competitor is 23 so we'll see if youth or experience is a key component in the competition.

-- Jan Hubbard

Cuban Cub alert

Mark Cuban showed up for a Cubs game Monday night and, oddly, people were equally excited and apparently threatened. Interesting story today in the Chicago Tribune.

-- Jan Hubbard

Smooth Jazz disrupted

Utah was one of the better stories in the league last year. Two years after winning only 26 games, the Jazz won 51 and had the best record in the Northwest Division. But there is now trouble in Jazzland with star forward Andrei Kirilenko, apparently upset with the way he was used last year by Utah coach Jerry Sloan, demanding a trade.  There was one rumor that he might be shipped to Phoenix for Shawn Marion, but the Suns denied that they were interested. Regardless, it is good news for the Mavericks. Even though they finished 16 games better than the Jazz last season, Utah is an up and coming team that could continue to grow and become more of a threat to Dallas. But with one of its best players -- who still has $63 million left on his contract -- unhappy, the Jazz has a distraction that is obviously not conducive to playing top-level basketball.

-- Jan Hubbard