Full-Court Press

Barry or Cassell?

Now that the Mavs have their backup center, signing 6-11 Jamaal Magloire Tuesday, they still have one open roster spot and their mid-level exception to spend.

The two big names out there are Brent Barry and Sam Cassell. Barry was waived Friday by the Sonics after being traded there by the Spurs. If Barry is going to re-sign with the Spurs, as most initially expected, he's doing one heck of a sales job to make it at least look like this whole thing wasn't a wink-wink deal between the Spurs and young Sonics GM Sam Presti, the former Spurs assistant GM. Barry has the Suns and Rockets waiting and to some extent the Mavs. He's expected to make a decision at some point today.

As for Cassell, who is expected to be bought out by the Clippers by Wednesday so he can join another team and be eligible for the playoffs, has given every indication that he wants to join good buddy Kevin Garnett in Boston. He'd make a nice fit for the Mavs, who are currently going with 6-8 Devean George as a point forward to back up Jason Kidd. J.J. Barea is their only other choice as long as coach Avery Johnson wants to play Jason Terry exclusively at shooting guard.

-- Jeff Caplan

Source: Magloire a done deal

Center Jamaal Magloire, released by the Nets on Friday, will sign with the Mavericks when he clears waivers later this evening, according to a league source.

The source was unsure of Brent Barry's intentions once he becomes a free agent later today. Barry, traded from San Antonio to Seattle last week and subsequently cut by the Sonics, is considering the Spurs, Suns, Mavs and Rockets. Reports earlier today suggested the 3-point specialist was leaning toward the Suns.

Magloire, 6-11, 265, played in just 24 games for the Nets, averaging 1.8 points and 3.4 rebounds. Since becoming a surprise All-Star in 2003-04 when averaged 13.6 points and 10.4 rebounds with New Orleans, he's bounced around to Milwaukee, Portland and New Jersey.

He'll rejoin former Nets teammates Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright with the Mavs. Magloire, 29, could be a valuable piece backing up starter Erick Dampier in the competitive Western Conference. The Mavs sent DeSagana Diop to the Nets as part of the blockbuster trade.

Magloire will sign a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum.

The Mavs will have one more open roster spot on the 15-man roster.

The Mavs play at San Antonio on Thursday and return home on Friday to face Sacramento.

-- Jeff Caplan.

Houston has big problem

The Rockets, the hottest team going with a 12-game win streak and right on the Mavs' heels, just found out center Yao Ming is out for the season with a foot fracture.

Ouch. That's really too bad. This season is too much fun to see a surging team lose one of its top players. The Rockets probably just became a whole lot more interested in a player like Jamaal Magloire, who is high on the Mavs' wish list to sign when he clears waivers at 6 tonight.

The Rockets are in town on March 6.

-- Jeff Caplan

Picking up the pace early

The Mavs look like they are making a concerted effort to get back on the offensive fast break more. They aren't letting the clock wind down much and are attacking more. Guess they finally realized that Jason Kidd is best utilized with a frenetic pace. They're getting steals and converting well also.
-Scooter Hendon

Another Cuban gem

The Mavericks owner also says that Jason Kidd's arrival has been great for Avery Johnson, who spent so much time running up and down the sideline before Kidd's arrival, calling plays, directing traffic, screaming at players.

"Avery’s been able to work out a half hour longer every day," Cuban said, because he’s been able to sit down so much during the game.

-- Jan Hubbard

Kidd paying off -- kind of

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was in the middle of his pregame workout and talking about Jason Kidd's impact on the team. Cuban was asked if there had been an increase in jersey sales and he said: "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah."

But, of course, to make the deal with New Jersey to bring Kidd to Dallas, Cuban had to fork over $17 million in salaries and luxury taxes. So putting Kidd's commercial impact in perspective, Cuban said:

"Only $16 million to go."

-- Jan Hubbard

ROSTER DEADLINE CORRECTION!!!

I should have posted this earlier in the day, but I do need to make a clarification about the roster deadline of March 1. In today's paper I reported that free agents must be signed by March 1 in order to be on the playoff roster. This is not true.

The scenario I should have stated is that a late-season roster addition is NOT eligible for the playoff roster only if that player was on another team's roster as of March 1. So, for example, Jamaal Magloire, a center the Mavs are interested in signing, he can be added to the 15-man regular season roster at any point and still be eligible for the playoff roster because the Nets resleased him prior to March 1. Last season the Mavs signed Kevin Willis at the beginning of April, but because he was not on another team's roster at any point from March 1 on, he was eligible for the Mavs' playoff roster.

Magloire is being pursued by several teams so he will likely be signed quickly this week. A good example of a player that could be an addition to some team after March 1 and still be eligible for the playoff roster is P.J. Brown. Brown decided not to play this season, but he hasn't ruled out a return to help a contender in the postseason.

I certainly regret the error and hope it didn't cause too much confusion. In this business, accuracy is everything, and I take that very seriously. My credibility is on the line. Unfortunately, mistakes do happen. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

-- Jeff Caplan

Catching up with...the Chicago Bulls

The Mavericks will try to make it three in a row as they return home for one game. Their opponent is the Chicago Bulls, who they beat in early December 103-98. The Mavs have won 17 of their last 19 against the Bulls.

Big trade, big changes
Only 1 1/2 seasons into signing a big contract with the Bulls, Ben Wallace was traded away to the Cavaliers along with Joe Smith in exchange for Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown. Now, the Bulls have gotten a lot smaller (albeit younger) and have Hughes, who is one of the most maddeningly inconsistent guards in the game. It remains to be seen if this will work, but the Bulls season was going nowhere fast, so they evidently felt the need to shake things up some more.

Skiles out
Speaking of shaking things up, coach Scott Skiles was fired on Christmas eve, and Jim Boylan is running the show now. Skiles had a tumultuous 9-16 start to the season, and Boylan has showed a slight improvement in record with the Bulls at 13-17 under him. Still, they are 2 1/2 games back from the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and could find their way if they can put together a decent stretch run.

Youngsters asked to step up
With the Bulls getting smaller by trading away Wallace, young big men Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas are playing more minutes because of it. Both have averaged above 25 minutes in their last three games and have had some good games to show for it. Thomas has had 18 points in his last two games and Noah had 14 points and 10 rebounds two games ago.

Burning question
Does this trade improve their chances of cracking the weak Eastern Conference playoff group?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Timberwolves are not friends of the free-throw line

The Timberwolves don't get to the free-throw line much, and that is very evident by tonight's game. On the season, they rank 28th in free-throw attempts, dead last in free throws made and are 26th in free-throw percentage. So far in today's game, they are 4 of 7 from the line while the Mavs are 17-22, which is a big part of why the Mavs have stayed tight in this one.

-Scooter Hendon

Similar quarters

The box score looks rather funny right now. The Mavs keep opening up decent leads here and there, only to let the T'wolves slip right back in. Because of that, you'll see that the Mavs and T'wolves have scored the exact same amount in each quarter. 24-24-23 for each team has the score tied at 71-71. Let's see if somebody can break that mold this quarter.

-Scooter Hendon