MAVS NEWS:

[F Gump]

But you simply CAN'T tank with a healthy Luka. It think it would start the clock on his departure as a Mav.

Sure you can. As good as he is, the mere presence of Luka alone doesn't guarantee enough wins to make a difference.

To be clear, there's no such thing as a tank job that has the cooperation of players. They (including Luka) will all play to win when they are in the game.

But the idea that Luka can "one-man-team" the Mavs to excellence is just wrong, and in fact the more Luka tries to do that, the worse their prospects become. With some judicious "load management" choices and a trade or some key injuries here or there, any team will take a nose dive, and it's not out of the question that the Mavs may already be playing that game.

As to the question of whether they can do it in a way that is advantageous, that's a much different matter --- I am no fan of Cuban's GM-ing skills, so I'm certainly not one to argue over whether they can tank right. But shoddy GM-ing can just as easily mess up a different path (using trades and free agent signings instead). So I'm much in favor of the most advantageous route, no matter who is driving the bus.