08-03-2021, 11:05 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-03-2021, 11:30 AM by KillerLeft.)
Here are some random thoughts that my brain thinks, in no particular order:
1) Cuban butchered this explanation, but I think he point regarding "we never had cap space" is actually true (the way he meant to say it). During Fish's famous "11x50" when the team was GOOD, their cap was totally screwed constantly. They made every roster building mistake possible, imo, and it's a miracle the team was as good as it was. There probably were tons of people who wanted to play here back then, but there was just no way.
2) Having just agreed with him about something, I think Cuban is an off-putting jackass, and I think outside of a Mavericks message board we'd find that this is a commonly held opinion. Frankly, he's just not likable. This wouldn't be a problem if he weren't sooooo forward facing in his approach to this franchise.
3) Dallas is a good place to live - far from the negative that people paint it to be in these discussions. It's WAY more attractive than living in Minnesota, Utah, Oklahoma (I'm not even 100% sure what cities those teams come from), Charlotte, etc. BUT, it's NOT a draw for rich African Americans, in and of itself. Dallas is NOT very diverse, culturally, relative to other cities, and while people are super friendly here, it's not even as attractive as Houston to most African American millionaires, imo.
4) Piggy-backing off of #3, there are some cities, like LA, NY and Miami, that are so attractive in terms of glam and lifestyle that it's actually fairly enticing to be the first guy who signs there. While I maintain that Dallas isn't a negative, it's not the kind of place you sign to start a team era. When Luka is 28 and universally accepted/respected/worshiped by his peers (if he's still here, lol) people will want to sign here, imo.
5) Given #'s 3 and 4, I think it's fair to ask whether attempting to build the core of the team through free agency is even a wise strategy.
6) I think a lot of it is simpler than we think. Just like @"F Gump" often tries to remind us, Cuban and his management team have never really demonstrated that they are actually any good at the negotiation/deal closing side of this stuff. Simply put, they're just failing to execute their plans - often. Most of the time, actually.
7) In both the last era and the current one, Dallas is built around European players. They are becoming more and more accepted and respected in the league, and for good reason, but it sure seems like playing "with my friends" drives the bus with a lot of these free agency decisions. It's a fraternity, and the European chapter is simply smaller, not to mention that we can't really accurately paint all Euros with the same brush, as they're all from completely different countries. Spain and Lativa are far more strange to each other than California and Idaho.
I could probably give more answers, but I think it's basically a combo of all of that.
1) Cuban butchered this explanation, but I think he point regarding "we never had cap space" is actually true (the way he meant to say it). During Fish's famous "11x50" when the team was GOOD, their cap was totally screwed constantly. They made every roster building mistake possible, imo, and it's a miracle the team was as good as it was. There probably were tons of people who wanted to play here back then, but there was just no way.
2) Having just agreed with him about something, I think Cuban is an off-putting jackass, and I think outside of a Mavericks message board we'd find that this is a commonly held opinion. Frankly, he's just not likable. This wouldn't be a problem if he weren't sooooo forward facing in his approach to this franchise.
3) Dallas is a good place to live - far from the negative that people paint it to be in these discussions. It's WAY more attractive than living in Minnesota, Utah, Oklahoma (I'm not even 100% sure what cities those teams come from), Charlotte, etc. BUT, it's NOT a draw for rich African Americans, in and of itself. Dallas is NOT very diverse, culturally, relative to other cities, and while people are super friendly here, it's not even as attractive as Houston to most African American millionaires, imo.
4) Piggy-backing off of #3, there are some cities, like LA, NY and Miami, that are so attractive in terms of glam and lifestyle that it's actually fairly enticing to be the first guy who signs there. While I maintain that Dallas isn't a negative, it's not the kind of place you sign to start a team era. When Luka is 28 and universally accepted/respected/worshiped by his peers (if he's still here, lol) people will want to sign here, imo.
5) Given #'s 3 and 4, I think it's fair to ask whether attempting to build the core of the team through free agency is even a wise strategy.
6) I think a lot of it is simpler than we think. Just like @"F Gump" often tries to remind us, Cuban and his management team have never really demonstrated that they are actually any good at the negotiation/deal closing side of this stuff. Simply put, they're just failing to execute their plans - often. Most of the time, actually.
7) In both the last era and the current one, Dallas is built around European players. They are becoming more and more accepted and respected in the league, and for good reason, but it sure seems like playing "with my friends" drives the bus with a lot of these free agency decisions. It's a fraternity, and the European chapter is simply smaller, not to mention that we can't really accurately paint all Euros with the same brush, as they're all from completely different countries. Spain and Lativa are far more strange to each other than California and Idaho.
I could probably give more answers, but I think it's basically a combo of all of that.
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