Dwain Price of the Ft.Worth Star-Telegram reports: Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson and owner Mark Cuban are tight-lipped on they want to become the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.

"I don't want him to tell me now," Cuban said. "I want to focus on what we're doing now."

In May 2000, Nelson signed an 11-year, $22 million contract that called for him to be the Mavericks' coach and general manager for three seasons, the general manager for three seasons, then a consultant for five seasons. The coaching portion of Nelson's contract expires after this season, which, for the Mavs, opens Wednesday at Memphis.

Asked if he hopes to coach next season, Nelson, 62, chuckled and carefully said: "I don't really think this is the time to get into those kind of things. It might be perceived as me putting pressure on Mark or something. I'm not doing any of the above. Whatever is best for the organization will be my future."

While it's assumed that Nelson's son assistant coach Donnie Nelson will succeed his father, there are no guarantees.

"There are no automatics," Cuban said. "I'd be crazy to make decisions about stuff that who knows when it'll be happening.

If the Midwest Division had a theme song, it would be "Auld Lang Syne." Because big changes are coming to the division that basketball forgot.
   
Yao Ming is arriving, just as a busload of Hall of Famers and otherwise useful players are checking their reservations out of here. By next fall, the Midwest could be without David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Steve Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, the entire Memphis Grizzlies franchise and, of course, John Stockton and Karl Malone.
   
Then there's Denver, which dismantled its roster just to see what would grow out of the mess. The Nuggets have taken transition to an extreme.
   
The only Midwest team not contemplating a face lift is, not coincidentally, the best one: Dallas. And since when has Mark Cuban's team been known for its stability?

The Associated Press reports: Dallas coach Don Nelson and assistant Donnie Nelson were suspended for the season's first two games by the NBA, which also fined the team $150,000 Friday for contact with players who were ineligible for the draft.

The Nelsons -- Don is Donnie's father -- went to two private workouts in June in Yugoslavia.

It was the ninth time the Mavericks have been fined for a total of $1,155,000 since January, 2000, when Mark Cuban bought the team.

Marc Stein of espn.com reports: After missing out in their attempts to sign Rashard Lewis and Michael Redd, the Dallas Mavericks have turned to Walt Williams to address their void at small forward.

Williams, a 10-year veteran who spent the past three seasons in Houston, was expected to arrive in Dallas on Friday to take a physical and then sign a one-year deal Saturday for the $1,030,000 million veteran minimum.

The Mavericks' four-year, $12 million offer sheet to Milwaukee's Redd, a restricted free agent, was matched earlier this week by the Bucks. Seattle's Lewis contemplated a move to Dallas for much of the summer before opting to stay with the Sonics, who had the salary-cap flexibility to offer him a richer deal.

Dallas needs depth at small forward because Adrian Griffin (back) and Tariq Abdul-Wahad (knee) have struggled with their health, leaving the Mavericks exposed. Eduardo Najera is a combo small forward/power forward and newcomer Raja Bell has been the only other option at that spot to either spell or play alongside Michael Finley.

Williams, 32, averaged 9.4 points in 48 games for the Rockets last season, highlighted by 42.6-percent shooting from 3-point range.

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports that Wang Zhi-Zhi is almost a Clipper. On Thursday, the Mavericks will allow Zhi-Zhi to sign with Los Angeles, ending his two-year run with the Mavericks.  Dallas had the opportunity to match the 3-year, $6 million offer made by the Clippers and retain Zhi-Zhi, but they chose to let him go.

Mavs coach Don Nelson and owner Mark Cuban offered differing reasons why the 7-1 Center was let go.

"The main reason we're not matching is that Wang signed a contract with his country that he would return there in our off-season to play for their national team," Nelson said Wednesday. "When Wang broke that contract, he also broke his word with us. We have apologized to the Chinese Basketball Association and made it clear that we were in no way part of the reason why Wang never went back."

Cuban cited the luxury tax implications of the contract as the main reason for the decision. With the Mavericks already over the tax limit, Wang?s salary would be doubled and he would be relegated to reserve duty. Cuban said he understands the need for a trusting relationship with China's basketball officials. But the question of how much Wang would have been able to contribute this season also weighed heavily in the decision.

"He's a great player with lots of potential, but the reality on our team is that the coaching staff didn't think there would be more than 10 minutes per game for him," Cuban said. "That's what it came down to. But we wanted to hold off until the last minute in case somebody got hurt."

One day after having their offer to Michael Redd matched by the Milwaukee Bucks, Mike Fisher of Dallasbasketball.com reports that the Mavs are prepared to let their own restricted free agent, Wang Zhizhi, find a new career in LA.

A source tells Fisher that Wang might be an unhappy camper and a constant distraction. "It?s just not worth it," a source said.

There seems just one scenario that would cause the Mavs to change their minds: an injury to a roster member just before the Thursday deadline.

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Mavericks are more concerned with what?s going on off the court than the team?s play on the court. After a sloppy 91-83 pre season win over the Nuggets, the Mavs were focusing on the situations surrounding Michael Redd and Wang Zhi-Zhi.

Mavericks? owner Mark Cuban said that he expects to find out soon whether the Bucks will match the $12 million offer offered to free agent Michael Redd.  The Mavericks play the Bucks on Friday night in Milwaukee.

"If they're going to re-sign him, it would make sense to do it while we're up there to kind of show us up," Cuban said. "If they're going to match, I think they'll do it [Friday]. I'm sure if they're going to sign him, they'd like to get him in camp as soon as possible."

Also, with the announcement that Wang Zhi-Zhi has been kicked off the Chinese National Team for failing to comply with Chinese officials may affect the way the Mavericks handle his free agent situation. Wang was signed to a $6 million offer sheet by the Clippers and the Mavericks have the opportunity to match.

It was originally assumed that the Mavs would allow Wang to leave if they were able to sign Redd. If Milwaukee were to match Redd?s offer the Mavs would then retain Wang. That may no longer be the case.

"We want to maintain as many options as possible," Cuban said. "But one [acquiring Redd] is really not related to the other [matching Wang's offer] anymore."

The Mavericks are very sensitive to maintaining good relations with China. Keeping Wang after his banishment may not be received well by the Chinese Basketball Association.

The Bucks have until Tuesday to decide if they want to match the Mavericks' offer to Redd. The Mavericks have until Wednesday to match Wang's LA offer. "It's been an awkward situation from the start," said Donnie Nelson, president of basketball operations. "We're going to sit down with Nellie, Mark and myself and discuss it in depth."

The Associated Press reports that Wang Zhi-Zhi has been dismissed from the Chinese National Team for deciding to play with the Los Angeles Clippers instead of at the Asian Games, state media reported Thursday.

Wang, who signed last week with the Clippers, has shown an "absence of professional standards, indiscipline and indifference to the interests of the nation,'' according to a statement by the China Basketball Association published in the Beijing Times and the Beijing Morning Post.

He defied the association's orders to play for China at last month's World Championships and the Asian Games so he could work out in Los Angeles.

"Participating in international competitions -- winning glory for the country -- is every athlete's honor and obligation,'' the statement said. "But when the motherland needed him, he did not care about what's good for the country and was unwilling to serve his country.''

Wang can return to the Chinese team if he "admits his wrongdoing. He still has the opportunity to correct his mistakes.'' the statement said.

Tom Enlund of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Michael Redd would love to stay in Milwaukee. If the Bucks can?t come upo with the moiney to pay Redd, he will be happy to play in Dallas. All of this is according to Ray Allen who spoke with Redd recently.

Last week, Redd signed a 4-year, $12 million offer sheet with the Mavericks. The Bucks have another week to decide whether to match the offer and keep Redd, or let him go to Dallas without compensation.

"There's a little disappointment on his part, that it took the whole summer and now we're playing and he's still home," Allen said Monday on the eve of the team's first exhibition game, tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Fargo, N.D. "But it's not an us-vs.-you thing. It's business.

"At least now, he's comfortable that he has an offer on the table. He's not as nervous as before, when he thought he might have to play for minimum. He thinks Dallas would be a good situation if it comes to that. But his first choice is here."

And what would it mean to the Bucks if he would end up in Dallas?

"I wouldn't be as afraid because Dallas is in the Western Conference," Allen said. "We've nurtured him here for two years. He's going to blossom wherever he plays. We would lose another scorer but we would have to push forward with what we've got."

The Bucks have been very quiet on the Redd situation. Coach Geroge Karl was asked if signing Redd was more of a basketball decision or a business decision for the Bucks. "Basketball-wise, we want Michael on the team," Karl said. "I don't think anyone in the organization disagrees with that. What they're talking about is the balancing and judging the value.

"But I'm staying away from the business side. I get my five-minute update and that's it. I don't want details. I'm concentrating on the players who are on the court. They have worked hard; they deserve that."

Dwain Price of the Star Telegram reports that the Mavericks goal of improving their team defense this season is still a long way from being achieved. Mavs? coach Don Nelson was not impressed with the defense in Sunday?s Blue-White scrimmage game. Nelson spent all week going over some new defensive schemes with his team.

Nelson described the Blue and White teams' defensive efforts as "unacceptable."

"I was very pleased with about half of the squad's performance and very disappointed with about half of the other guys," Nelson said. "I didn't think the things that we've been working so hard at for the last week were noticeable enough. It seems that we forgot all the hard work we put in at the defensive end. I was disappointed in both teams in that we weren't better defensively at transition defense."

Nelson said that this week will continue to work on team defense. "Still, 90 percent of our emphasis will be on the defensive end because we didn't see enough on the floor, and we should have," Nelson said. "I guess that's human nature to revert back to old habits."

Steve Nash and Eduardo Najera led the Blue over the White 78-67 before 8,000 fans at American Airlines Center. Nash had 16 points and seven assists, while Najera revealed a new jump shot and finished with 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

Michael Finley led the White team with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and Evan Eschmeyer had 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for the Blue team. Nelson cited Nash as the player of the game because he set the tempo early.

Some players struggled in the scrimmage.

For the White team, Dirk Nowitzki missed 16 of 20 shots and had 14 points and seven rebounds. Nick Van Exel was 2-of-6 from the field and finished with four points, six assists and four turnovers. Raef LaFrentz, playing for the Blue team, missed 11 of 14 shots and had seven points, nine rebounds and five fouls.