March 2004 Dallas Mavericks Wiretap

Shaq's Wife Wants to Go to Dallas

Jun 30, 2004 10:58 PM

Shaquille O'Neal's wife, Shaunie, has told the entertainment magazine show "Extra" that a trade to Dallas Mavericks is fine by her.

"Right now, I'd love to go to Dallas," she said during an interview that will air Thursday night. "Love to go! ... Hint, hint, so [Mavericks owner] Mark [Cuban], if you're listening ...."

Shaunie O'Neal was giving a TV tour of the family's 18-bedroom Los Angeles mansion, which is now on the market for $7.5 million.

Selling the mansion was planned whether Shaq remained with the Lakers or not.  

"Now it just seems more dramatic than it is, but whatever works. ... If this means business, then hey, we mean business!" Shaunie O'Neal said.

"We'll have to take a look at [a trade for Shaq]," Cuban told the Star-Telegram. "But it just depends on which players [are involved].  Anything is possible, but we really like the group of guys that we have now. We've got a young nucleus and an experienced nucleus, and that's a great combination."

"It's a different world financially right now, but there's only one Shaq, and there's only one Tracy McGrady, and there's only one Dirk," Cuban said.  "Those are very, very special top-five, top-tier players."

On paying O'Neal's bulky remaining contract dollar amount:  "I'm willing to accept the salary. It's not going to be cheap in either case, but those are the type of players that I said that I'm willing to pay for."

ESPN

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

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Nash Keen on Hollywood

Jun 30, 2004 5:25 AM

Steve Nash's agent has indicated that his client would welcome a deal that would send him to the Lakers.  With the Mavericks selection of Devin Harris, it has been clear that any Shaquille O'Neal trade to the Mavericks would send Nash to L.A.

FoxSports.com

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

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Shaq Deal Won't Happen

Jun 29, 2004 7:25 AM

The more it looks like Dirk is to be involved in any Shaq trade, the more it looks like the Mavs will pull out of the sweepstakes.

On June 18, O'Neal demanded a trade from the Lakers. About the same time, McGrady talked about wanting to get traded to the Mavericks. That prompted Cuban to call both the Lakers and the Magic.

"We said, 'Hey, we're interested, and if there's something that you think will work, give us a call,' " Cuban said. "And our phone's not ringing."

Apparently Cuban has let it be known Dirk Nowitzki is not going anywhere.

"We'll have to take a look at it," Cuban said. "But it just depends on which players [are involved]."

"We think we've got the Big Three, which is a great nucleus for now," Cuban said. "And we think we've got the next Big Three with Josh and Marquis and Devin.

"Anything is possible, but we really like the group of guys that we have now. We've got a young nucleus and an experienced nucleus, and that's a great combination."

Star Telegram

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

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Despite Superman Status, Shaq Won't Change Uniforms in a Flash

Jun 25, 2004 11:06 PM

A general manager called the Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak recently.

Would they really trade Shaq?  Yes.

The price tag?  Two all-stars and a young player with potential.  

No thanks said this team's GM, who was not a Dallas front
office executive.  

It will take time for all the offers to come in, be processed, rejected (in almost all cases), and for the drama to play itself out.

But in the end, the Mavericks may not have to part with Dirk Nowitzki to land the most dominant big man in the history of basketball.

"All of these pie in the sky things are thrown out there, and that's exactly what they are," said Donnie Nelson, the Maverick president of basketball operations.

So Los Angeles wants two all-stars?  Antoine Walker and Steve Nash fit the bill.  

The longer this plays out, the better the chances are that Shaq's resolve to leave LA will become firmer, and then the less likely the Maverick package will have to include Dirk.

The Dallas Morning News

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

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Shaq Could Be Traded by July 1; Spurs Dust off Silver Carpet for Kobe

Jun 25, 2004 3:07 PM

As July 1st moves closer and closer, the Lakers are becoming slightly nervous that they will be unable to move Shaquille O'Neal.  With Mavericks owner Mark Cuban standing as firm as he can on not relinquishing Dirk Nowitzki, the Lakers are speaking to other clubs with even greater urgency.  Reports indicate that the Clippers, Pacers and even the Kings are in the running.

If O'Neal is not traded before July 1st, the Lakers situation with Kobe Bryant becomes that much trickier.  It is clear that it will take a small miracle for these two superstars to ever play together again and if O'Neal is still on the Laker roster, Kobe will likely test the open market with even greater tenacity.

The San Antonio Spurs are readying their summer courtship of a superstar, much in the same way they did last year for Jason Kidd.  Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will actively recruit Bryant to come to Texas, which is the place most suited for Kobe to win championships.  His goal this summer though, besides his Colorado trial, is to begin building a championship team up from scratch, a la his imitated idol Michael Jordan, with the Suns being the leading contenders in that category.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, NBA

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Webber or Walker Coming to Gotham?

Jun 25, 2004 2:57 PM

Reportedly Isiah Thomas has added the Sacramento Kings as a team interested in acquiring Kurt Thomas, with former Michigan star Chris Webber coming to Gotham in the exchange.  Also, a lot of smoke remains around the possible move for Antoine Walker.

Also reported is the possible return to the organization of Patrick Ewing.

New York Daily News

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, NBA

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Will Harris Learn Under Nash or Replace Him?

Jun 25, 2004 12:36 PM

By selecting Devin Harris with the fifth pick in the NBA Draft, the Mavericks may have found their point guard of the future.  

The question is how far into the future will Harris be running the Maverick show.

It seems almost any possible player combination from the Maverick roster has already been discussed as the potential package that will bring back Shaquille O?Neal from the Lakers.  

Steve Nash could very well be in such a package, so speculation is that Harris was taken for that reason.  
But the Mavericks deny it.

"Steve Nash, along with Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki, is the heart and soul of the Mavericks," said Maverick president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.  "We don't take that lightly. We're not kicking him to the side of the curb."

Bill Duffy, Nash?s agent, is skeptical.  

"It sounds like they're going in a different direction," Duffy said.  "We'll have to work with it, if that's the case."

Maverick owner Mark Cuban stated a consistent company position.  "Harris will be tutored by Steve, that's the plan," Cuban said.  "Steve is a star. Devin is his backup."

The Dallas Morning News

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

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Dampier to Become a Free Agent

Jun 24, 2004 1:24 PM

Warriors center Erick Dampier, according to ESPN.com, has elected to opt out of the final two years of his contract.  Dampier now becomes a competent consolation prize to any team seriously in the Shaquille O'Neal sweepstakes.  Dallas and Indiana (Dampier's first team) would likely be two of the more aggressive teams in play for his services.  Also, if O'Neal is dealt, the Lakers would likely be in contention and of course the Warriors will be able to offer the most money.

ESPN

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, NBA

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Wiz & Mavs Kick Off Deal-Making as Draft Day Arrives

Jun 24, 2004 3:25 AM

In a monumental trade that could set up what many expect to be an intense period of player movement centered around NBA Draft 2004, the Washington Wizards traded Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and the number 5 overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks for the Sixth Man of the Year, Antawn Jamison.  

The trade may be both a signal of the active off-season that is to come as well as a key catalyst that could have a direct impact on additional NBA player movement.  

That is to say, the Mavericks held out for the Wizards' first-round pick and may use the acquired Draft selection as bait for a bigger catch.  There is growing speculation that the Dallas brass is on the verge of putting together a package to acquire the NBA's most dominant center, Shaquille O'Neal.  

Jamison, 6'9", turned in 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds a game off the Mavericks' bench this past season.  He will not only be a starter for the Wizards but could emerge as one of the leading forwards in the Eastern Conference.  The 225-pound Jamison will be re-united with former Golden State Warriors teammate Gilbert Arenas.

Regarding salaries and money:  Stackhouse, a former all-star, has three more years left on his contract, with remaining payouts of $22.5 million. Jamison will make $12.5 million next season with an option year to follow.

This is the first major trade of the new Wizards' front office led by president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld, and character determinations may have played a role in the deal. Indeed, there is much reason to believe that the Wizard brass had come to consider both Stackhouse and Laettner to be negative influences on the club.  

The trade also reflects the Wizards' reluctance to continue gambling on unproven talent.  Tonight's Draft will be particularly loaded with young players who have little or no college basketball experience.  "It's probably not a Draft that's going to produce a lot of impact players right away," Grunfeld recently told the media at the NBA's pre-Draft camp in Chicago.

The Washington Post

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, NBA

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Jamison a Wizard.

Jun 23, 2004 9:15 PM

"The Mavericks, according to league sources, have acquired the No. 5 overall pick in Thursday's draft from Washington as part of a package that features Antawn Jamison, the newly minted Sixth Man of the Year, as the prize catch for the Wizards.

ESPN's David Aldridge reports that the Wizards also will send Christian Laettner and Jerry Stackhouse to the Mavericks in the deal."

Sources say the Mavericks hope to use the No. 5 pick to sweeten the package they can offer the Lakers in exchange for the disgruntled O'Neal. It is also possible, sources say, that the Mavericks will pursue additional trades that include Laettner and/or Stackhouse.

Laettner makes a return to Dallas and Jamison joins former teammate Gilbert Arenas in Washington.

The Mavericks are trying to sweeten the package for Shaq because they are trying to do the deal without adding Dirk Nowitski. The package could inlcude the pick, Antoine Walker, Steve Nash, and Josh Howard.

If the Mavericks can't use the pick in a deal they might possibly select Pavel Podkolzine.

ESPN

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, NBA

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Can Cuban?s Charm Woo Shaq?

Star Telegram

Mavs offer Nash+Dirk for Shaq...Suns offer Marion, JJ+ #7 for T-Mac

New York Times

Mavs Must Get Shaq at All Costs

The Dallas Morning News

The Shaq that Launched a Thousand Trade Rumors

Chicago Tribune

Shaq & T-Mac Happy Together in Dallas?

Star-Telegram

To Protect or Not to Protect: Expansion Rolls Are In

New York Times