Mark Cuban Happy the Mavericks Not ‘Stuck’ Like Brooklyn Nets


Mavericks owner Mark Cuban faced a mountain of criticism from fans and media when he blew up team after winning the NBA Finals in 2011. When he looks at the ongoing, expensive disaster in Brooklyn, Cuban feels vindicated by his unpopular decision to slash costs in Dallas. Per the Star-Telegram: “Cuban knows the Nets have the highest payroll in the NBA at $102.2 million, and knows that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is in a position were Mavs’ fans wanted Cuban to be in two years ago. Strapped by the salary cap. The Mavs won the NBA title in 2011 and decided to allow several key pieces to walk via free agency, including Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, and Caron Butler. And the following season Jason Terry and Jason Kidd left the Mavs’ stable. Had Cuban adhered to the wishes of the players — and the Mavs’ fans — and re-signed all those players, he would have been in the same position the Nets are on right now. Handcuffed with a bunch of bloated salaries tied to a bunch of old guys on their last legs — save Barea. That scenario would have prevented the Mavs from having any salary cap flexibility going forward, because Cuban would have been fighting a massive luxury tax bill with an aging team like the one the Nets have. With luxury tax responsibilities, the Nets’ will have to fork over $190 million in salary this season. ‘It’s not just you’re stuck for a week or you’re stuck for half a season, you’re stuck,’ Cuban said. ‘Now the rules have gotten worst you’re even more stuck. If you look across the board a lot of guys would have been our guys and they’ve been hurt a lot. One’s a coach now (in Kidd) and two of our key players (Chandler and Terry) would have been hurt. You never know, but that was definitely a fear.'”