Mark Cuban denies Mavericks purposefully tanked to get back at Knicks: ‘Not a revenge guy’
NY Post
BOSTON — It wasn’t personal against the Knicks, according to Mark Cuban, just the business of building his NBA finalist.
By sitting their top players at the end of last season, the Mavericks increased their chances of both retaining their 2023 first-rounder and also keeping it away from the Knicks — who would’ve taken the pick as the final Kristaps Porzingis payment if it landed outside the top 10.
Asked if it felt like unintended revenge after the Knicks were caught tampering with Jalen Brunson, Cuban told The Post, “I’m not a revenge guy.”
“We never tanked anything,” the Mavericks owner said. “We just decided to play our younger players the last couple of games. But it’s [general manager] Nico Harrison’s and mine’s and [coach] Jason Kidd’s job to make the tough decisions. Nobody who decides to rebuild effectively likes it. When you play your young players, it’s not always fun. So we just felt it was time to go young.”
The NBA certainly didn’t view it as run-of-the-mill rebuilding, however, and fined the team $750,000.
The problem? The Mavericks still had an opportunity for the play-in tournament but sat Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, among others, for the final two games.
PHOENIX — Wednesday brought some cautiously optimistic updates for the Knicks frontcourt.
The Greatest Escape in franchise history was perpetrated by Glen Sather, when the general manager extricated himself and the Rangers from the final five years of Scott Gomez’s contract by moving the $7,357,143-per-year center to Montreal on June 30, 2009 after two years in New York.
The Yankees publicly are on the same page: Hal Steinbrenner, like Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone before him, said that issues with the club’s fundamentals did not hover over the team all season.
The first day of the rest of Daniel Jones’ dwindling time with the Giants arrived Wednesday, with Jones in the building, in the meetings, on the practice field (although not doing very much) and not at all part of the game plan for the next game, relegated to a non-participant role for the remainder of the season.
There will be a little extra magic for Knicks-Spurs on Christmas Day.
The quickest way for the Giants to climb out of quarterback hell is also the quickest way to extend their stay there for at least three more years.
The Lakers’ decision to keep Bronny James away from G League road games has sparked some debate about the level of preferential treatment the franchise is giving to LeBron’s son.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Rangers continue to flex their strength on the road this season.
One of Tom Thibodeau’s stated points of emphasis for the Knicks this season — to increase their volume of 3-point attempts to take advantage of their proficiency from the outside — is starting to come to fruition.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — It’s the best-case scenario for Filip Chytil and the Rangers.