Monday Donuts: Surprising Cuban And Donnie

     Sports Illustrated says it “would surprise no one to see the Mavericks trade for the No. 5 pick held by Washington.’’

     Well, I know two people it would surprise: Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson.

     Let’s start there with Monday Morning Donuts:

    DONUT 1: SI.com’s Ian Thomsen has been talking to Washington, from where this “Mavs-to-No. 5’’ rumor keeps circulating. But if you talk to Mavs higher-ups, you are told that this is Washington trying to stir up interest in pick No. 5 – because Washington itself has so little interest in it.

     The Wizards might sell it. They might arrange for a salary dump of Etan Thomas in the deal. And they might get Dallas to answer their phone calls over the course of the next few days. (Especially if the Wiz want to move a veteran stud.) But when SI.com says the Mavs are the second-mostly-likely team to vault up into the range of the Washington pick, SI.com is doing so without the benefit of having asked for the thoughts of Cuban and Donnie.

     DONUT 2: Book this: OKC is going to make a bid to the Clippers to get Blake Griffin.

     DONUT 3: The Knicks are trading up for Curry OR Rubio? It’s a NY rumor, which explains how and why it is both so attention-grabbingly specific and at the same time so nonsensically vague.

     DONUT 4: While the Knicks are, as usual, a Rumor Central when it comes to the Draft, the Blazers are in play as The Team Most Likely To Pursue Everybody In Free Agency. Portland is linked to pursuit of Kidd. And Hedo. And David Lee.

    I know Portland’s front office is bursting with refreshing fruit genius. But how, exactly, are they going to acquire Kidd, Hedo and Lee?

    I’m not making fun of the Blazers here; I’m making fun of writers who are obviously making stuff up. … because it’s unlikely that all three of these tales are true.

    DONUT 5: Tyler Hansbrough apparently had two stellar team workouts last week. Which makes you happy, doesn’t it Mavs fan? Because that means he’ll be taken way before No. 22 and you won’t have to deal with BWS nightmares.

    DONUT 6: Speaking of Rubio: While the DMNews columnist insists “This is the summer Donnie Nelson gets all of the credit or the blame’’ (it is? Why?), the Memphis columnist writesa Rubio-based piece and says the same thing about the Grizzlies’ situation. Except the Memphis columnist actually has a point. 

    DONUT 7: I should probably make more of this donut (maybe I’ll flush it out as the week goes on): The Mavs think so little of the readiness of the guys in this Draft that they believe that if they traded a core piece (like Josh or Jet) for any rookie but Blake Griffin – and relied on that as the centerpiece move of the summer -- it would set back the Dirk Era and end the 50-win run.

    DONUT 8: Here’s an oddly frank sentence written in the Oregonian:

    McMillan said three Blazers in particular are attracting serious attention around the league: Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez and Travis Outlaw.

    Not too often do you see it positioned out there so openly.

    At least we know that when rumors circulate on those three names, we’ll have the names right.

    DONUT 9: Hey, maybe they can trade Batum, Rudy and Outlaw for Kidd, Hedo and Lee!

    DONUT 10: Twitter. Join me. Be a follower. Which essentially means simply having access to the website Twitter.com/fishsports.

    DONUT 11: Trades are often a who-you-know, who-are-you-comfortable-with business. So Cuban talks to guys with whom he’s friendly, Donnie does the same, Keith Grant, too. … I think the next few weeks will be a good time for Rick Carlisle to buddy-up to an old pal, Detroit GM Joe Dumars. There are some ways for this team and that team to help one another, I think.

    DONUT 12: I mentioned over the weekend that LAC is making both Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby available for the right price. So, Dallas, which financially-attractive veteran piece would you like to trade for one of them?

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849am june 22 2009