Donuts: The Kidd Bid And Exclamation Marks!!

     Josh Howard speaks! Yao Ming breaks! Cristal Taylor moves! K-Mart forgives! Nellie’s a dirty double-crosser! The Mavericks are a top NBA free-agent destination. … and we’re gonna prove that just as soon as a free agent comes here! Tuesday Morning Donuts! Exclamation marks!

    Let’s begin with the Kidd Bid, as New York plans on sitting down with the Mavs’ free-agent point guard tonight at midnight … but might be surprised to see a familiar face from Dallas pulling up a chair to the same table:

     Except. …

     Remember that Kidd lives in New York. Remember that he’ll almost certainly also visit Cleveland, LA and maybe Portland. ... and he doesn't even live in those cities! Remember that he’ll visit with the Mavs, too. …

    And now know that camping out in New York as you read this is, according to Sefko, none other that Mark Cuban.

     An important point here that speaks to the importance of Kidd in the Mavs’ summer-plans pecking order: Dallas doing the Kidd deal not only clarifies what comes next – it also gives that ensuing MLE signing another reason to want to come here.

     Yes, believe it: Guys want to play with Jason Kidd. Still.

     DONUT 2: So MAYBE Yao is done. And if he’s done, MAYBE the Rockets are put in a personnel tizzy. But all these MAYBE’S mean definitively that Houston should blow it up, not re-sign Artest, not dump T-Mac, not remain afloat in contention as they have in recent years even when Yao and T-Mac have been hurt?

    Hey, I want the Mavs to pounce on any foes that are limping and lame. I’m not convinced that because Yao is limping, that means Houston is lame.

    DONUT 3: Josh Howard is back home for his basketball camp, talking to the media on video and … it’s controversy-free!

     DONUT 4: As soon as I invent a realistic way of getting Carlos Boozer or Rip Hamilton to Dallas, I’ll let you know. I mean, I can assume Boozer thinks Utah is a bad city. And I can assume Rip is tired of being a mute under Coach Curry. But that’s as far as I’ve gotten here. …

    DONUT 5: When I’m told the Mavs are interested in a certain guy … and then I hear the San Antonio Spurs are interested in the same guy. … I breathe a sign of relief.

     DONUT 6: Funny angle from Phoenix, where they are bitching that the Amare-to-Golden State deal evaporated because Nellie “double-crossed’’ Steve Kerr.

     Of course, one man’s “double-cross’’ is another man’s “Nellie-knows-what-he’s-doing-and-Kerr-doesn’t.’’

    DONUT 7: The D-League affiliations. The Rox have their own team. And after next year, of course, the Baby Mavs will play in Frisco.

    DONUT 8: A question for you, Dear Reader: If this summer the Mavs … a) retain Kidd, b) use the MLE on a ‘Sheed/McDyess/Varejao forward, c) swap The Stack Chip for a starter at either the 2 or the 5 and d) keep Josh Howard under the speed limit. … will you consider that a wildly successful summer?

    Good. Me too. Happy shopping, everybody!

    DONUT 9: Sports Illustrated ranks the Dallas Mavericks as the NBA’s sixth most attractive destination.

     Dallas: Mark Cuban is a players' owner, and there's nothing he says or does that the guys on the Mavericks roster wouldn't say or do if they could get away with it (or afford the fines). All NBA players owe a debt to this franchise, too, for upping to ante on treatment and amenities, little perks that fall just short of salary-cap violations.

    No arguments from this space. … just the hope that the Mavs prove SI to be correct.

    DONUT 10: Cristal Taylor is on the move. 

    DONUT 11: You don’t have to Tweet yourself to be on Twitter. You can simply follow to to get quicky updates in 140 characters or fewer. Take a look! twitter.com/fishsports

    DONUT 12: K-Mart says he’s allowed Mark Cuban to make up with him. Good. Now we just gotta make sure Lydia, Trina, LaLa, Lady Gaga, Coochi-Coochi, The Pink Ladies and the rest of the Thugettes are beyond their red-soda-pop-throwing stage.