SB Nation Atlanta: All Posts by Rodger Sherman

Adam DePietro, Northwestern Wildcats football, No. 73

2013-06-19T14:00:09Z

After a one-day respite, we're back with more offensive linemen. I know, you couldn't friggin wait.

Today, that offensive lineman is Adam DePietro, a 6'5, 270-pounder that at least one scouting service was worth a fourth star. (Well, one scouting service.) He actually has a chance to compete for a starting spot in his redshirt freshman season, so let's read up on him, y'all!

Origin myth

DePietro hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he presumably had to ride horse-and-buggies to practice in unwieldy buckled football uniforms. He played offensive tackle for Lancaster Catholic, and, um, kind of dominated: his squad were two-time state champions (in a 2A classification), a two-time all-state selection and was named league player of the year, league offensive lineman of the year, and league defensive lineman of the year his senior year. Dude has a big mantle. Here's his highlights:

BOOSH.

And him after winning state champs as a senior:

was considered a three-star tackle by most services. But in this case the random "Scout picks a different positionality and star rating for pretty much every player" paradox worked out: they gave DePietro four stars and pegged him as a guard, the No. 10 player at the position in the country. 247's composite considered him the No. 20 player in Pennsylvania, and he got hisself a pretty impressive offer sheet: From the B1G, Michigan State and Illinois, from elsewhere, Vandy, BC, Rutgers, NC State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and West Virginia. He had been waiting on an offer from Wisconsin, but coordinated with fellow NU offensive line target Eric Olson and decided they'd announce their commitment to Pat Fitzgerald together.

At Northwestern

He redshirted as a freshman. THEY ALL REDSHIRT AS FRESHMEN! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS, DUDE?

Anagram of choice

Discovering the Wildcat's true inner selves through spelling

Adam DePietro, anagrammed, is

[null set]

Surprised at this one. Seems like there's a good enough amount of vowels and stuff. On the plus side, his name means "ADAM OF STONE" in Italian, which is Stalin-esque and awesome.

Relevant musical selection

"NaNa", Chance the Rapper ft. Action Bronson

I couldn't come up with anything for "Adam DePietro," so here's just a reminder you should be listening to Chance the Rapper, who was my musical selection for Chance Carter as well. Chicago!

How he can help

DePietro turned out not to have the size to transition to college tackle. And that's perfectly fine: With Brian Mulroe and Neal Deiters graduated, Northwestern has a pair of openings there, and the majority of the top offensive line recruits the Wildcats have landed in recent years have been best suited for the tackle spots. So that means DePietro, who had the strength, agility, and footwork to play outside in high school. Northwestern isn't afraid to play redshirt freshmen on the offensive line, and if DePietro shows the same skills that earned him lots of credit in high school, he should play this year and more going forward.

Depth chart projection

We have DePietro projected as a backup at right guard, but let's not take that too deeply to heart. There are basically three people competing for two starting jobs: DePietro, Geoff Mogus, and Matt Frazier. In spring practice, Frazier was hurt, so Mogus, a sophomore, started at left guard, while DePietro, a freshman, started at right.

That seems to indicate dude will get some playing time. The worst case scenario is that DePietro sees a lot of snaps as a backup this season and is ready to play in case of an injury. But he could very realistically compete for a starting gig in his first year playing for the Cats.

The LeBron James Headband Game

2013-06-19T13:30:06Z

Game 6 of the NBA Finals was one of the best played NBA Finals games ever, and that's not being hyperbolic. It featured runs, counter-runs, and a hyperventilation-causing finish with Ray Allen drilling a game-tying three to stave off elimination and send the game into overtime, where the Miami Heat would force a Game 7.

But to some -- especially on Twitter -- it will always be the LeBron James headband game.

James' headband has become sort of an NBA inside joke, because its clearly moved back along the course of his forehead over the course of career as the league's best player tries -- and, well, fails -- to hide a receding hairline. But on a dunk with 8:59 left in the fourth quarter of Game 6, Tim Duncan knocked King James' proverbial crown off:

It fell to the ground, and was probably swept off by the kid whose job it is to mop the floor while the players are at the other end of the court. For the final nine minutes of regulation and the entirety of overtime, the headband vanished, and James played on, sans headband..

Without it, he looked kinda weirdly naked, and surprisingly difficult to recognize, even for seasoned NBA fans.

Please put the headband back on, LeBron. It's like you're naked. I feel like I'm supposed to avert my eyes.
— SBNation NBA (@SBNationNBA) June 19, 2013

But without the headband he took over. The headband-removing dunk cut a Spurs lead that had been 12 down to just three. Two possessions later, he spun with force past Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard for an winding layup. Down two, he absolutely erased a Tim Duncan shot (GIF BELOW), then in transition, stopped, ducked under Duncan's defense, and finished an off-balance look in the paint.

The block-to-layup tied the game at 82. James would hit four of his first five shots after losing the headband, then sank a three with less than half a minute left to keep the game alive and allow Allen to hit his shot. All told, James went 5-for-11 with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one block after the headband's removal -- not all that impressive, considering he had 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the game. But the impact he made immediately after the famed sweat collector removal was LeBron at his most freakish, and that's why this was The Headband Game.

Meanwhile, Twitter exploded. You know, it started with jokes:

I thought it was Joel Anthony RT @RoFloESPN: Man, Lebron looks weird without his headband. #NBAfinals
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) June 19, 2013

Wow. I thought it was Jerry. Stack house. But it's Lebron without a headband
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) June 19, 2013

Joel Anthony has been everywhere since LBJ lost his headband
— Brendan Meyer (@BrendanMeyer) June 19, 2013

LeBron without a headband is like seeing Darth Vader's real face.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) June 19, 2013

Was sorta expecting Lebron's hairline to roll up like a sail after taking his headband off. #baldknowsbald
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) June 19, 2013

And then, quickly got SERIOUS:

LEBRON HEADBAND GAME
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) June 19, 2013

NO MORE HEADBAND EVER!
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) June 19, 2013

NEVER WEAR A HEADBAND AGAIN PLEASE LEBRON
— Ben Swanson (@CardboardGerald) June 19, 2013

The headband was LeBron's restrictor plate it all makes sense now.
— edsbs (@edsbs) June 19, 2013

If I'm Pop I call a timeout just to allow LeBron to put the headband back on.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) June 19, 2013

This HAS to be the moment LeBron permanently ditches the headband.
— Taco Trey Kerby (@treykerby) June 19, 2013

All told, James had nine points on six shots in the final minutes of regulation, including the three that kept the game alive and some

Maybe the headband was actually LeBron's kryptonite?
— PTI (@PTI) June 19, 2013

Well, I’m never wearing a headband in a pickup game ever again.
— UW Dawg Pound (@UWSBN) June 19, 2013

This doesn't bode well for headband sales
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) June 19, 2013

Darren Rovell immediately tweeted that head bands make up less than 1 percent of basketball merchandising sales blah blah blah, but, yeah.

LeBron going bananas without the headband has instantly become my favorite NBA storyline of the season.
— Dan Shanoff (@danshanoff) June 19, 2013

No headband, no problem...LeBron is dominating this quarter!
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) June 19, 2013

F**k it!!!!! I'm never wearing my headband again either!!!!!!
— Ty Lawson (@TyLawson3) June 19, 2013

Bold words from Ty Lawson, there.

And of course, because nobody in the world is actually funny on their own, this happened:

I wish I was kidding: 107 parody Twitter accounts were created tonight for LeBron James' headband.
— Eli Langer (@EliLanger) June 19, 2013

It was the talk after the game as well, too:

"I guess the headband was the least of my worries at this point." - LeBron James on his play down the stretch
— The NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 19, 2013

I think Battier just compared LeBron's headband to Dumbo's feather
— Lee Jenkins (@SI_LeeJenkins) June 19, 2013

I'm purchasing mike millers shoe and lebrons headband for 1.754 million
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) June 19, 2013

In summary:

Now, only one question remains:

So here's the real question going forward: Headband or No Headband for Game 7?
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 19, 2013

More from SB Nation:

• Miami fans leave early, miss epic ending

• Flannery: The inspiring, agonizing, amazing story of Game 6

• Second-guessing Gregg Popovich's decisions

• Like a Bosh: Chris saves game with block at buzzer

• SB Nation's blogger mock draft

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

Wednesday sips, ft. pump-up videos, NORTHWESTERN AS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, and bye-bye Illinois State

2013-06-19T13:15:12Z

Oh, Jesus, you guys. Basketball. Basketball! Game 6 of the NBA Finals was one of the greatest things I've ever seen and yet another reminder of why I'm obsessed with both college and pro basketball. SB Nation's coverage was and is damn near perfect, top to bottom, and it's awesome that I got to participate.

Anyway, you guys want to talk about Northwestern football?

THE COUNTDOWN IS REALLY JUST NOT DOING IT FOR ME ANYMORE: NOT WHEN THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPEN:

STEELEMAS: Phil Steele's magazine dropped, and, look, they put our friends from BHGP in there! Steele also put together a list by stats, win totals, and some other things of teams that fit the mold to win a national championship, and narrowed the 125 teams in college football down to 14 squads that fit the descriptors of virtually every team that has ever won a BCS National Championship, and guess what: Northwestern is one.

Oh, and you should go buy Phil Steele's book, because, honestly, there's nothing better for a college football fan.

Redbirds singing in the dead of night?: So the Big Ten is moving to a nine-game schedule. We've known this for a bit. It's going to make it a bit tougher to get to six wins, but, hey, fine. More quality opponents is a good thing, and although it's less good for Northwestern, I criticize other conferences that do the same thing in my head and plus, it'll be tougher for everybody, not just NU.

Yesterday, those nine-game schedules took their first casualty: Ohio State cancelled a 2016 game with Central Michigan -- by letter! -- because there was no room on the schedule.

If you look at Northwestern's schedule, you'll see there's no room there, either. Northwestern has games scheduled against Western Michigan, Illinois State, Duke, and Stanford in 2016, and they'll only be able to play three of those. The odds-on favorite to get cancelled is Illinois State, as the Big Ten kinda already said they wouldn't schedule games against FCS teams. But we do have to wait on the other shoe to drop.

X-FACTOR: Rittenblog says its Dan Vitale, whatever that means.

'CROOTIN: Northwestern picked up a 12th recruit in 3-star OLB Nathan Hall, brother of Northwestern safety Jimmy, and Garrett Dickerson -- four star tight end/defensive end and yes, brother of Northwestern wide receiver Cameron, has a final three:

Decided to trim my list to three and focus my recruiting on 1. #Stanford 2. #Michigan 3. #Northwestern
— Garrett Dickerson (@Senor_Ocho) June 18, 2013

That's noteworthy because his final five was those three schools, plus ALABAMA AND OHIO STATE. Yeah, big time.

LUNTIN' LIKE MY DADDY: Illinois won the battle for Wes Lunt. Good for them! The Champaign Room analyzes what it means. I think we coulda grabbed him if we'd just used the "yo, there's already a building named for you on campus" pitch.

Heat vs. Spurs: Miami fans leave Game 6 early, miss incredible ending

2013-06-19T12:45:07Z

(Update: Now with video.) With the Miami Heat trailing 94-89 in a potentially decisive Game 6 of the NBA Finals, many Heat fans at AmericanAirlines Arena decided they'd head out early. You know, beat the traffic -- no need to stick around to watch the last 30 seconds of a game that had already proven to be one of the most incredible Finals games in recent memory, right?

TV cameras captured them, and Bomani Jones snapped a pic:

(The only person not at fault here: dude in the Ray Allen Bucks jersey. I'm cool with him.)

Of course, LeBron James missed a three, and off a rebound, hit a three; after Kawhi Leonard missed a free throw, a James miss again rebounded by the Heat ended up in Allen's hands ... and Jesus Shuttlesworth came through to tie the game with another three. The Heat eventually won 103-100 in overtime, a game that immediately earned entry into the pantheon of great NBA Finals games. And these fans -- "fans" -- didn't get to see it.

It'd be nice to just mock the fans dumb enough to leave over and over and over and over and over again in our heads, but it turns out the scenario actually turned pretty ugly. Miami sports anchor Victor Oquendo was setting up for his post-game live shot and witnessed the scene:

Now I'm watching horrible, drunk, quitting fans desperately trying to get back in. This is madness.
— Victor Oquendo (@VictorOquendo) June 19, 2013

None of them deserve to be let in. They are pounding the glass doors. I'm all for gender equality but I'm only seeing female guards....
— Victor Oquendo (@VictorOquendo) June 19, 2013

Might need to call the big dogs in soon. Just sayin'
— Victor Oquendo (@VictorOquendo) June 19, 2013

Cops finally here. Fans still pounding on the doors begging to be let in.
— Victor Oquendo (@VictorOquendo) June 19, 2013

There are a lot of stereotypes about Miami Heat fans, and we'd like to thank these guys for coming through. The only disappointing thing is they're probably just going to tell everybody that they were at the game and how crazy and awesome it was and leave out the whole "we left without seeing the insanely dramatic finale where the team we supposedly support came back against all odds because I didn't believe they were actually going to come back" thing.

Update: NBC Miami got footage of disappointed fans leaving, and interviewed actual Miami fans depressed that their team did not rise to the occasion because they were unaware the Heat had actually won the game. It's as amazing as it sounds.

View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: The inspiring, agonizing, amazing story of Game 6

• LeBron's Headband Game | Second-guessing Gregg Popovich

• Like a Bosh: Chris saves game with block at buzzer

• SB Nation's blogger mock draft

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

Johnny Manziel nearly left Texas A&M before Heisman season, according to report

2013-06-19T02:41:11Z

Johnny Manziel's tweet about wanting to get out of College Station as soon as possible was probably harmless, but it turns out he actually might have transferred away from Texas A&M before the season in which he won a Heisman had his coaches followed through on their initial disciplinary plans after an offseason report.

Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Aggies actually suspended Manziel for the 2012 season after a June bar fight that saw Manziel arrested for misdemeanors, including possession of fake IDs. But the decision, which was not made by the athletic department, was overruled by the school's dean of student life after an appeal. Manziel would go on to win the starting quarterback job in preseason camp over Jamiell Showers, lead the Aggies on an 11-2 season, and become the first freshman in the history of college football to win the sport's most prestigious award.

If Manziel had been suspended, Hairopoulos says that he would have transferred, seeking a place he would have had an opportunity to play after redshirting his freshman season. Instead, it's Showers who transferred away after losing the job, leaving for UTEP, where he will likely be the starter when the Miners play the Aggies in College Station this year. Meanwhile, Manziel is prepping for maybe the most eagerly anticipated sophomore season any quarterback has ever set out to play.

Dan Rubenstein of SB Nation joked that Manziel was considering transferring, not realizing there was a grain of truth there:

More from SB Nation:

Follow @SBNationCFB Follow @SBNRecruiting

• Who has the fastest offense? Every team ranked

• It’s okay, Johnny Manziel. All college towns are BS

• 2013 bowl projections: Bama-Oregon and 34 other games

• Bill Connelly’s Big 12 preview countdown almost done

• National recruiting coverage

• Today’s college football news headlines

Spurs vs. Heat Game 6, NBA Finals 2013: Time, TV schedule and more

2013-06-18T16:00:09Z

The back-and-forth, win-one, lose-one nature of the NBA Finals thus far would seem to indicate the Miami Heat pull off a Game 6 win.

Miami won eight of its first nine playoff games after closing the season with wins in 37 of 39 games. Since then, it has traded wins and losses, besting the Indiana Pacers in seven games and falling behind quickly, then rebounding, then falling behind quickly, then rebounding against the San Antonio Spurs. Now, for the second time this year, it sets out to play a game that could end its season, as the Spurs look to close out the NBA Finals and win their fifth championship in Tim Duncan's tenure with the franchise.

The Heat's bounce-back nature foretells a Miami win, but this series has also shown that things that are foretold generally don't pan out. Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginobili have each been written off as passe, no longer the brilliant wing scorers they once were. And they've each responded with unreal showings, guiding their squads to wins. LeBron James, the world's best player, has alternated between his usual self and tepidness. Enormous runs have come from nowhere and although the series record has stayed relatively even, four of five games thus far have ended as blowouts. Even Tim Duncan hasn't been his usual, ho-hum perfectionist self. And the only constant has been Danny Green. Danny Green!

Game 6 will either end with a Spurs championship or a date for a decisive Game 7. Which will it be? Here are three questions that could be early tells:

1. Can anybody stop the rain?

There are simply no words for what Danny Green is doing here.

Sure, he's a really, really good NBA shooter: 43.6 percent last year from behind the arc, 42.9 percent this year. Anything above 40 is very good, and he's been solidly over it two years in a row.

But he's at nuclear reactor levels. Even if the Heat defense is leaving him open -- and they are, as Mike Prada shows -- he's drilling open looks at practice rates. He's 53-for-103 in the playoffs, 51.5 percent, and an unfair 25-for-38 in the Finals, 65.8 percent.

It's easy to say that isn't sustainable. But it wasn't sustainable three games ago, and yet Green is sustaining as hard as he can right now. And he's playing great defense, and he's doing everything else the team asks of him.

If Green hits threes at just an average rate, we have ourselves a ballgame. But if he connects on another six or seven or eight or 14 looks in Game 6, the Heat -- and every other team ever -- will once again have trouble keeping up, and the Spurs might be celebrating Tuesday night.

2. Do we see the same lineups?

Normally, it's a bad sign when a team that's played well enough to make the NBA Finals randomly switches up their personnel rotation to better match up with an opponent, an indication of weakness or caving.

But each squad has made adjustments to its starting lineup, and each time, it has immediately paid off. In Game 4, the Heat pulled Udonis Haslem, who was occasionally useful against the Indiana Pacers but generally not fulfilling his role of reasonable rebounding and defense while also not providing any offensive spark. They replaced him with Mike Miller, officially adopting smallball, and although he didn't score, the Heat were better spaced as the Spurs respected him after he drilled eight straight threes across Games 2 and 3.

In Game 5, the Spurs decided to match the smallball. They axed Tiago Splitter from the starting five after LeBron wrecked his world with a block and he responded by shrivelling up into his shell for two straight games, and put in Manu Ginobili, a guy who has helped redefine the sixth man role in the NBA. He was brilliant in his first start of the year, a season-high 24 points while passing beautifully en route to 10 assists.

It stands to reason San Antonio will stick with its lineup after Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Ginobili meshed well from the opening whistle. But could Miami make a swap? After becoming an important part of the team's rotation for the conference finals, Chris Andersen hasn't played in two games, and could probably be useful defending the rim in Game 6. Ray Allen echoed Miller's bench shooting performance with a four-for-four outing in Game 5, and actually played more minutes than Miller off the bench. Or perhaps Erik Spoelstra might rethink his decision and try to outbig the Spurs with Haslem again inserted into the starting five.

3. Can the Heat guard everybody?

We've already talked about the Heat's struggles defending Danny Green. But the truth is, in Game 5, the Miami Heat did a lot of things well. They outrebounded San Antonio on the offensive glass. They shot better from beyond the arc. They committed fewer turnovers. They dished out more assists and hit a higher rate of free throws.

But the interior of their defense was sieve-like. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili totaled 67 points and combined to go 24-of-33 from inside the arc. And because they were doing things so prettily, Green was open. In previous games, this series had been an awesome-to-watch matchup of both sides playing outstanding defense and one just playing offense a little bit better. Sunday, it seemed more like one side continuing its outstanding offense against a defense that wasn't up to the task.

Some of this probably has to do with a squad that's featured a little bit more Miller and a little bit less Birdman, opting for offensive firepower rather than defensive presence. If they don't switch lineups, they'll need to flip their defensive switch and figure out a way to key in on the Spurs' stars while not forgetting about the dude going haywire from downtown.

Here's the info on Tuesday night's Game 6:

San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat, Game 6, NBA Finals

Spurs lead, 3-2

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: ABC

Location: AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami

Odds: Heat -7

More from SB Nation:

• Ziller: LeBron and the age of sports skeptics

• Doc Rivers trade to Clippers is dead, says Danny Ainge

• Flannery: Finally, The Manu Game | How the Spurs won

• SB Nation's blogger mock draft

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

NBA Draft rumors 2013: Cavaliers hosting Alex Len, Nerlens Noel, other top possibilities

2013-06-18T15:01:03Z

Most teams prepping for the NBA draft have to futz around by bringing in a slew of mid-range draft prospects to scout for their pick, along with likely undrafted players to fill out workouts and let them scout for their summer league teams, camp spots, etc. With the No. 1 pick, though, the Cleveland Cavaliers can shoot straight for the cream of the crop, and in the next week, they'll bring in five of the top players in the 2013 NBA Draft including a blockbuster Wednesday workout.

The report from ESPN's Andy Katz:

Huge NBA draft week in Cleveland. Wednesday work out with Porter, Oladipo and McLemore. Injured Nerlens Noel and Alex Len on the weekend.
— Andy Katz (@ESPNAndyKatz) June 18, 2013

That's five of the top six players in Jonathan Tjarks' most recent mock draft. Nerlens Noel (scouting report) and Alex Len (scouting report) are injured, but it would be amazing to be a fly on the wall as Otto Porter (scouting report), Ben McLemore (scouting report), and Victor Oladipo (scouting report), all wings, trying to prove their NBA capabilities, square off in various drills.

It should be noted that Oladipo declined a workout with the Washington Wizards, telling them they had to come to watch him work out in Bowie, Md., but was willing to fly out to Cleveland to show off for the Cavs. Some things just work out for you when you have the No. 1 pick.

The Cavs have been rumored to prefer Len with the No. 1 pick, even though the majority of services have pegged Noel as the top selection for a long time. But with McLemore, Porter, and Oladipo coming in, they might decide not to go with a big man.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: Finally, The Manu Game | How the Spurs won

• Spurs take Game 5, now just one win from the title

• GIF: Danny Green foils LeBron's fast break

• Interview: Behind the lens of Team Wade

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

NBA Draft 2013 rumors: Mark Cuban says Dallas Mavericks likely to trade No. 13 pick

2013-06-18T14:30:44Z

Mark Cuban was blunt when asked about the possibility of the Dallas Mavericks dealing their first-round draft pick, essentially telling a Dallas radio station that the team intended on getting rid of the No. 13 overall selection.

The report comes from the Dallas Morning News, who transcribed an interview Cuban had on KTCK, where he discussed the team's interest in trading:

"That is the case. The numbers are the numbers. If I'm going to talk about cap and CBA I can't BS my way around that. ... There's risk involved. If somebody falls that we think is going to be a superstar and nobody else does, then we'll make the pick. I don't think that's likely."

Not many owners will come out and say it's not likely that they use their pick, for leverage purposes, but that's the beauty of Cuban.

For more Dallas draft news visit Mavs Moneyball

One might think that the Mavs would be anxious to hold on to their pick, the first lottery selection the team has had since 2000. But with Cuban's pockets deeper than most owners, the Mavs have never made their success through drafting. With the exception of Dirk Nowitzki, who was selected all the way back in 1998, the key players on their 2011 title team were either brought in through trade, free agency or undrafted.

With regards to that, Cuban also discussed the team's free agent plans over the next two seasons.

"...in essence you get to come in and it's you and we have room for two more max-out free agents. So that's why when I talk about a two-year plan, that's the concept. So part of our sales pitch is look, we're not going to try and fool you and say you and Dirk and Shawn and Vince [Carter] and fill are basically a championship caliber team. Maybe you can get on a run, maybe we can get the right guys, maybe we're pretty good, but the reality is come next year you're going to work with us and Dirk to go out there and pick your team."

That's a tremendously interesting quote, since it seems to indicate that Nowitzki -- currently making $19 million per year -- would be likely to take a major pay decrease in order to keep the Mavs relevant alongside somebody who chose Dallas on the free agent market.

Cuban also spoke about the nature of the NBA's rumor mill:

"If you ever go to Hoops Hype, and go to the rumors page on a PC, notice: you’re seeing Mavs there every time. Every time. That’s where every player and every free agent in the NBA goes to keep up with the rumors. So you see Mavs in the community, you see little features on Mavs players, and players see that all the time. So that’s kind of the way we back door promote ourselves. It’s always the Mavs."

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: Finally, The Manu Game | How the Spurs won

• Spurs take Game 5, now just one win from the title

• Doc, KG to the Clippers? Could happen

• Anti-NBA mock draft: Evolution of ESPN's Top-100 Big Board

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board