| Stro-No Authored by Jonathan Wall - July 19, 2005 - 2:52 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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After finishing the season on a sour note and heading into the off-season with holes-a-plenty, Cuban just made one of the biggest blunders of the off-season by not picking up former Memphis Grizzlies star Stromile Swift.
Sure Cuban doesn’t have the cash right now, but coming from the “George Steinbrenner” of basketball, Cuban should’ve gone out of his way to nab the one piece of the puzzle he has been searching 4 years for.
Swift, who’s known to Mavericks fan as the, “guy who almost ripped Dirk’s head off with a tomahawk dunk,” decided to bolster an already great Houston frontline by signing a deal with Dallas’ most hated rival Monday afternoon for the MLE.
The signing of Swift not only proved the Rockets worth as a future contender, it also proved just how far the Mavericks have fallen this off-season. Team all over the league have been jockeying for position in the already crowded Western Conference, and yet, the Mavericks remain a casual viewer, while still trying to figure out what to do with Michael Finley’s albatross contract.
This past season, Maverick’s fans begged and pleaded for the team to go out this off-season in hopes of nabbing an athletic forward; not only did the team miss the boat over the past couple of weeks by laying down on the job, but the team also just let their possible weapon to Amare Stoudemire slip away.
You have to wonder what Mark Cuban is thinking over the past couple of weeks as he continues to prove that he can multi-task with the best of them. Too bad for Cuban that he didn’t put his money where his mouth is. Any Maverick's fan can tell you that it’s been the same song and dance each season as the team continually contends all season but never has the moxy to make it over the hump.
If Cuban ever wants the chance to hoist the NBA trophy in the next 3 or 4 seasons, he will need to critically evaluate his current dealings. Last season Cuban tried to woo Jermaine O’Neal of the Indiana Pacers and Seattle Supersonics forward Rashard Lewis to Dallas in hopes of landing a forward to compliment All-Star forward Dirk Nowizki. While Cuban didn’t land either star, he did show that he was serious about changing the face of the team. Since that off-season, Cuban has gone out and signed a stiff center, and a bunch of position players than have either gotten in off-court trouble, or left Maverick’s fans scratching their heads.
Picture a Dallas Mavericks team running the court with a shot blocking, dunk defying forward like Swift leading the break for a ferocious dunk - it’s a beautiful picture isn’t it? Too bad the only thing Mavericks' fans are ever going to see is Swift dunking on Mavericks' players in the worst jersey possible.
Congratulations Houston, because you’re the new winner in the Stromile Swift sweepstakes. If you're a Maverick's fan, those words are enough to make you sick. |
