Friday Morning Mavs Donuts

Friday Morning Mavs Donuts: The fake Mavs' 'Mock-Draft Board' ... Seven Days of Scoops ... Jerry Jones' 'Win-dah.' ... Free Lil' Wayne! ... Must we allow Skip Bayless to barnacle himself to every single sports accomplishment? ... How the Mavs' negotiations with Odom can kinda change everything ... Donuts!

DONUT 1: The Odom deadline-shift exclusive ...

The process has begun. This isn't about "rewarding that S.O.B.'' or "helping the Lakers.'' It's not necessarily a "salary dump'' and it's not even limited to "clearing out room.''

It can be so much bigger than that.

We've visited with league officials to take us this far in what we believe is a major story and we've got DB.com master capologist David Lord working the angles, too. While we work toward some ideas of what this can mean, go ahead and think a little bigger than "salary dump.''

Think about what the Mavs can do with $8.2 million of room. Think about what other teams might trade for that room. Think about which teams might be looking for assets that match what Dallas can dangle. Think about how it can change the draft. (Charlotte and New Orleans are shopping their top-10 picks, eh?) Think about how it can be part of a three-way trade that doesn't force the Mavs to strip all the way down.

Think about how to use $8.2 million of room to trade for a "big fish.''

Think about "Asset Management.'' And stay tuned, because we'll have more details in the coming days.

DONUT 2: The Flame Fund ...

Friend of the Mavs and DB.com "Flamethrower'' Pat Reeves is battling cancer. Please consider a donation -- no matter how big or small -- to help her with her visits for treatment.

DONUT 3: The Skipocrisy ...

This isn't the network's fault; it's ours, for falling into the trap. But it might be the saddest angle of our time for anyone with the dual loves of sports and journalism:
Anything that happens -- good or bad, win or loss, LeBron for 45 or LeBron choking -- now has Skip Bayless barnacled onto it.

Somehow, "the LeBron story'' from last night's Miami win in Boston in Game 6 morphs into "the LeBron and Skip'' story.

It's devilishly clever of him and it's making him a rich man but it's not making sports or journalism any richer.

DONUT 4: Get caught up on the other latest Mavs scoops ...

*We name names at the Chicago Combine: Six kids the Mavs like, plus insight into the combine process.

* Deron Williams and "The Pitch''

* The to-the-penny-accurate offer that the Nets can make to Deron compared to what Dallas can offer

* How Lamar Odom can be used as a trade chip - a chip we call "L.O.A.F.'' (a brilliant notion that has since been topped ... but can still be in play)

* The scoop on Dallas' thoughts on presenting an offer sheet to Roy Hibbert

DONUT 5: Meanwhile, in New Jersey ...

They didn't get their lotto pick. So they have no first-round pick at all. Their recent premier picks -- the reward for being so bad for so long -- haven't worked out, either. (2010's Derrick Favors is an ex-Net.) They are always rebuilding and yet never rebuild. ... except at the last deadline, when they pitched away an elite pick for a darn good role player in Gerald Wallace, and now he's as free to leave as Deron Williams is.

Oh, and all through this, the one New Jersey/Brooklyn constant seems to be the ability to win 20-or-so games. ... less than half as many as Dallas perennially wins.

New arena? Sexy city? The singular marquee player? Maybe that works out for the Nets, as they have certainly knotted a lot to the idea of the attractiveness of their new market.

But I keep bouncing back to Deron's reiteration this week of his priorities in searching for a new employer. What'd he say in this interview?

I want to go to a place where I feel like they will have a chance to build and build fast," Williams said. "I'm not really in the mood for being part of a rebuilding process. I'm getting older. I'm about to be 28. I want to win. I want to win now. Also, I want to live in a place where I want to live and my kids will enjoy living. That's pretty much it."

You can raise a family in Brooklyn, or through the Tunnel and in Jersey, or in the fanciest high-rise in the city. But quickly building a winner? Winning now? "Going'' someplace to do those things?

I'm struggling to imagine how the Nets explain to Deron that they have demonstrated any ability to accomplish those things.

DONUT 6: I'm giving away FREE $50 giftcards to Studio Movie Grill! ...

Studio Movie Grill -- Eat, Drink, Movies! -- is teamming up with DallasBasketball.com for some fun Mavs-lovin' project (and maybe even a charitable effort that is very close to all our hearts) and it starts like this:

Get on Twitter. Follow FishSports and follow Studio Movie Grill. And then tweet that you're following us. And voila, you might just win one of the three $50 giftcards I'm giving away to Mavs fans!

Follow @fishsports

Follow @studiomoviegril

Sign up on Twitter, retweet, and win!

DONUT 7: Whose responsibility is this? ...

So twisted to hear ESPN/ABC report that some NBA Conference Finals person, place or thing is "underappreciated'' or "underreported.'' If that's the case, how is ESPN/ABC itself not the culpable party?

DONUT 8: Worth pointing out ...

Deron's agent is Jeff Schwartz. Odom's agent is Jeff Schwartz. This morning, when Jeff explains to Deron what he's working on with Odom and the Mavs -- and all the possible payoffs from all the possible machinations -- I wonder if Deron will be rather impressed?

DONUT 9: The Spurs are gone but not forgotten ...

They're Zombies. Difficult to kill. So when word comes from overseas that somebody named "Nando De Colo'' will play with San Antonio next season, having come to an agreement to leave something called "Valencia Basket,'' well, I assume Nando De Colo is probably good and cheap and yet another San Antonio Zombie.

DONUT 10: Jerry Jones' 'Win-dah' ...

Jerry Jones says nothing but says it colorfully. "SportsCenter'' reports the quote breathlessly. No real insight, no real analysis ... maybe because the colorful quote -- "Our win-dah is closing'' -- is too empty to lend itself to to insight or analysis.

I can seriously tell you there is no such "win-dah'' for the franchise (but maybe one for the star quarterback, now in his 30's, who for all his skill and celebrity has yet to really win anything).

Or I can joke that the Cowboys' "win-dah'' closing cannot be accurate, because for the last decade-and-a-half, it's never even really been open.

But instead I watch SportsCenter, and have seen the quote used and re-used and re-packaged and re-addressed ... literally for 12 days now.

Twelve Days Of Nothing Held Hostage.

It's proof they are "America's Team'' or maybe it's why they are "America's Team.''

Jerry says something meaningless, but says it meaningfully.

SportsCenter interrupts its regular programming to bring it to you live.

Rinse, Repeat.

DONUT 11: My blanket answer to the "Mavs Mock Draft'' ...

It's certainly not too early for fans to rattle around some No. 17-worthy prospects in our draft-minded heads. (And places like Bleacher Report and SBNation can plow on with their meaningless predictions for what the Mavs will do without ever once asking anyone who actually works for the Mavs.) But here's my standard answer when I'm frequently asked the question -- a month in advance of the draft and at a time before the Mavs are actually visiting with many of the prospects -- "What do you think about so-and-so's Mock Draft projection for the Mavs?''":

It's fun.

But the fact is, here we sit on June 4 and the Dallas Mavericks themselves have not formalized a "big board.'' So if the Mavs don't know what they'll do at 17 (or if they'll stay there) how can the rest of us pretend to know?

So let's keep listening, keep watching and have our fun ... but let's also understand that it's all "premature e-speculation.''
We do have six names of kids the Mavs like. But we're discovering that Dallas has awfully good taste, as at least three of those guys are already bulleted up teams' lists.

And of course, with our Odom scoop, it opens up possibilities that Dallas won't stay at No. 17, anyway.

DONUT 12: The Final Word ...

Good morning, Lil Wayne, and know that I support your fight. If the Thunder wont let me sit front-row, last-minute, for free, they are obviously anti-Caucasian!

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