The Dallas Mavericks surprised everyone this season by making the playoffs, and taking the San Antonio Spurs to a game 7 during the first round.
ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that the Mavs will look to bolster their roster this by trying to get into the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes.
When it comes to Melo, meanwhile, what you hear is that the Mavs are quietly optimistic they will be on that short list of teams granted a face-to-face visit with the New York Knicks‘ scoring machine, just as they were with Dwight Howardlast summer. The sense in Big D is that Melo will give them a legit look.
Stein also reported that Cuban won’t stand pat with just chasing Anthony, and have their eyes on Lance Stephenson and Luol Deng as well.
I initially thought, along those same lines, that the Mavs would be among the teams willing to take the Lance Stephenson gamble this summer, but sources familiar with the team’s thinking say that’s a dice roll Dallas isn’t willing to entertain.
The more likely wing target in free agency, sources say, is far more dependable Luol Deng.