Rick Carlisle Headed Back to NBA With the Dallas Mavericks

Mark Cuban Finds His Next Head Coach

Avery Johnson seemed relieved more then anything about the end of his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks. It appeared that Johnson was tired of having to bicker with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about on the floor, basketball related issues. One of the more well documented by outlets such as AOL Sports spats between the two was a shouting match in a hallway after a game over the playing time of promising young forward Brandon Bass. Apparently Cuban had requested that Avery play Bass more then he was and Johnson felt that he was moving Bass at a more appropriate pace. It was because of disputes like this that Johnson knew that this year would be a make or year for himself and the Mavs, he was correct and they broke.

During his goodbye press conference for the Dallas media Johnson spoke with absolute candor. He said he felt that the Mavericks roster in its current form was too slow to keep up with the faster, better teams in the Western Conference. Avery said he was not throwing any particular player under the bus, but he did seem a little bit bitter over the Jason Kidd deal with the New Jersey Nets. The frustration stems from the fact that Johnson himself a solid floor general in his playing days as a point guard takes special pride in the point guard position. With the trade for Kidd however the Mavs gave up on one of Johnson's pet projects and presumably favorite players in Devin Harris. The fourth year guard, a product of the Wisconsin Badgers had finally started to truly blossom in the NBA when he was traded to the Nets. When the trade happened Johnson acted like the rug had been pulled out from under him and that the Nets would be the benefactors of the hard work he had put in with Devin.