ESPN’s Tim MacMahon caught up with Dirk Nowitzki at pretty much the worst possible time — following a dispiriting home loss to the Western Conference’s worst team, the New Orleans Hornets, in overtime. Frustrated, Dirk had plenty to say:
“I always liked to think you don’t want to build your franchise on hope. We hoped for Deron last year. We hoped for Dwight. Why would he leave the Lakers? To me, it makes no sense. He’s in a great situation. Why would CP3 leave? [The Los Angeles Clippers are] the best team in the league probably right now. They’re probably the deepest team. So are you going to hope that we get something? Maybe Cuban has something up his sleeve. Maybe you have to take a chance on a bad contract to get him in here and make something happen. I mean, I don’t know. That’s something we’ll have to see this summer. We’re going to play out this season. I’m going to get better and better, hopefully from game to game, so I can actually close out some of these games. And then we’ll see what happens.”
Some have taken this line — “So either you break the whole thing up and trade me” — as Dirk coming close to asking for a trade. But he was talking about the decisions they made this summer. I don’t think Dirk would ask for a trade, though stranger things have happened and will continue to. And I don’t think Mark Cuban would trade him. I mean, like, I don’t think Cuban would trade him for anyone, even someone Dirk’s biggest supporters would have no problem with (like Kevin Durant). I’m serious.
