Not sure Vegas is higher profile but accepting that as true to allow a reset for all parties involved.

It's such a cheesy and stupid idea in the first place. Who in the hell asked for a gambling and basketball Mecca in Texas. No one did. Just more dumb **** to cater to the ignorant masses.

The Adelson's aren't pumping money into Vegas and have actively been divesting OUT (they sold The Venetian just over 3 years ago). It's a saturated market for gambling and simply coupling a sports team with a casino won't generate enough money to justify the insane cost that an expansion team would be (estimates are about $5b). Why would Dumont sell the Mavs, a team in a far more lucrative media market that he bought controlling interest of for $3.5b, sell to buy into a smaller, more expensive market? Gambling in Texas didn't happen in the short term like they hoped, but the market dynamics haven't changed to make Las Vegas a more fertile business ground than Dallas. Not even close.

Mark Cuban is regretting his decision and getting desperate. He was a buffoon to sell the Mavs below market price and trust that he could still maintain operating control. The same guy that admitted to Pablo Torre that he has been duped multiple times is trying to undo the most catastrophic.

500,000ags said:

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If their thesis is truly gambling + NBA, go to Vegas. Whole city in the desert already built for you. Economics and opportunity; check. Reputation and Good standing, never getting that in DAL again after the trade. Go get a blank slate; check. Like most morons out of their depth though, pride is the biggest hurdle.

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The Adelsons want gambling in new locations. That's their global strategy and why they sold their Vegas casinos

They'd be interested in a city that isn't Vegas but politically much more gambling friendly than Texas

The utility of Vegas declines every time gambling is legalized in another state. To compensate they're raising prices, reducing the quantity of people that can afford it, which reduces the value of the market for a sports team. No way I'd pick a Vegas team with guaranteed gambling over a Dallas team with the growth in the Dallas market and an outside chance of gambling being legalized later. If I'm the Adelson's I'm building an entertainment complex with a host of investors/busineses at a site capable of containing one (not sure how expansive the downtown plot is) and if in the future gambling gets legalized demolish/convert venues to support it.

I want them to sell, I wouldn't be surprised if they did, but it's anyone's guess if they will. Odds go up with a Dan Patrick re-election, but nowhere near a certainty.

I understand the divestiture out of Vegas, and I agree that all of this is unlikely at best. But, Texas is making porn and low-THC products illegal as a starting point. Gambling is tax revenue supercharged, so it's different, but it still faces one of the most prudish state voting blocs in the US. If Cuban puts together a 20-25% premium, which is much, much easier since he owns 25% of the Mavs, at what point does it look more than good. I stand by the fact that pride will be the biggest hurdle (and not Vegas or further ownership) since most idiots don't like admitting they have egg on their faces even though it's staining the rug.

STORY UPDATE: A source close to Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont tells @TheSteinLine tonight that “the team is not for sale and the (Adelson and Dumont) families look forward to expanding their ownership stake over time.” https://t.co/mv7eFqK6FN

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 12, 2026

Welp. That was fun while it lasted.

Poop emoji

When I was googling around, one thing I didn't know was that they have an option on a large chunk of Cuban's stake.

500,000ags said:

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When I was googling around, one thing I didn't know was that they have an option on a large chunk of Cuban's stake.

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lol yep, i think they can buy him down to like 17%?

500,000ags said:

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When I was googling around, one thing I didn't know was that they have an option on a large chunk of Cuban's stake.

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Yup. They gonna get him down to 7%. Buddy got hustled.

Zachary Klement said:

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500,000ags said:

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When I was googling around, one thing I didn't know was that they have an option on a large chunk of Cuban's stake.

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Yup. They gonna get him down to 7%. Buddy got hustled.

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The Jazz are a clown show embarrassment.

They are on a massive 2-game winning streak, they had to do something to change the vibes.

Vessel said:

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They are on a massive 2-game winning streak, they had to do something to change the vibes.

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I will be the league said/did something when they took a double-digit win into the 4th quarter and only played their bench a couple days ago with a healthy JJJ/Lauri.

Yeah, possibly after the Miami game, when they had just done the same thing 2 games in a row.

It's an absolute mockery, but it's hard to get too upset when it's the smart thing to do. The league has to figure something out, but I haven't heard any great ideas to stop it. It's a huge black eye for the league right now.

BREAKING: Utah Jazz star Jaren Jackson Jr. is likely to miss the remainder of the season to undergo surgery on his left knee to ensure his longterm health after a localized PVNS growth was discovered post trade, league sources tell me. pic.twitter.com/pHeJT8NphE

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 12, 2026

Well Utah doesn't have to worry about sitting Jackson now, because they decided to do a minor surgery to end his season.

It's funny Kidd got fined like 250k when he tanked those two games to get Lively, which was the smart thing to do.

But they don't do anything to Utah for tanking a third of the season. Utah (and Washington) has the talent to win games now, but they refuse to play in a way where they would win.

It's different than a team like the Kings that legitimately don't have the talent to win now.

Welcome to the conversation.

Guitarsoup said:

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But they don't do anything to Utah for tanking a third of the season. Utah (and Washington) has the talent to win games now, but they refuse to play in a way where they would win.

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It's even worse, because they sat Markkanen for 9 out of 12 games with "illness" in mid-January. Helped them go 2-10 in that stretch, with losses against really bad teams like Brooklyn, Chicago, and Dallas x2.

There's also no way to know if Keyonte has a real injury. JJJ's is obviously BS.

re: Tanking, I agree it's out of control, but I have no good answers on how to solve it. Would you be open to going back to the old way of doing things and just giving each of the 10 non-playoff/play-in teams an equal 10% chance of getting the #1 pick?

I realize this could hurt the really bad/hopeless teams' chances of rebuilding quickly, but maybe the league could give them an extra midlevel or trade exception or something to compensate?

It's just so hard because for every "fix" you just open up a new can of worms. If you flatten the odds, then possible playoff teams will shoot themselves in the foot so egregiously at the end of the year and teams will definitely tank the play-in.

I think the "easiest" solution is you take away ping pong balls from teams that are spitting in the face of the league/fans like Utah did in their 2 recent games. Even then, how do you know for sure when teams are fudging injuries or not?

I've never been a guy who wants fewer games, but I think it's necessary now. We can't have this many disgusting games, and we need to figure out how to keep guys healthy.

I don't think we need fewer games so much as a more spread out season.

- No more back to backs where teams travel. Any back to backs must be at home or a place like NYC/LA where the team can stay in the same place multiple nights.
- Limit the number of back to backs for all teams. Spurs have ~16 while OKC has ~12. Make it closer to 5.
- Have a post-season tournament that coincides with the regular playoffs for lottery teams where the more games they win the more balls they get.
- NBA can remove lottery balls from a team if they do anti-competitive moves like Utah did where they benched Lauri/JJJ with a double digit lead.
- All medical reports (scans, etc) must be supplied to the league office.

I don't think there should be a flatted lottery more than it is, but I do think that the NBA should remove chances at lottery success for teams that have talent that could play winning basketball and choose not to.

Guitarsoup said:

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No more back to backs where teams travel. Any back to backs must be at home or a place like NYC/LA where the team can stay in the same place multiple nights.

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Maybe it could be figured out, but it seems like the LA and NY teams would end up with a competitive advantage, having played more teams on no rest.

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Limit the number of back to backs for all teams. Spurs have ~16 while OKC has ~12. Make it closer to 5.

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Definitely need to be less B2Bs, but if you don't decrease the number of games, you'll end up with a season that is 2-3 weeks longer. The season already runs from October to June.

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Have a post-season tournament that coincides with the regular playoffs for lottery teams where the more games they win the more balls they get.

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You'd have to put guardrails in place here. Like a player has to have played in 60 games to be eligible for it. This rule could also disqualify players who were actually injured. We just had 3 teams who are all going for the number 1 pick who acquired good players at the trade deadline with no intention of playing them to win games. It would be ridiculous for the players they acquired to not play for them at all until the tournament where you compete for ping pong balls.

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NBA can remove lottery balls from a team if they do anti-competitive moves like Utah did where they benched Lauri/JJJ with a double digit lead.

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This is the "simplest" solution right now and needs to happen to the Jazz immediately. Teams need to be punished for spitting in the face of the league/fans.

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All medical reports (scans, etc) must be supplied to the league office.

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Yeah this needs to happen going forward. The league needs to establish an office that oversees injuries and they need to have doctors fly out to these teams and conduct their own examinations.

I'm good with the season lasting longer. Go into July where the only thing happening is baseball.

Me too, but the players would never agree to it. I was trying to be realistic lol.

Tanking has been the talk of NBA media the last few weeks because of how egregious it has gotten. One of the easiest fixes that needs to be done is getting a commissioner in charge that has a nut sack and is willing/capable of handing out punishment to teams where he thinks there are shenanigans going on (the freaking Jazz). You sit JJJ, Markenan and George in the fourth quarter of a game they played in, F you here's a 5 million dollar fine for your owner and I am taking away 5% of whatever ping pong balls you will receive at the end of the year.

I also think not allowing teams to have a top 3 or 4 pick in back to back years would help too. Maybe not in a year like this where the draft is 6-8 deep with legit players, but most years I think it would.

Last thing I would offer up is hitting teams where it hurts the most...the salary "cap". Set a number of wins, and whatever teams come under that amount, they get however many X millions taken from their salary "cap" for the following year. Cool, you got your top 3 pick but you won 21 games. You now have less money to spend or give to your players, and you can't pick in the top 3/4 this year. Congrats. You screwed yourself.

Vessel said:

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Me too, but the players would never agree to it. I was trying to be realistic lol.

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Going from ~15 to 5 b2b extends it a week and a half.

They complain about the back to backs and sit all the stars like OKC and Lakers did this week v s Spurs to protest. Put up or shut up time

Guitarsoup said:

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Vessel said:

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Me too, but the players would never agree to it. I was trying to be realistic lol.

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Going from ~15 to 5 b2b extends it a week and a half.

They complain about the back to backs and sit all the stars like OKC and Lakers did this week v s Spurs to protest. Put up or shut up time

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Maybe I'm not thinking about it clearly, but if you needed 10 more games to not be the day before/after another game, wouldn't you have to add 20 days to the season? I guess it would assume you changed nothing else like allowing for 2 full days rest.

Vessel said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Vessel said:

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Me too, but the players would never agree to it. I was trying to be realistic lol.

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Going from ~15 to 5 b2b extends it a week and a half.

They complain about the back to backs and sit all the stars like OKC and Lakers did this week v s Spurs to protest. Put up or shut up time

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Maybe I'm not thinking about it clearly, but if you needed 10 more games to not be the day before/after another game, wouldn't you have to add 20 days to the season? I guess it would assume you changed nothing else like allowing for 2 full days rest.

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There's already a day before or after the other games. You just need to add a day in-between ~10 games

Always an interesting discussion because some teams are getting unwatchable after the first 1/2 of the season. I'd like to see the lottery be with all teams with progressive odds, and making the playoffs doesn't worsen your odds more than the 14th team (last team out). There's zero way to ensure bad teams aren't guaranteed top picks unless you open up the lottery field to moderate and good teams. Offset being the second round is a true worst go first scenario, or if you end up with a crap pick after you're slated odds, you get some sort of cap relief for a small window.

I agree that there needs to be cap relief/protections/penalties in certain scenarios. A lot about the structure of the cap needs to be changed. Too much movement at the deadline that was strictly for tax/cap purposes.

Teams shouldn't be penalized for drafting and developing guys in-house. They have to pay those guys even more money than they'd get in the open market, but it still counts more towards the cap.

Players you draft or trade for should count less against the cap. Smart front offices and good coaching/development shouldn't be penalized.

I've wondered if you could base the lottery positioning on some algorithm that would give teams that are bad, more chances, yet somehow reward those teams for still playing hard and competing.

Maybe, lottery chances are given to all teams that don't make the playoffs, and the worst teams at a certain cutoff time (maybe even randomly determined after the end of the season) get more chances as is done now, but after that point they'd get chances for wins or close losses but additional blowouts/straight tanking would not be rewarded any further and instead teams would be rewarded for effort.

KOC was saying that one floated solution was that the lottery odds is locked at a certain date, but that date is unknown to teams and unsealed after the season. It would change every year.

If anything, that just encourages teams to be worse earlier.

It isn't changing any middle or late season behavior either.

Yeah, it is a dumb idea.

I think you keep the odds the same. They make sense. You have a doctors board in the league office and put into place tiered levels of punishments for unnecessary resting, intentional uncompetitive play, fake injuries, etc. Can include fines, loss of of lottery odds and even progressive loss of draft picks.

Going back to the Mavs tank for Lively, they were fined 750k (I remembered it as 250k for some reason.)

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4412661/2023/04/14/dallas-mavericks-fine-tanking-season/

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"The Mavericks violated the league's player resting policy and demonstrated through actions and public statements the organization's desire to lose the game in order to improve the chances of keeping its first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft," the league said. "The league did not find that the players who participated in the game were not playing to win."

NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars: "The Dallas Mavericks' decision to restrict key players from fully participating in an elimination game last Friday against Chicago undermined the integrity of our sport. The Mavericks' actions failed our fans and our league."

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And don't forget Cuban getting hit with 600k for tanking for Luka.

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• In 2018, Cuban had to pay his largest personal fine ever ($600,000) for admitting on Julius Erving's podcast that the Mavericks were tanking. "Losing is our best option," he told Erving.

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But nothing for the Jazz? It's preposterous. And it should be a lot more than a million bucks at this point.