Would You Rather Be A Mavs, Nets Or Nuggets Fan?

[Copywryter]

It's tough to be a Raptors fan, so I often try to cheer myself up by saying, 'well, at least I'm not cheering for the Mavs, Nets or Nuggets'.

Mavs: two HoF starters, strong supporting cast, bounced in first round three out of last four years. Dirk will likely leave. No titles.

Nuggets: widely regarded as an 'elite' team for several years now. 'Melo, Billups, Nene. HoF coach is sick. No titles.

Nets: Almost set a record for futility, horrible start to the season. But Lopez has a high ceiling and where there is futility there are draft picks.

So I'll put it to you. Which of these three teams would rather be a fan of?

[Ambidextrious]

None of em' really. Nuggets maybe but they arent winning a ship yet. I'd rather be a Magic fan they allways find a way to go far.

[Mack North]

Mavericks fan if any. They have an owner that will try to do whatever it takes to get it done. It hasn't worked out in a Championship yet, but at least they have 50 wins a year and a legit shot almost every year. You'd rather what we have here in T.O.? Come on now...

Nuggets are exciting but not my cup of tea...

Nets. hell no.

[Apollo]

Mavs. They have an owner who only cares about winning and not the bottom line. He's willing to take big hits to his pocket to win games. He is always trying to think of innovative ways to improve his team. Cuban wants to win and he's willing to pay the price and then some to accomplish it.

I'm not sure why you would look down on the Mavs. Their fans have it far better than us. It's not even close.

[Dave]

The Nuggets are in the worst shape. A number of veterans with high priced contracts who's careers are plateauing (Nene, K-Mart) or trending downwards (Billups). Not good enough to be a contender + lack the flexibility to improve their personnel considerably. A rebuilding process is on the horizon.

[Dave]

The Nets are in good shape heading towards the future. A good scoring point guard and a very good center + several interesting young role players/prospects + a large chunk of cap space + high lottery pick. They'll continue to improve and should become a playoff team in the near future ... with the possibility of becoming a title contender.

The Mavericks are one move away from being a title contender and they have the trade assets required to make a big move. They're in the best shape currently but they have a small window.

[Copywryter]

I'm not sure why you would look down on the Mavs. Their fans have it far better than us. It's not even close.

I'm not looking down on Mavs fans, I'm looking at what the future holds for them. To assemble that much talent for that long and not win a chip must be frustrating. Nowitzki is leaving and Kidd is clearly on the decline. The Mavs are looking at pre-Cuban mediocrity again.

Agreed on Cuban though. He's great.

Out of curiosity, how many teams with two sure-fire HoF starters didn't win a chip? The Utah Jazz of the 90s come to mind, but that's it.

[Apollo]

I don't think they're heading towards mediocrity. Cuban is willing to spend as much as necessary. He's looking to buy where as the majority are looking to sell. He will get it sorted out before there are problems.

I don't think they're heading towards mediocrity. Cuban is willing to spend as much as necessary. He's looking to buy where as the majority are looking to sell. He will get it sorted out before there are problems.

Edit: The Suns couldn't do it with Amare, Matrix, JJ and Nash. Two out of those four will be hall-of-famers.
The Blazers couldn't do it with Drexler and Petrovic, both in the HOF.

[Hotshot]

I don't know how you can pick those teams and still feel good about the Raptors.

Mavs - Their fans enjoyed 10 years of winning seasons and playing high calibar basketball (their lowest win total in those 10 years was 50! the Raptors can only dream). And Cuban is a passionate owner who is always trying to win (unlike faceless MLSE owners that buy condos and teachers pension fund who only care about making money and not winning - big difference). so with money and a winning GM at helm they will be more then ok for quite some time.

Nets- Although they had one of the worst seasons in history, things can only be looking up for the Nets. They got alot of nice young players not to mention Brooke Lopaz and Devin Harris are stars and fun to watch. They will also probably get the first overall pick or something close to that and that will be an impact player who will be good for years to come. Also they are getting a new Russian billionaire owner with deep pockets who isn't afraid to spend. This will be a very exciting time to be a Nets fan (unless they relocate to Brooklyn).

Denver - Yes its true that when your great coach is fighting with cancer and your team is in dissaray things don't look good. However they still ended up winning 53 games and their core is intact for years to come. It won't be too difficult through the draft or trade to strengthen this team up.

Its hard to be a Raptors fan, there are so many questions of how and where this team is going after a dissapointing losing season where your franchise player is going to bolt. I just don't see this team making great strides in the near future.

[Apollo]

Revisited

While the West looks to be losing some of it swagger, with players like Amar’e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer deciding to take their games back East, it looks like the Dallas Mavericks are trying there hardest to stack their frontline so that they can challenge the Lakers.

Coming of a nightmare finish to last year season, losing in the first round to their in-state rival Spurs, the Mavericks have been very active this offseason. Bringing in Tyson Chandler, Ian Mahinmi and Alexis Ajinca (word is they may be looking to move him too) and keeping Brendan Haywood for so much money, one can easily see that Dallas is obviously trying to build a team that can match up against the Lakers.

The more bigs that the Mavs have will definitely help to improve their post defense and rebounding. If you want to contend or challenge the Lakers out West, you have to make them take long-range shots. We all know that L.A. is at their best when they get points in the paint, finishing in the top-three in the League this past season.

According to ESPNDallas.com, Rick Carlisle is strongly considering starting Rodrigue Beaubois at shooting guard and moving Caron Butler to small forward, which would send Shawn Marion to the bench where he’d join sixth man Jason Terry (instantly giving the Mavericks the best second unit in the NBA). This affects the way they play the Lakers because Dallas is trying to see if Beaubois can start/play a lot more at the point. He’s the kind of player who gives Derek Fisher problems.

There’s no reason to read too much into this until training camp, but it does appear that Marion will play a decreased role this season. It’s obvious that his numbers are decreasing, but now his minutes may be too. It will be interesting to see if A) This happens, and B) How Marion handles it. Additionally, for all you fantasy GMs, Beaubois will be a popular sleeper pick for your fantasy draft this season.

Source: DimeMag.com