Mark Cuban says he might draft Brittney Griner

[connor]

Cuban said last night that he would consider drafting the 6'8 center, Brittney Griner, at the back end of the 2013 NBA draft or at least give her a shot to try out for the summer league team.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/9127664/mark-cuban-give-brittney-griner-opportunity-dallas-mavericks

Mark Cuban annoys the hell out of me, but he is one [dang] smart businessman.

I don't see Griner having a chance at making any NBA roster, but this would be an amazing PR stunt/marketing effort for the Mavs. Plus I don't think anyone would actually look down on it as a pure PR move because she has been so successful in college.

Drafting her would be really stupid though because its just a waste of a pick (I know second round picks are basically trade fodder in the NBA, but why waste an opportunity to bring a guy in who actually has the potential to surprise you and make the roster or at least develop in the D-League?).

But in terms of publicity this is excellent! They are going to be selling tons of Mavs jerseys to new female fans.

[BballTim]

  This has happened in the past, I think Nancy Lieberman had a tryout with an nba team in the 80s and played in a men's minor league for a while.

[celticsleyte]

Personally if I was a Mav's fan in the area.  I would be not spending my dollars on that franchise as the owner decided to no longer really compete after putting an unlikely champion together. 

[dark_lord]

  This has happened in the past, I think Nancy Lieberman had a tryout with an nba team in the 80s and played in a men's minor league for a while.

she was on the washington generals for a while too (the team that plays the globetrotters)

[Eddie20]

Personally if I was a Mav's fan in the area.  I would be not spending my dollars on that franchise as the owner decided to no longer really compete after putting an unlikely champion together.

That's such an incorrect statement. Cuban, regardless if you like him or not, is one of the better owners as he cares about winning and is willing to spend money. He made a basketball decision to not re-sign Chandler, Barea, etc., in order to have a chance at Howard and Deron Williams. In hindsight, the Williams one failed, but he might still be able to pull off the Howard one this summer. He's not pinching pennies and making moves for financial decisions.

[Snakehead]

This is reminding me about Simmons ridiculous comments about Maya Moore a couple years ago.

Hey, more power to him if he wants to try.  2nd rounders rarely ever work out so I wouldn't blame him for trying something that gets attention.

It will not work out though.

[clover]

Just a little hyperbole that suits his Texas market.

[pearljammer10]

Cuban is an amazing owner and some people give him a bad rap because he speaks out and is a huge non-conformist. He speaks his mind and isn't afraid to say what he wants, stand up for what he believes, or call people out when they need it. He spends money to see his team try to compete and trying to make his fans happy.

Most of all, his IQ on the sport of basketball is ridiculously high. I love the clip of him on whatever panel it was (first take maybe) where Skip Bayless tries to call his team out by saying LeBron had a bad series or something. Cuban just laid into him and broke down the entire Mavericks gameplan, why and how they did everything it did, and the effects and positive causes of every move they made. It was really quite genius.

I hope he does draft Griner. Great PR, great political move, smart basketball move? Probably not but hey, stranger things have happened.

[Moranis]

silly publicity stunt, but I love it.  Griner has no chance of making a NBA team though.  She isn't strong enough to play down low and does not have anywhere near the shooting ability to play a spot up shooter role.  She would also get man handled or blown by on the defensive end of the floor every single time.  I still love it though.

[CelticG1]

Yeah Cuban said he would draft her if she was the best player available.

Pretty sure if she was the best player available any nba team would draft her, but she's not.

I'm just picturing scal man handling people during those one on ones and that being her. I really don't even know if shed make a legit prep school team

[celticsleyte]

Personally if I was a Mav's fan in the area.  I would be not spending my dollars on that franchise as the owner decided to no longer really compete after putting an unlikely champion together.

That's such an incorrect statement. Cuban, regardless if you like him or not, is one of the better owners as he cares about winning and is willing to spend money. He made a basketball decision to not re-sign Chandler, Barea, etc., in order to have a chance at Howard and Deron Williams. In hindsight, the Williams one failed, but he might still be able to pull off the Howard one this summer. He's not pinching pennies and making moves for financial decisions.

I disagree with his basketball decision as you call it.  In my opinion it was the wrong move with foresight at the time!  He let those guys go and brought in nobody substantial. Deron is not worth a max contract.  I am not a fan of blowing up a championship team.  I would have kept Chandler and replaced the rest.  I went to some Mav's games back in the day when they had J. Kidd the first time that franchise waited so [dang] long and then he blew it up right away.  Now he wants to bring in a player for nothing but a publicity stunt.  It rubs me the wrong way.

[Snakehead]

I'm just picturing scal man handling people during those one on ones and that being her. I really don't even know if shed make a legit prep school team

Yeah you're right.

I played some ball with D1 women (my sister was one, needed me to fill out pick up games at the gym on occasion) and
 it's just not a contest between men and women.  They can be great shooters and ball handlers but physically it just doesn't match up at all.

[kozlodoev]

I'm just picturing scal man handling people during those one on ones and that being her. I really don't even know if shed make a legit prep school team

Yeah you're right.

I played some ball with D1 women (my sister was one, needed me to fill out pick up games at the gym on occasion) and
 it's just not a contest between men and women.  They can be great shooters and ball handlers but physically it just doesn't match up at all.

Just out of curiosity, physically, how many of those D1 women were 6'8, 210 lbs?

[Roy H.]

Yeah, this is just PR.  As dominant physically as Griner is against women, she'd get killed in the NBA.

[Fafnir]

Yeah, this is just PR.  As dominant physically as Griner is against women, she'd get killed in the NBA.

Yup, she's a low post player in the women's game.

She'd have to be a finesse 4 or even a 3 in the NBA, she doesn't have the skills for that.

Then there is the speed, quickness, and strength deficits she'd have to overcome.