Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban prior to last week's game against the Celtics discussed myriad topics, including the NBA's new TV contract, saying it is "going to change a lot" in the league, according to Gary Washburn of the BOSTON GLOBE. Cuban said, "More from a strategy perspective, it makes the value of draft choices go through the roof because they're pegged at a certain price. Minimum contracts will go through the roof. Anybody that signs for the mid-level, the value goes through the roof. It's going to be a lot of tough decisions. And in reality, if everything sticks to the projections that we come up with, the cap will go down after that. So that changes what you do as well." Cuban also addressed the Rockets' firing coach Kevin McHale last week, saying the "hardest thing for an NBA owner to do is hire a coach," while also noting the "easiest thing to do is fire a coach," Cuban: "The reason it's hard to hire a coach, coaches are great at date-face, they know exactly what your weaknesses are and they know exactly how to sell those weaknesses, so it's really difficult to pick it right and it's 90 percent luck." Meanwhile, Cuban offered his thoughts on Deflategate: "As an owner, it was obvious to me it was up to [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell to take the heat and take the responsibility. ... It's not about [Patriots QB Tom] Brady. It's about how you manage the golden goose, and that's what he's trying to do. I give [Goodell] credit for taking all the bullets. I don't know the NFL, and I'm just guessing, but he ain't doing (expletive) without getting feedback from all the owners" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/22).
