Mavericks notes: Owner Mark Cuban wants 3-point line moved back

Mark Cuban wants the NBA 3-point line moved back.

It doesn’t have anything to do with the historic journey Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is traveling from downtown. But it has everything to do with the league in general, and the future of the league.

“Part of the consideration is not just how our game works, but how kids learn how to play,” Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, said before Friday’s game against Denver. “It has turned into that nobody has a mid-range game coming out [of college] anymore.

“Unless you shoot a 3, you can’t shoot for the most part.”

The 3-point line is 22 feet in the corners and 23 feet, 9 inches out front. Cuban believes the game will be healthier if the 3-point line is moved back about six inches, although he wants the distance in the corners to remain the same.

“Guys are shooting so far back anyways,” Cuban said. “I think it opens up more so guys with more different skill sets can play.

“It would open up play for more drives, guys with mid-range games will be rewarded and they would stay in the game, there would be more diversity of offensive action in the game. You’ll see a little bit of a decline in the 3. More importantly, it promotes kids learning how to shoot mid-range instead of just bombing the 3s, just because the court would be wider and more open.”

So how does Cuban propose to get his 3-point ball rolling?

“You bring it up and they laugh at it for a few years,” he said. “And then they decide whether to do something or not.”

No boot camp

Although David Lee hadn’t played a game in nearly a month before the Mavs acquired him Monday after his release from the Boston Celtics, he didn’t have to go through a boot camp the way Peja Stojakovic did with Dallas in 2011 and Amare Stoudemire did last season.

“A boot camp would be you’re not playing him in games yet,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “David’s been really busting his tail for the last month in anticipation of a possible buyout and an opportunity to go to another team, and he wanted to be ready.

“From the standpoint of his conditioning and weight and all that, his body fat is extremely low and he’s very lean and trim. But that’s diet and training, and these are NBA games, so there is a differential, and we’re just going to manage his transition back into play.”

Lee played in his first game with the Mavs two days after joining the team and finished with four points and four rebounds in 15 minutes during Wednesday’s loss to Oklahoma City. Carlisle said he had to simplify his offense with Lee on the court, but that was to be expected.

“The last game was very helpful, being in there with a couple of different lineups,” Lee said. “Being in there with Zaza [Pachulia] as well as being in there with Dirk [Nowitzki] and Chandler [Parsons].

“And just getting to know from Coach that we watched all 15 of my minutes that I played and looked at the exact situations offensively and defensively that I’ll be in, and I have a much clearer understanding now and kind of what he wants in different situations.”

New Dirkburger

Everyone wants a piece of Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki. Now they can have one.

On a Bavarian pretzel bun.

Nowitzki and American Airlines Center executive chef Mark Mabry have created the Dirkburger that will be sold in concessions stands (106 and 118) throughout the month of March.

The Mavericks have eight home games in March. The first is Tuesday against Orlando.

The Dirkburger is a one-third-pound burger that includes jalapeno beer cheese, bacon onion marmalade, arugula and mustard horseradish aioli and french fries.

Cost is $12.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Mavericks notes: Owner Mark Cuban wants 3-point line moved back."