The Daily Nickel

Melo and DWill sure would have looked nice in Maverick blue...

1. Mavs stand pat - Despite the flurry of deadline deals yesterday, the Mavs roster remained unchanged.  Rumors swirled over our interest in Devin Harris, Tashaun Prince and JR Smith but it seems like the Mavs were always lowballing and the Nets, Pistons, and Nuggets never bit. 

I would have liked Prince and if all we had to package with Caron's expiring was DoJo and/or a very low 1st round pick, we should have pulled the trigger.  Remember, the window's closing....

2. Cam Newton a Cowboy? - Not so fast.  Given the Cowboys' needs on defense and belief in their current QB, I'd place the odds of Cam ending up in Dallas at virtually zero.  And as great an athlete as he is, count me among those who think he wont become much more than an average NFL QB.  "Athlete" QBs rarely are....

3. Beltre out, Young in? - Mike Young is out a couple days tending to family matters, but he could be your opening day starter at 3B if Adrian Beltre's calf (strain) isnt ready yet.  That didnt take long.  See Mike, these things happen.  You'll get your playing time....

4. Bill Simmons's grades the trades - I especially like the part that says trading with Memphis GM Chris Wallace is almost always a good thing and the part that says getting one stud for a package of lesser talent works every time.  Of course, anyone who plays fantasy football should already know that second part.  Btw, the D-Fdub will be all over fantasy football when the season rolls around so if you dont want to be the Chris Wallace of your league, come early and come often....

5. Survivor - This is straight up the best show on television right now and this season features the usual cast of 3 or 4 young good looking girls, 2 or 3 young jacked dudes, religious guy, token black lady, token hillbilly guy, old guy, old lady, and ultra cocky guy who thinks he's awesome at life but is actually a huge dork and is about to figure that out.  On top of that, they brought back 2 of the game's all-time greatest players/villains to lead each team.  If you're not watching, you're missing out....