Suicide lines: Does Shaq want to be a Maverick?

Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your Maple & Brown Sugar Life.

Mike Fisher, DallasBasketball.com: "Shaquille O’Neal didn’t just stay an extra day in Dallas because, as he claims, he wanted to visit the Grassy Knoll. We’re told the Suns legendary center also stayed behind because he thinks all the grass in Dallas might be greener — and that he is angling with Mavs owner Mark Cuban for an offseason trade to Big D. This storyline is just now revving up again thanks to Shaq’s weekend on the town, during which he repeatedly told friends about the Mavs being on his wish list. [...] 'Privately, he's not making any secret of it,' says one mutual friend of Shaq and DallasBasketball.com. 'I bet right after the season ends, it won’t be private anymore, either.'"

Tim MacMahon, The Dallas Morning News: "I absolutely believe that Shaq will push to be traded to Dallas this summer. It doesn't surprise me to read a source saying that process has already started. Mark Cuban and Shaq, the NBA's two best marketing brains, have been longtime admirers of each other. Their Twitter footsie last week was the continuation of flirtation that has been going on between the two for years. Potential deal: Expiring contracts Erick Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse for Shaq. Why would the Suns do it? Because they'd save a bunch of cash, including $5 million by buying out Stack. Shaq made sure to set up a meeting with Cuban during this trip. He tweeted his request to meet with Cuban and followed up on that by sending the visitor's locker room attendant over to Cuban's Stairmaster to make sure the Mavs' owner knew Shaq was serious. Cuban's Twitter report after he hooked up with the best big man of our generation: 'shaq found me. wish I could say what happened. I kept my cool.'"

Brian MacTaggart, Houston Chronicle: "With Yao watching from the bench during a four-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, the Rockets turned to unlikely heroes in guard Von Wafer and forward Carl Landry — playing for the first time in three weeks — to keep the Magic at bay. Wafer and Landry combined to score 11 of their team’s 13 points during a three-minute span that allowed the Rockets to coast to a 93-83 victory over Orlando before a sellout crowd of 18,389 at Toyota Center. The game was not only a homecoming of sorts for former Rockets guard Rafer Alston, who was traded to the Magic on Feb. 19, but also marked the return of Landry, who played for the first time since getting shot March 17. He scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. Alston scored 15 points. 'It’s been a long three weeks, probably the longest three weeks of my life,' Landry said. 'Just being out there with my teammates and seeing everybody happy and excited to have me back is a great feeling.'"

Rob Peterson, NBA.com: "[Allen] Iverson will turn 34 on June 7 and has a lot of NBA miles on him. He's played 886 tough NBA games and is the active NBA leader in average minutes played per game — 41.4, nearly a minute more than LeBron James, who is nine inches taller, 100 pounds heavier and has played seven fewer seasons. Iverson, who is making nearly $22 million this season, won't be able to get a contract near that this offseason. 'I don't know if he's ready to accept the mid-level exception,' one NBA scout said. 'There's a market for him, but because of the economics of the game, he's not going to get what he thinks he's worth.'"

Associated Press: "The Miami Heat likely will be without starting forward Udonis Haslem for the rest of the regular season because of a deep cut on his right thumb. Haslem was hurt Friday in Charlotte while trying to block a shot and needed six stitches to close the gash. They are not scheduled to be removed until at least April 16, a day after the season finale. Yakhouba Diawara replaced him in the lineup last night vs. New Orleans."

Real GM/Chicago Tribune: "Luol Deng confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that he had suffered more pain in the stress fracture in his right tibia after a recent workout. 'I haven't even sprinted yet,' Deng said. 'But even if I'm capable of getting back to play five or 10 minutes, that could help. These guys have been playing a lot of minutes.' Deng won't return for any remaining regular season games and the playoffs now appear to be in jeopardy."

Frank Dell'Apa, The Boston Globe: "Brian Scalabrine returned to Celtics practice today for the first time since sustaining a concussion in a Feb. 24 game. Scalabrine has not been cleared for full participation, but was able to take part in noncontact drills. 'It's encouraging,' Scalabrine said. 'I got the go-ahead to go 5-on-0.' Dr. Robert Cantu of Emerson Hospital approved the return after Scalabrine experienced eight successive days of workouts without concussion symptoms. Scalabrine will likely miss the Celtics' games against New Jersey tomorrow and Miami Friday. He is expected to travel with the team to Cleveland for Sunday's game but he has not been cleared to play in games."

Mike Baldwin, The Oklahoman: "Desmond Mason, sidelined by a knee injury, said if the Thunder was in the playoff chase he probably would be close to returning because he would have pushed a little harder the past couple of weeks. 'I’m well ahead of schedule, but we don’t need to rush anything,' Mason said. 'Going into the summer, we want to make sure to have a full recovery. In a week I’ll be on a treadmill doing some stuff. I’ve been on a bike the last two to three weeks, weight bearing and balance stuff.' Mason has made it clear he would like to return with the Thunder, but teams often don’t reach a decision until July, August and September. 'I’ve voiced my opinion about it,' Mason said. 'It’s up to the direction they’re going, how they see me fitting in.'"

Mike McDermott, The Providence Journal: "A surprising stat from Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald: With 42,625 career minutes played in the regular season and playoffs, Kevin Garnett has surpassed the total number of minutes played by Larry Bird before injuries ended Bird's career at age 35. Garnett is close to 33, the same age that Bird was when he began to break down physically, and he's logged nearly 7,000 postseason minutes alone. Bird told Murphy that physical deterioration is not just a matter of time on the court, but also style of play. 'I see a lot of players in this league who never take a charge, and never bend over to grab a loose ball, and they seem to stick around a lot longer,' Bird said. 'But [Garnett] is a player. He plays hard. He's very aggressive. It's gonna catch up with you sooner or later.'"

Frank Isola, NY Daily News: "[Eddy] Curry's relationship with D'Antoni appears to be one based mostly on mistrust. Tuesday, Curry disputed [Mike] D'Antoni's claim that the veteran center is likely unavailable for the final five games. Curry, sidelined with a sore knee, would not rule himself out for the final week of the season. [...] The D'Antoni-Curry relationship began to deteriorate in training camp when Curry missed the first week with a stomach virus. Although Curry did play in the preseason, he was benched in the season-opening loss to Miami while rookie Danilo Gallinari, who had been out since July, did play. Curry was upset about the benching and was fuming a few months later when D'Antoni publicly criticized him for being overweight. The Knicks have grown increasingly frustrated with Curry's work habits. According to a source, Curry met with D'Antoni last month and promised to begin working out regularly, but on numerous occasions, Curry failed to participate in pregame workouts."

Doug Smith, The Star: "For [Chris] Bosh, the rest of this season and the summer will be nothing more than the usual. He'll give his input on personnel matters if it's sought, he'll remain out of the fray if his advice isn't desired. He will go into the summer hoping his teammates get better, his GM can make a good move or two and have success in the draft, and that he will be fully ready to come back to Toronto next season. 'I would like us to really develop our young guys and our bench and add key pieces to make us a better team for next year,' he said. 'Guys have to get better, one through 12 or one through 15, everybody has to get better. I take part in that, just making sure I email guys every now and then, see how everybody's doing, make sure everybody's working when it's time. Rest, but also think about how to improve yourself as a player.'"

Alan Hahn, Newsday: "A national championship, four All-America honors, a Player of the Year award and the all-time scoring record for the ACC isn't enough to ensure Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough an NBA career. But there are enough team executives around the league talking about Hansbrough as the type of player you want on your team....as long as you're not picking him in the lottery. Hansbrough is the same size as David Lee and has a similar nose for the ball. And, like Lee, Hansbrough knows for him to make it in the NBA, he'll need to work for it. 'I think, first of all, the biggest thing is finding a niche and I think he will find a niche because he’s a guy that works hard and he’s going to improve on any weaknesses he has,' Lee said of the Carolina star, who came up after Lee in the same Missouri-based AAU program. 'Do I think he’s going to be a 25 point scorer in the NBA? No. But I think he can be successful because guys that hustle and guys that take care of their bodies and do the right things, there’s a place for them. And I think he’s one of those guys.'"