Mark Cuban Fawns Over ... Starbury

Say what you will about the fellow (and we have said plenty), but Mark Cuban makes things interesting. Most of the world is shaking their head at what Stephon Marbury hath wrought, deserving of blame or not. Cuban takes a look at New York's torment and sees a Dallas opportunity. The Mavericks won in New York Sunday evening, and Cuban had buckets or praise for Starbury.

"I'm a Stephon Marbury fan," Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, placing himself in a realm in which he's quite comfortable - the fringe - but certainly not alone.

Cuban and Marbury had a brief handshake and chest bump, and Marbury pitter-pattered his fingers to let Cuban know he'll be in touch. Who knows? It could happen sooner than we think.

Cuban also told reporters that teams would "absolutely" have interest in a free agent Marbury, and made vague assurances his own franchise has "babysitting skills" in place to deal with odd ducks. So could the Mavs be a Starbury landing spot?

Behind Jason Kidd, Dallas has Jason Terry (a gunner, more like a small two-guard) and J.J. Barea, who plays only very limited minutes. Really, the Mavericks don't have many guard options in total without playing big with natural small forwards like Gerald Green, Josh Howard and Shawne Williams. Antoine Wright has been awful, Jerry Stackhouse has fallen off so much the team placed on the inactive roster Sunday. The team needs guard help, especially at the point.

But Starbury? The Mavericks are already old and floundering. Why add to the bouillabaise of frowns?