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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Mark Cuban's Mavericks are 12-8, while the Nets have struggled. (Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After winning the NBA title in 2011, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban didn't try to bring back Jason Kidd, he let Jason Terry walk and, though he cleared cap space to make a run at Deron Williams, he missed a meeting with the free-agent guard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now all three men are in Brooklyn \u2014 Kidd is a first-year coach \u2014 and are struggling mightily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Nets are 5-14, got blown out by the crosstown Knicks on Thursday night and have the highest payroll in the NBA at $102.2 million.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;THOMSEN: Struggling Knicks, Nets show you can't buy NBA success&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cuban isn't envious of Brooklyn's position, especially because his Mavericks are 12-8 in the tough Western Conference.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"It's not just you're stuck for a week or you're stuck for half a season, you're stuck,'' Cuban said about the Nets' situation to CBSSports.com. \"Now the rules have gotten worst you're even more stuck.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"If you look across the board, a lot of guys would have been our guys and they've been hurt a lot. One's a coach now [in Kidd] and two of our key players [Chandler, another player he didn't re-sign who is now injured with the Knicks, and Terry] would have been hurt. You never know, but that was definitely a fear.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dallas' big move this offseason was signing free agent Monta Ellis to a three-year deal worth more than $25 million. The 28-year-old has thrived alongside Dirk Nowitzki, averaging 21.6 points and 5.8 assists per game.\n&lt;strong&gt;GOLLIVER &amp;amp; MAHONEY: Debate: Are the Trail Blazers contenders in the West?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2013/12/06/mark-cuban-glad-to-avoid-same-fate-as-nets>