The big news is that the city of Dallas, the Mavs, and the Stars have 
finally reached an agreement on a new arena.  The deal can still fall
through as the city of Dallas' financial package has to first be approved
by the city council and then voted on by the citizens of Dallas.  The 
city council will be fully briefed on the proposal on Monday and will 
vote on it Wednesday.  If it is approved, the financing plan will be
voted on by the citizens of Dallas January 17.  If every thing is 
approved, the arena may be ready by the 2000-01 season.  The city of
Dallas is putting up $110 million for the building and up to $15 million
for the infrastructure (roads, parking lots, sidewalks, ...).  The teams
are putting up $150 million for the building and will pay for any cost
over-runs and will pay $132 million to the city of Dallas for leasing the
building for 30 years (and, thus, are committed residing in the new arena
for 30 years [but we all know how solid those commitments are]).  The city
is planning on paying for their cost by increasing the sales tax on car 
rentals and hotels (the so called tourism tax).  None of the dollars is to 
come from sales or property taxes.  The car rental tax will increase by 5%
and the hotel tax will increase by 2% - bring both to 15%.  Stars owner 
Don Hicks' investment company will be the financial advisor for the 
construction of the arena and Mavs owner Ross Perot's development company 
will be the project developer.

The Mavs hired Sonny Allen as an assistant coach.  Allen spent the last 
two seasons as a scout for Golden State and the 5 seasons before that as 
the scout for Charlotte.  He was the head coach of SMU from 75-76 - 
79-80.  Allen was brought in as a transition offense specialist.  His
presence has already been felt in training camp with the addition of
several fast break/outlet passing drills.

The Mavs signed 2nd round draft pick Bubba Wells to a 2 year, $572,000
contract.  [Since my dad's first reaction was "why sign him to two
years???", let me remind people of Travis Knight - he greatly exceed
expectations and the Lakers lost him after one season.  If Wells turns out
to be no good, the team can just eat the $300,000.  If he turns out to be
good, we won't lose him next season.]

The Mavs also inviteed 7 free agents to training camp.  They are signed
to 1 year, non-guaranteed contracts.  One may make the team (especially 
if Muursepp and another player are injured for the start of the season), 
but most likely all will be cut before the season starts.  The Mavs 
currently have 12 players under guaranteed contracts, not including Chris
Anstey.
The invitees:
  Malcolm Mackey: a 6-9, 225 forward from Georgia Tech (93).  Played one
season with Phoenix (22 games in 93-94, only 69 minutes).  Played last
season in the CBA (12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds).
  Carlos Strong: a 6-7, 235 forward from Georgia (96).  Injured his back
at the start of Charlotte's training camp last season, never played in a
game, and was cut January 30.  Averaged 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds as a
senior.
  Ace Custis: a 6-9 (though Jed pointed out he was listed 6-7 in the draft
guide), 211 forward from Virignia Tech (97).  Averaged 14.7 points and 9
rebounds as a senior.
  Ike Nwankwo: a 6-11, 234 center from Long Beach State (97).  Averaged
5.8 points and 5.3 rebounds as a senior.
  Kevin Whitted: a 6-8, 225 forward from Tennessee (95).  [No word as to
what he's done the past two seasons.]  Averaged 12 points and 4.1 rebounds
as a senior.
  Derrick Chandler: a 6-10, 245 center from Nebraska (92).  Been playing 
in Europe.  Averaged 14 points and ranked in the top 5 in rebounds and
blocked shots in Italy last season.
Both Mackey and Strong are listed in the Mavs Media Guide [btw, Michael
Finley is this year's coverboy] as free agent invitees and probably have 
the best chance (though slim) of making the team.

Other words from training camp:
Training camp started Friday and the team will be having two-a-days most
of the month (except for game or travel days).  The first pre-season game
is next Saturday at Reunion vs Houston.

There were three players who had their weight listing change on the
official team roster listing (they usually don't change and often aren't
current - I've even heard of players having clauses in their contracts
stating that their weight must be listed as a certain amount):
  Shawn Bradley went from 248 to 263
  Dennis Scott went from 235 to 229
  Samaki Walker went from 240 to 259

Kurt Thomas is participating in the non-contact/light drills during one of
the sessions each day.  He is thrilled to be back on the court.  He hopes
to be 100% by opening day (Oct 31).

Martin Muursepp's broken foot is healing very slowly.  He is in a walking
cast and using crutches.  He hopes to be ready by opening day, but I 
wouldn't count on it.

Hubert Davis pulled a hammy during practice.

Not from training camp:
The South East Melbourne Magic (Chris Anstey's team) finished with the
best record in the Australian National Basketball League with a record of
22-8.  [Sorry, I don't have Anstey's final numbers - the last numbers I
have are with 21 games Anstey averaged 14.4 points (48.3% FG, 65.3% FT),
9.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks (from the Unofficial NBL web page).]  The team 
gets a first round bye and will face the winner of the Perth-Bisbane 
series about October 11.


patricia