SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For those who get off on me being slapped silly, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban branded my disclosure that Avery Johnson broached trading Dirk Nowitzki a "ridiculous assertion."

He was a trifle more tender in an e-mail soon after reading the column than he was in his blog that labeled my source "an out-and-out liar."

My response below, in essence, is identical to the one I sent Cuban.

(Those Mavs fans who dutifully believe his spin that Avery never wanted to trade Dirk following last season's first-round eviction and are convinced my report was malicious and make-believe, should reflect who has more to lose or gain by the truth being told.)

I told Cuban I respected his public position. Somehow, I didn't think he'd confess, "Yeah, it's true, my coach had lost faith in Dirk and felt he was a terrible leader."

Of course, Cuban was going to deny, deny, deny and denigrate, disparage and defame my source. I fully expected as much. But when you've got the goods you can't be bullied.

The fact remains, I stressed, "my source is infallible and my info is impeccable," that is, unless Avery was merely venting to confidants, which I find impossible to accept.

Somebody had to be blamed for the Mavs' humiliating upset. And, for some odd reason, Avery pointed a crooked little finger at Dirk, the strength coach and President Bush; everybody but himself, just as the majority of head coaches do when they find themselves in similar situations.

Meanwhile, how about Cuban saying he would never go after P. J. Brown (unlike the Hornets who are in passionate pursuit) because he has the same agent as Devean George?

How childish!

The Mavs need help at center and he says he's considering Justin Williams, Dale Davis or Jamaal Magloire.

They're bound to sweat Yao and Shaq and Tim Duncan and Andrew Bynum and Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby.

How disingenuous for an owner to deride a player for wanting to keep his Bird Rights. He even sold it to local media there was no advantage for George to own Bird Rights, because he's not good enough for anyone to want to give him a significant number anyway.

Truth is, that even if no one wants to give George a big number, he can cash in on a sign-and-trade because of the Bird Rights.

(FYI: You cannot do a sign-and-trade using mid-level exception money.)

So, here we have a player who stands up for his rights and that's wrong, but when a team wants to move a guy for its purposes, it's OK, it's not personal, it's strictly business.

So much for playing the role of Mr. Good Guy Ball Room Dancer!

Will the real Mark Cuban please stand up?

Dallas-Fort Worth media maintain Jason Kidd will look better when he is more comfy and takes more than six shots. Evidently, they don't have access to a dish or cable or season statistics.

The same people contend Kidd will make Erick Dampier a real threat now. Good idea, if Jason's capable of catching it for Erick as well as passing it to him.

Should the Mavs fail to lock up a halfway competent center, it'll be bad for Dirk if he constantly has to change positions.

Then again, maybe Avery plans to revert to "Nellie Ball" and turn the Mavs loose with Dirk at the five and Jason running a full-court offense. They won't guard, but with Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse and Josh Howard, they would score a ton. Brilliant!

Just when the West is getting bigger, the Mavs go back to being small. Cuban dumps Don Nelson and then opts for Nellie-ball.

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IT'S HARDLY surprising to read the Blazers supposedly bid for Kidd, who informed them his one and only preference was Dallas.

That was also the case four years ago when the Nets were mulling massive payroll reduction. They already had traded Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets and, if not for an outcry by their fans, Kidd may have been next.

The Blazers offered Shareef Abdur-Rahim, newly drafted Sebastian Telfair and a first-round pick.

Agent Jeff Schwartz called then-Blazers GM John Nash and threatened, if acquired, his client would not report.

When the Nets decided to keep Kidd the intimidation factor became a moot point. While the Blazers believed the warning was real it didn't enter into the decision-making equation.

Here's a little-known fact about Schwartz: The reason Kidd hired him as his rep a half-dozen years or so ago was because he offered to work for no fee. The agent then could use that connection to recruit other players. I'm uncertain if that freebie arrangement remains intact.

Peter Vecsey covers the NBA for the New York Post.