DALLAS – Mark Cuban makes one guarantee about any potential moves the Mavericks make before the trade deadline.

“If you read about it,” Cuban said, “it ain’t happening.”

Of course, that comes from the man who once advised a reporter to “put the crack pipe down” in response to an inquiry about a package the Mavs might send to New Jersey for Jason Kidd. That blockbuster deal went down days later and looked a lot like the reporter’s proposal.

There was also a lot of pre-trade buzz the last time the Mavs pulled off an All-Star weekend blockbuster, shipping Josh Howard and spare parts to Washington for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson.

One good rule to follow around this time of year is to take anything said on the record by an NBA decision-maker with a few big grains of salt.

“That’s probably true,” Cuban said. “You’re a very handsome man.”