The setup is so straightforward and obvious that this is barely worth an eyebrow-raise. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, speaking directly to a crew up hopeful Mavs season ticket owners, dismissed the Los Angeles Lakers' offseason moves while attempting to remind his 41-game faithful that nothing out West gets decided in July and August. He's not wrong in theory, which gives him enough room to escape total scorn, but still comes off a little spurned in the face of an offseason that didn't go exactly as Cuban would have hoped.

(Even though he'll tell you everything's in place; mainly because as team owner that's what he has to tell you.)

First, his take on the Laker pickups of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, as reported by The Sporting News:

"The Lakers have done this before," Cuban said. "Remember Gary Payton, Karl Malone and Kobe and Shaq were all together, and it didn't work. "It takes great chemistry, like coach (Rick Carlisle) alluded to, it takes guys wanting to be there — I don't know if all their guys want to be there — it's going to be interesting. "Look, (the Lakers are) going to be a great team, but I remember when we made our run," Cuban said. "We weren't supposed to win any series. The Lakers were defending champs when we swept them, and they had everybody back. A lot of teams do a great job winning the summer, but I never get so antsy about what happens over the summer." […] "The CBA now isn't just about money," Cuban said. "Now it is about flexibility as well. And, for instance, going to the Lakers, this time next year, they wouldn't be able to do a deal for Steve Nash. ... The Nets and some other teams who have just said, 'we're going to spend whatever it takes,' that is their team for a long time. Somebody gets hurt, something happens or it doesn't work, they've got big problems."

This is the perfect quick hit, almost politician-like, that you give an audience hoping to hear the exact right thing:

Yeah, 2004. Forgot about that. Those Pistons really took it to them; and the Lakers failed even with Kobe in his prime and Phil Jackson around. And we were giant killers in 2011, with nobody giving us a chance.

Super smart move, as always, by Cuban.

We're not season ticket holders, though. And while the tenets of Cuban's argument ("chemistry," history) are on point, one has to go a little bit deeper in any comparison before sloughing off the Lakers and yelling "2004" to a room full of fans in blue.

That year's team was rolling along at 20-5 when Karl Malone sprained his knee two months into the season. Even with Shaq and Kobe feuding, O'Neal out of shape, and Gary Payton out of sorts with the offense (and, in something that does remind of Steve Nash, a sieve defensively), the Lakers were dominating the league and on pace to win 66 games. Malone re-injured the knee during the playoffs during a grueling Western Conference run (the Timberwolves, Kings and Mavericks were all legitimate title contenders that season), and a healthy Pistons squad took advantage in the Finals.

Had Karl been healthy in June? Had Stanislav Medvedenko not had to play 72 important minutes during the Finals? Things may have been different. The Pistons (and, probably, the similarly depleted Timberwolves working without All-Star Sam Cassell) were fantastic that year, a true champion without caveat, but that Laker team was closer than we remember.

The parallels, because Cuban is smart, are all there.

Kobe and Dwight Howard haven't had the breeziest of relationships thus far. Steve Nash can't guard anyone, and like Payton he'll be working in an offense that tends to take the ball out of the point guard's hands for long stretches. Pau Gasol is just about our favorite anything ever that's ever been, but he's also just beginning the downside of his career. And like that 2004 team, any tweaked knee or unfortunate accident could leave a thin bench having to contribute way too much.

Story continues