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10:01 AM ET 01.22 | With several rival front offices privately charging an illegal side deal had been arranged to get Toronto's Peja Stojakovic to the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA has held up a trade to send Mavs forward Alexis Ajinca to the Raptors, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Friday afternoon. The Raptors agreed to a contract buyout with Stojakovic on Thursday that would allow the veteran forward to sign as a free agent once he cleared waivers. To create a roster spot for Stojakovic -- who had almost immediately committed to the Mavericks -- Dallas agreed to send the Raptors the 7-foot Ajinca, a future second-round pick and cash to Toronto for the rights to Georgios Printezis. When reached by email on Friday, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban denied there had been an illegal prearranged deal.

Mark Cuban, Danny Bollinger/NBAE via Getty Images

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January 22, 2011 10:25 AM ET

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Collusion? Never happens in the NBA!

Big 3 Egos

Onion

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January 22, 2011 10:36 AM ET

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If Cuban / MAVs was smart on this it would have been a three team deal ... sent Alexis Ajinca to say DET ... DET sent a player to TOR .... but the way is when down Peja $14.3m contact to DALLAS for Ajinca $1.5m, ... which under the rule could NOT HAPPEN, sure looks to me as Funny. ..... plus with Peja going to DALLAS like one day after the Buyout .... Not shopping around to other Teams.

... Nova

~ Brown Deer ~, WI

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January 22, 2011 10:51 AM ET

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Everyone does it, Bro.

I Love LA

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January 22, 2011 10:54 AM ET

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Plus the Red Flag raised by other GM's is that DALLAS got to hold on to Butler $10.8m trade Chip for another trade .... maybe a VET big .... say Troy Murphy $11.9m as a back up pF, ... can always Use another BIG come the Playoffs

... Nova

~ Brown Deer ~, WI

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January 22, 2011 12:28 PM ET

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We all trust Cuban, right?

iconwarren

Las Vegas , NV

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January 22, 2011 12:29 PM ET

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QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 10:29 AM ET 01.22 by MMAFan

This is why Lebron and Bosh kept up the charade and visited a bunch of other teams even though Miami was their only destination. You have to hold your cards close to your chest to avoid the accusation from other teams that get jealous. Other GMs don't want to do what it takes to improve their teams but they don't want somebody like Cuban showing them up.

Yeah, Cuban has stacks of championships, right?

iconwarren

Las Vegas , NV

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January 22, 2011 12:51 PM ET

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QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 10:25 AM ET 01.22 by Onion

Collusion? Never happens in the NBA!Big 3 Egos

Lets not forget the collusion with Joe Smith and the owner of the Timberwolfs.

eddieinportland

Portland , OR

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January 22, 2011 12:53 PM ET

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Attention attention all NBA GM's

Need to dump a large contract?
Have a player that will never play again with a large contract?

No problem, deal them to the Raptors, Bryan Colangelo can accommodate any large contract.
Need the player back at league minimum, no problem! The Raptors will buy out the player's contract and the next day you can have them back and only pay the the league minimum.

Need references? Once again no problem, Peja Stojakovic and Alonzo Mourning.
These 2 players enjoyed the Million dollar buyouts and got to play for the team of their choice.