Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks Heading to Los Angeles to Recruit Players

Mark Cuban is making a special trip to Los Angeles in order to meet with free agents, although he hasn't exactly pointed out who those free agents might be.

Update: Saturday, June 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET by Stephen Babb

It looks like one of those free agents, however, will be Dwight Howard. No surprise there.

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Sources: Mavs, led by Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki, will meet with Dwight Howard Tuesday in LA

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) June 29, 2013"

---End of Update---

Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks are looking to make some noise this year, via Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News: 

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We made it clear to everybody that we’re exploring different options. It’s just not one approach. Last year it was one-year deals because we wanted to get to this year, not just because of the big names but there were other names that we really liked. This year it’s not going to be about one-year deals.

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Of course, Dwight Howard has long been rumored to be the big name on Cuban's wish list, although the 54-year-old owner claims it is not exactly D12 or bust: 

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When something comes along that makes a lot of sense, we’re going to do it. We sat there yesterday going, ‘Look, if there’s a deal that falls into our lap, that precludes us from going after a maxed-out free agent, we’ll take it.’ We were having a lot of conversation yesterday that would’ve taken us out of any max free agent signing.

"

The Mavericks were active on the trade block during Thursday night's NBA draft. 

They had the 13th pick in the first round, and they traded it to the Boston Celtics for pick No. 16, which ended up being Lucas Nogueira, and two future second-rounders.

Dallas subsequently shipped the Brazilian big man along with Jared Cunningham to the Atlanta Hawks for picks No. 18 and 44 (Shane Larkin and Mike Muscala, respectively). 

They also traded for shooting guard Ricky Ledo out of Providence at No. 43, who never played a minute in college due to academic issues. 

At the very least, it seems as if Cuban isn't going to let a repeat of last summer happen.

When the Mavericks were courting Deron Williams, working toward pairing him with Howard and Dirk Nowitzki, Cuban opted to miss the meeting with Williams in order to attend a taping of his TV show, Shark Tank.

Williams later told ESPN's Tim MacMahon that Cuban's absence impacted his decision, claiming that many questions he had about Dallas' future didn't get answered.

The star point guard decided to re-up with the Brooklyn Nets, and Dallas went on to miss the playoffs for the first time since Cuban bought the team in 2000.