Mark Cuban has made a series of comments about Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets over the past few months, which has finally elicited a response.

Cuban has derided Dwight Howard's decision to sign with the Rockets, while also signing away Gersson Rosas as GM only to have him step down and return to Houston months later. The Mavericks also signed Chandler Parsons to a max contract.

"I think [Cuban's] pissed that we went after Dirk [Nowitzki] in free agency, however unsuccessful it was," Morey told Yahoo Sports.

"We've been pretty good, and I think he's doing a smart thing to take on a rival," Morey told Yahoo Sports late Sunday. "He should want to beat up on San Antonio, too, but it's hard to paint the Spurs that way. So he's directed his bully pulpit onto us. Our owner stays above the fray, so I'm outgunned honestly.

"But let's be clear: If the money's equal between the Rockets and Mavericks, I think players are picking Houston. Every time. For Dwight [Howard], I just don't think it was a hard choice between us and Dallas. If you want to win, you're going to want to join our organization. We have a first-team All-NBA player in his prime [James Harden]. They have an enormously talented superstar [Dirk Nowitzki] but he obviously isn't 24 years old.

"The choice was pretty obvious between the two teams. Dwight is the smart guy in this."

Cuban recently criticized the Rockets for not caring about chemistry.

"I completely reject it," said Morey.

"Our teams have had great chemistry, and it's something we believe in. Hey, if Mark believed so much in chemistry, he wouldn't have busted up a title team for cap room. He's trying to reunite a lot of those people now, bringing back the center [Tyson Chandler] from that title team. Maybe he's got some chemistry religion recently.

"He's tripled his analytics staff. If he's equating analytics with not caring about chemistry, well, he's tripling down on it. I think he's smart to paint a competitor in a negative light, but none of those statements are lining up. He says that we're the team that you sign with and then we will trade you, when that's what he said he would've done with Dwight.

"We don't care about chemistry, but he busted up a championship team for what he hoped cap room could do."

Like the Mavericks, Morey and the Rockets know the value of perception in free agency.

"We're fighting for the hearts and minds of free agents," Morey said.

Dominican Republic free agent Victor Liz is working to re-sign overseas, meaning no deal with the Dallas Mavericks or another NBA organization, sources told RealGM.

In the midst of averaging 6.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in the FIBA World Cup, Liz had been reported to accept a training camp invitation with the Dallas Mavericks. No such deal was consummated, a source said, and the 6-foot guard is likely to land a deal overseas.

Liz, 27, averaged 21.1 points for Gaiteros in Venezuela last season.

Doron Lamb signed with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

Lamb (6-4, 200) is a three-year NBA veteran with career averages of 3.5 points, 1.0 rebound and 12.7 minutes in 100 games with Milwaukee and Orlando.

Lamb won an NCAA championship at Kentucky.

Behind a resurgent desire to pursue the NBA culminating in a successful World Cup showing, Slovenian shooting guard Zoran Dragic has maintained discussions with the four teams interested in signing him for next season: the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic, league sources told RealGM.

Dragic, the younger brother of Goran Dragic, had 11 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes against the United States national team on Tuesday. He has informed teams of an Oct. 5 buyout deadline in the language of his contract with Unicaja Malaga of the European League, a source told RealGM.

Dragic, a 6-foot-5 product, has received NBA interest in past summers, and he played for the Houston Rockets’ summer league team in 2012. Several NBA organizations have scouted him throughout the World Cup, sources said, and several new inquiries are placed per day.

In his second year with BC Malaga last season, Dragic, 25, averaged 10.6 points and 2.8 rebounds over 50 games.

Glen Grunwald denied comments from John Shannon, a former MLSE TV executive who claimed that the Dallas Mavericks offered Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash to the Toronto Raptors for Vince Carter and Antonio Davis over a decade ago.

"I don’t think that’s true, if my memory serves me correctly," said Grunwald. "One of my last obligations before I got the axe was to explore a Nash-for-Carter trade, but no, we were never, as far as I know, offered those guys. It was a difficult time for Vince Carter, obviously receiving criticism from the media in particular — because he did suffer from some real injuries, but he had some bad judgment in terms of attending concerts and such when he was on the injured list. It was time to look at exploring a trade, but the nearest I can recall, the Mavericks never offered Nowitzki and we never had any real conversations with them about Steve Nash. I don’t think (Shannon’s statement) is accurate, but maybe John has a better memory than I do."

Grunwald was soon fired by the Raptors and replaced by Rob Babcock, who traded Carter to the New Jersey Nets.

Free agent forward Charlie Villanueva has decided to sign a one-year, veteran's minimum contract with the Dallas Mavericks, a league source told RealGM.

RealGM first reported on Monday morning that Villanueva was closing in on a decision between veteran-minumum offers from the Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers.

Villanueva, a nine-year NBA pro, plans to choose a team sometime this week, a source said. He’s held workouts for teams since the start of free agency in July.

Villanueva, 30, became a free agent after finishing a five-year contract with the Detroit Pistons.

In his first four NBA seasons, Villanueva established his commodity around the league as a long-range shooter and skilled offensive player at 6-foot-11. He averaged nearly 16.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 44.7 percent in a breakout season with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2008-09.

Villanueva averaged 4.6 points in 20 games last season, a finality to an inconsistent run with the Pistons.

Villanueva was the No. 7 draft pick in 2005 to the Toronto Raptors, with whom he played one season.

Bernard James has re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks.

James (6-10, 230) was originally drafted by the Mavericks with the 33rd overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

He averages 2.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.6 blocks and 7.9 minutes in 76 career games (11 starts) with Dallas.

The Savannah, Ga., native is a former Staff Sergeant who served six years in the Air Force including three tours to Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar.

Petteri Koponen hopes to be playing in the NBA by the 2015-16 season. 

Koponen said he intends to make the jump to the NBA after completing the final season on his contract with BC Khimki in Russia. 

"I always said my dream is to play in the NBA," Koponen said. "Every summer we talk a little bit with Dallas to see what the situation is and what they think. I've got one more year left on my contract in Russia and then of course I would like to come over. I hope I get some options to go there and show I can play at that level."

The Dallas Mavericks acquired Koponen's NBA rights in 2011 in a draft-night trade trade with Portland. He was selected by Philadelphia on behalf of the Blazers with the last pick of the first round in 2007.

Team sources say that the Mavs have not ruled out importing Koponen themselves in the future, but there was no discussion of doing so for this season with four point guards already on the roster.