West blockbusters aren't pressuring Mavs

“Merry Christmas, LA.” Those were Avery Johnson’s now famous sentiments on the Pau Gasol heist by the Lakers. With a second blockbuster about to happen in the Western Conference – Shaquille O’Neal to Phoenix for Shawn Marion – Johnson was asked today what it means for the Mavs.

In essence, are the Mavs feeling any pressure to deal?

“We evaluate and we don’t overreact to what other people are doing,” he said. “We evaluate all the time. Sometimes when guys are deleted off other teams, some of them we’re actually glad to see go.”

Is Marion one of those guys? Some believe Marion has defended Dirk Nowitzki well in the past.

“I don’t think anybody defends Dirk pretty well,” Johnson replied. “It depends on what Dirk decides to do. Dirk, on a lot of nights, is unguardable. So I don’t know if anybody necessarily defends him well. Again, with our league, some teams add, some subtract and we like our team as we move forward.”

It didn’t end there. Johnson was then asked what his “sense” was of the moves going on around the West.

“I can’t comment on what other teams are doing,” he said. “I don’t know what the sense is. I’m just sensing on trying to get JJ Barea to be a good starting point guard for me now.”