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Tenth in a 15-part series ranking the Mavericks' 2011-12 roster in importance of bringing back next season.

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Brandan Wright is easily the most athletic big man the Dallas Mavericks have put on the floor since ... well, Tyson Chandler. Wright, the Human Pogo Stick or the Human Exclamation Point as a certain colleague of mine dubbed him this season, brought a high level of energy and excitement -- and a higher level of two-handed alley-oop slams -- as he earned more and more playing time.

The former lottery pick of the Golden State Warriors provided two areas that the Mavs' sorely lacked and will look to gain more of this offseasaon -- youth, he's only 24, and athleticism. He's a high-motor big man who can run the floor. He has soft hands and is an impeccable finisher around the rim with a nice array of moves -- he boasted a team-best 61.8 shooting percentage.

The biggest issue with Wright is where he fits. His natural position is power forward, but coach Rick Carslisle converted him to center because Dallas obviously has Dirk Nowitzki entrenched there and at the time they believed Lamar Odom would fill the bill when Nowitzki sat. At center, Wright started out on the depth chart behind Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi, but as the season wore on the spindly-framed Wright at times logged more minutes than the others.

Until the playoffs.

And that's the conundrum with Wright. He hasn't developed a mid-range game to be able to play power forward effectively in Dallas' offense and he's not physically strong enough to consistently defend the center position. When he got his brief chance to play in the first round against Oklahoma City he had a serious case of butterfingers and the moment, the first playoff action of his career, seemed a bit too big. He played a total of 26 minutes in the series with a high of eight in the Game 3 blowout.

But at less than $1 million last season and next (assuming the Mavs pick up the team option), Wright is cheap, cheap labor and a talent worth trying to develop for the long run. In fact, he could be a talent the Mavs must develop for significant minutes next season because the center position at the moment is in total chaos.

Haywood is a prime candidate for the amnesty provision and Mahinmi is a free agent with no guarantee that he'll be back. Dallas won't dare go into the regular season with Wright as its primary man to patrol the paint, but he could certainly be relied upon to become a prime player.

The Countdown winds down a second week with No. 6...

BRANDAN WRIGHT
Pos.: C/PF
Ht./Wt.: 6-foot-10, 210
Experience: 4 years
Age: 24 (Oct. 5, 1987)
2011-12 stats: 6.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 16.1 mpg, 49 G
Contract status: Team option for next season
2011-12 salary: $915,852
2012-13 salary: $947,907

His story: Perseverance has Wright on the right track to remove his name from the long list of lottery busts and onto a more flattering one of productive rotation players. Drafted eighth overall in 2007 by Charlotte and traded to Golden State for Jason Richardson, Wright was buried on Don Nelson's bench and then injured his shoulder during an October 2009 practice. Surgery sidelined him the entire season and the next year the Warriors traded Wright to the New Jersey Nets. In his first three seasons, Wright played in 114 games so the 49 he got in this season was something of a landmark, a career-high he hopes to build upon. He's already been busy back in the gym, proving it by tweeting pictures. "I worked really hard to get back where I am," Wright said at the end of the season. "I'm blessed to have the opportunity to heal up from those injuries. This is a process and you’ve got to stick with it. When you start thinking like that (negatively), it's easy to start slacking off with rehab or getting back to where you want to be."

His outlook: Wright has to feel good that the Mavs will pick up his option (it would certainly seem to be a no-brainer). The real question is whether Carlisle will continue to try to mold him into a center or if power forward can be an option now that Odom is out of the picture and Shawn Marion (if he returns) might seem better off exclusively, or close to exclusively, at small forward. Wright believes he can develop a consistent mid-range jumper that could force defenses to extend out, providing the spacing the Mavs need to operate their halfcourt sets. He also needs to add muscle to his 210-pound frame (for a bit of reference, 6-5 guard Dominique Jones weighs 215 pounds) so he can hold his ground defensively at either the 4 or 5. If he can do that and sharpen his jumper, combined with his vertical jump and ability to finish at the rim, Wright could eventually live up to his lottery-pick status.

No. 15 Lamar Odom
No. 14 Brian Cardinal
No. 13 Yi Jianlian
No. 12 Dominique Jones
No. 11 Brendan Haywood
No. 10 Kelenna Azubuike
No. 9 Ian Mahinmi
No. 8 Vince Carter
No. 7 Rodrigue Beaubois
No. 6 Brandan Wright
No. 5 Coming Monday

For the 12th consecutive season -- and 12th time in his 14-year career -- Dirk Nowitzki has been selected to the All-NBA team. Nowitzki, who statistically did not have a season up to his standards, was still impressive enough to garner a spot on the third team.

It's his third career selection to the All-NBA third team and first since the 2003-04 season. The Dallas Mavericks' all-time scoring leader was a first- or second-team All-NBA selection in each of the past seven seasons.

"It is an honor to make the All-NBA team again,” Nowitzki said in a statement released by the team. "To be named among the best players in this league is always still very humbling for me. I also appreciate the opportunity to represent my teammates and the Mavericks organization on this list."

LeBron James and Kevin Durant were named to the first team at forward, with Kevin Love and Blake Griffin receiving second-team recognition. Carmelo Anthony joined Nowitzki on the third team. Former Mavs center and current New York Knicks star Tyson Chandler was also named to the third team. (complete list is below).

Nowitzki was the NBA’s eighth-leading scorer (21.6 ppg) during the regular season. He and Kobe Bryant are the only two NBA players to be named to an All-NBA team each of the past 12 seasons. Nowitzki remains the only Mavs player in franchise history to be named All-NBA first team (four times: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2008-09).

This season, Nowitzki moved into the top 20 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, surpassing Robert Parish and Charles Barkley for 19^th place. He also ranks third in scoring among active players behind Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

In four postseason games against Oklahoma City , Nowitzki averaged 26.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists in 38.5 minutes.

No Charles Barkley comment this season stirred more local debate than his "Father Time, bro" remark regarding Dirk Nowitzki's inevitable slippage that the Round Mound said was officially under way.

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It's true that Nowitzki struggled out of the gate and that an ailing right knee forced him out of the lineup for four games so he could train behind the scenes, a peculiarity to be sure for the typically precision-trained power forward. And yes, it is inarguable that Nowitzki finished the rapid-fire, 66-game regular season -- his 14th in the NBA -- with the lowest statistics (21.6 ppg, 45.5 FG%, 6.7 rpg) since his first two seasons in the league.

For the record, Nowitzki has no issues with Sir Charles, a hero of sorts to Nowitzki as young lad playing the game in his native Germany. Nowitzki borrowed Barkley's Olympic Dream Team jersey No. 14 for his own use and then flipped it to No. 41 in the NBA.

"I love Charles and I also love watching him on TV because whatever is running through his big head he’s going to throw out there," Nowitzki said during his lengthy Tuesday appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's "Galloway & Co. "That’s what makes it funny, so I’m still a huge, huge fan of his. I don’t see it as an insult or anything. It’s just he’s having his opinions and he’s throwing them out there and that’s what makes great TV and great radio because he’s the man."

But what about this Father Time thing anyway? Nowitzki turns 34 on June 19 and well, he isn't getting any younger. But was this season an aberration following the long championship run, his commitment to play for Germany in the Olympic qualifying tournament and then the uncertainty of the lockout that skewed his offseason training?

Or is Barkley right and the inevitability of Father Time played a quick game of catch-up just months after Nowitzki seemed invincible in leading the Mavs to the franchise's first championship?

"I had a tough time getting going this year. I’m very specific taking care of my body during the season; I eat right, I lift, I train, so it took me a while to get going with the whole lockout. There were too many games, not enough preparation time so I paid for that a little bit, but I think I can still play some really good basketball," Nowitzki said. "If you look at all the guys that really take care of their body like Nashy (Steve Nash) and (Jason) Kidd now is almost 40, and those guys, they can compete at a high level for a long time.

"Even (Tim) Duncan if you look at him he’s having a phenomenal year in his 16^th, 17^th year or whatever he is (actually 15th), so I still think you can play at a very high level and I still think I can do it. I’m going to prepare again like in the regular season, you have your routine, you come in, report in October and I’m going to spend the offseason getting my body ready again and we’ll see what happens next year and see who’s fighting alongside with me and who the warriors are and we’ll go from there."

Ninth in a 15-part series ranking the Mavericks' 2011-12 roster in importance of bringing back next season.

Surely one can look around the NBA and field a lineup of unfulfilled careers. With the Dallas Mavericks that search stops with Rodrigue Beaubois, the highly-talented guard whose career appeared headed toward the stars until the unfortunate day when the fifth metatarsal in his left foot snapped.

Nothing's been the same since. And everything's been a struggle.

Beaubois is heading into the most important summer of his young NBA career and he knows it.

"I cannot tell you what is going to happen, but obviously I know that this summer is going to be big for me," Beaubois said. "I have to work out a lot and make sure that I am ready because if they give me space (more playing time) I will have to be ready for that."

For the first time in three summers, Beaubois is healthy and able to train. He broke his foot in early August 2010 training with the French national team and underwent surgery soon after. He missed two-thirds of the following season because he re-injured the foot and then hurt it again in the final game of the regular season, forcing him out of the entire championship run and back into the operating room.

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Few inroads were made this season and so here we are at a crossroads. Beaubois is effectively entering the final year of his contract. The Mavs can make a qualifying offer next summer or they can say goodbye.

The Countdown ticks down to No. 7...

RODRIGUE BEAUBOIS
Pos.: G
Ht./Wt.: 6-foot-2, 180
Experience: 3 years
Age: 24 (Feb. 24, 1988)
2011-12 stats: 8.9 ppg (42.2 FG, 28.8 3FG, 2.9 apg)
Contract status: Signed through 2012-13
2011-12 salary: $1.2 million
2012-13 salary: $2.2 million

His story: The second surgery ruined another summer of work and development with the lockout adding another layer of frustration because it prevented Beaubois from working, or even visiting, with Rick Carlisle and the coaching staff. Once again, Beaubois' role this season is in total limbo because that's also where the Mavs' roster is. Will they sign Deron Williams and re-sign Jason Kidd to back him up at point guard? Will Delonte West and/or Jason Terry return along with Vince Carter to fortify the shooting guard position? And then there's the whole issue of whether he's a point guard -- which he mostly played to varying degrees of success this season -- or a shooting guard, or does it even matter? Or will that be determined simply by where there is room for him?

His outlook: Any number of backcourt variables that emerge after July 1 could open up playing time for Beaubois or again leave him buried behind a veteran crew. Or, in yet another scenario, Beaubois could get caught up in a trade to create additional cap space. Beaubois was essentially out of the rotation in the playoffs, leaving him with still virtually no postseason experience in three trips. Will the 2012-13 season be something of a rebirth for Beaubois in Dallas or the beginning of the end?

No. 15 Lamar Odom
No. 14 Brian Cardinal
No. 13 Yi Jianlian
No. 12 Dominique Jones
No. 11 Brendan Haywood
No. 10 Kelenna Azubuike
No. 9 Ian Mahinmi
No. 8 Vince Carter
No. 7 Rodrigue Beaubois
No. 6 Coming Friday

Say the Dallas Mavericks come up empty in free agency (i.e. don't sign Deron Williams) and Dwight Howard is dealt somewhere to end that pursuit before it really started, and the only option left is to rebuild.

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Mavs F Dirk Nowitzki says he's too old to stay with a rebuilding franchise but couldn't imagine himself leaving the city of Dallas. Listen

Would Dirk Nowitzki request a trade?

It's a hypothetical that was presented to Nowitzki during his Tuesday appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's "Galloway & Co."

"It’s kind of tough," Nowitzki said. "I’m like the grandfather of Dallas sports right now."

He continued: "I’m not sure. I’ve always said I want to finish my career here and obviously the championship season topped it all off; that’s what I always was chasing and dreaming about so that kind of sealed that deal on that front. If we really come out with nobody this summer then maybe they want to rebuild and obviously I’m too old for that. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens on that front. But, I still think I got two, three good years left in me and if we get some players in here we can be right back up there and compete."

Nowitzki said he's excited about the prospect of reeling in a big fish in this first summer of cap space in his career. While owner Mark Cuban might talk of different roster-building ideas outside of nabbing a so-called big fish, Nowitzki makes it clear that his idea of a big fish is free-agent-to-be and Dallas-area native Williams, which obviously is no secret at all.

"We’d love to get a prime-time player like D-Will in," Nowitzki said. " But our thing right now is we just have to wait and see what happens in July."

Back to that hypothetical of Dirk, who turns 34 next month and is newly engaged, eventually seeking an exit from a rebuilding phase or the club deciding to part ways to bring in younger talent, Nowitzki said he doesn't see either one ever materializing.

"I don’t even want to think about it because I don’t think it’s going to happen," Nowitzki said. "I want to finish my career here and hopefully compete again in the playoffs and be a player late in June. We’ll see. Everything else is kind of all in the future. I can’t really see myself in another city or another uniform after 14 seasons I think it’s been now. Growing up here and basically I've matured so much over the years and met a lot of great people here, so I can’t even think about going somewhere else really."

Shawn Marion finished eighth in media voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year. NBA coaches apparently didn't buy into the hype.

Marion didn't make the first or second All-Defensive teams, as voted on by the league's 30 coaches, and garnered just three votes overall and no votes for the first team.

The Dallas Mavericks'' 6-foot-7 defensive stopper who was often asked to guard four positions this season and at times the league's top point guards, finished 14th in the "other players receiving votes" category.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle spent much of the second half of the season campaigning for Marion to be considered a top candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, an award former Mavs center Tyson Chandler won. Interestingly, the coaches (who can't vote for their own players) selected Chandler to the second team with Dwight Howard garnering first-team recognition.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka, far and away the league leader in blocks, earned first-team recognition after finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Here are the All-Defensive teams:

FIRST
F LeBron James, Miami
F Serge Ibaka, OKC
C Dwight Howard, Orlando
G Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
G Tony Allen, Memphis

SECOND
F Kevin Garnett, Boston
F Luol Deng, Chicago
C Tyson Chandler, New York
G Rajon Rondo, Boston
G Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (First Team votes in parentheses): Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 19 (4); Joakim Noah, Chicago, 14; Iman Shumpert, New York, 13 (4); Paul George, Indiana, 10 (2); Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City, 9 (2); Josh Smith, Atlanta, 8 (2); Dwyane Wade, Miami, 5 (1); Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City, 5 (1); Grant Hill, Phoenix, 5 (1); Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 5 (1); Avery Bradley, Boston, 3 (1); Marc Gasol, Memphis, 3 (1); Metta World Peace, L.A. Lakers, 3; Shawn Marion, Dallas, 3; Joe Johnson, Atlanta, 2, (1); Mike Conley, Memphis, 2; Derrick Rose, Chicago, 1; Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia, 1; Carlos Boozer, Chicago, 1; Luc Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee, 1.

Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki fashions himself as something of an increasingly knowledgeable baseball fan. After all, the 7-foot German tossed out the first pitch before Game 3 of the World Series, and he's taken over the reins from ex-Stars star Mike Modano as point man for the Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game in Frisco coming up on June 30.

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Mavs F Dirk Nowitzki says he's too old to stay with a rebuilding franchise but couldn't imagine himself leaving the city of Dallas. Listen

So surely Nowitzki, who dons a blue Rangers cap and blue jersey with the No. 41 and "Nowitzki" stitched on the back when he takes in games at the Rangers Ballpark, has every right to express an opinion -- just as every other Texas Rangers fan has -- regarding manager Ron Washington's strategy to rest key starters during last week's home stand. It didn't work out so well for the skipper as his team dropped three of four to the Royals and A's.

"We'll be OK, you know we already started resting people left and right. It's a little early in the season for that," Nowitzki told ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's "Galloway & Co.," on Tuesday, sounding off presumably with tongue planted firmly in cheek. "We'll be OK. It's early."

Look, Nowitzki is a guy that hates to take any time off during the grind of an 82-game NBA season. It killed him to miss four games early this season to get his troublesome right knee into game shape and he even scoffs at taking time off during meaningless games at the end of the season. So, yeah, sure, maybe Dirk would have thought twice about giving big-league ball players a day off in mid-May.

"Yeah, I thought it was a little bit aggressive," Nowitzki said of Wash's rest strategy as uproarious laughter erupted in the studio. "I think Ron knows what he's doing. Obviously he led this team to the World Series back-to-back, so you know he's got experience and he knows his players best. Like I said, they've got so many games, then it gets rained out, then you got doubleheaders, so I mean it's a crazy sport and a crazy schedule, so I guess he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for Yu Darvish's shortest outing of the season Monday against those pesky Seattle Mariners, Dirk had thoughts on that, too. He says, fuggedaboutit.

"Hey, it's so many games in baseball, it's tough to bring it every night," Nowitzki said. "It's the same in really every sport. I mean, some nights, I mean, I can't even make a damn layup one foot away. It happens and you know you come back and work hard that week. I don't know what they're training involves, but he'll be back."

Overall, Dirk is liking what he's seeing from the ball club in Arlington.

"We've got a great pitching rotation, I think we're deep at the hitters," Nowitzki said. "So I think when it's all said and done at the end of the year, I think we're going to be there again if we stay injury-free."

Eighth in a 15-part series ranking the Mavericks' 2011-12 roster in importance of bringing back next season.

Bringing in Vince Carter last season, even at a buyer-friendly price, felt like a reach for a team with an already aging roster. Anyone who'd seen him play the previous two seasons with Orlando and Phoenix could only surmise that Carter was postponing the inevitable.

And then he got to town and Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle almost instantly, and rather shrewdly, started talking up the eight-time All-Star and former slam dunk champ as a sure-fire Hall of Famer whose basketball IQ soared as high as his dunks used to.

"Guys who are eight-time All-Stars are Hall of Famers. And there's a reason," Carlisle said shortly after the delayed start to the season in late December. "He's been a great player and he knows how to play. He's going to fit in great with what we're doing just because he's a hell of a basketball player."

It's hard to say that Carlisle wasn't right, to an extent.

Carter got off to a strong start, burying 3-pointers at a team-best clip, flashing a nice post-up game and scrapping on defense all the while giving the Mavs the versatility to play him at shooting guard or small forward. But after the All-Star break Carter started to slow down, and other than a brief hot streak, the swoon carried into the playoffs where he shot just 29.3 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent from beyond the arc.

All-in-all, Carter started 40 of the 61 games he played, when at this point in his career he's probably most effective as a scorer off the bench where he can take advantage of smaller and less talented reserves.

Carter will turn 36 in January, and the odds are that he will celebrate his birthday in a Mavs uniform.

The Countdown rolls on at No. 8 ...

VINCE CARTER
Pos.: SG/SF
Ht./Wt.: 6-foot-6, 220
Experience: 14 years
Age: 35 (Jan. 26, 1977)
2011-12 stats: 5.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 18.7 mpg
Contract status: Signed through 2013-14
2011-12 salary: $3 million
2012-13 salary: $3.1 million (partially guaranteed)

His story: Billed as half-man, half-amazing, Carter proved to be half-mortal in his first season with the Mavs. It can certainly be argued that injuries, particularly the broken finger that sidelined Delonte West for six weeks, played a part in Carter's decline. Carter was at his most effective when limited to about 25 minutes or less, but Carlisle had no choice but to keep him on the floor more through West's injury. Plus, Jason Kidd missed 18 games, mostly due to three separate injuries. Through the first 25 games, Carter logged 25 minutes or fewer 14 times, compared to 15 times in the final 36 games. Perhaps a better comparison though is the fact that he played 30 minutes or more just twice in those first 25 games, and 10 times in the final 36. It makes it difficult to argue that wear-and-tear didn't play a role in Carter's downturn or that playing fewer minutes consistently next season could serve him and the Mavs well.

His outlook: Carter is signed for the next two seasons at little more than $3 million for each, however his contract is not fully guaranteed. It is guaranteed enough for next season that, barring a major trade that would sweep him up, the odds are high that Carter will stick around here for at least one more season. One has to wonder though if the Mavs wouldn't be better off allotting Carter's minutes to younger players such as Rodrigue Beaubois (assuming he remains on the team), who the Mavs must get a full, healthy season out of to evaluate in what is essentially the final year of his deal, or to a player like Kelenna Azubuike. At this point, Carter would seem to be more of a last-piece-to-the-puzzle type that could bolster a contender's bench. But hey, who knows, depending on what transpires in free agency, the Mavs might or might not become such a squad.

No. 15 Lamar Odom
No. 14 Brian Cardinal
No. 13 Yi Jianlian
No. 12 Dominique Jones
No. 11 Brendan Haywood
No. 10 Kelenna Azubuike
No. 9 Ian Mahinmi
No. 8 Vince Carter
No. 7 Coming Thursday

If Dirk Nowitzki can't play in it, he's darn sure going to watch the Western Conference finals between the Dallas Mavericks' oldest rival and their newest.

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Mavs F Dirk Nowitzki says he's too old to stay with a rebuilding franchise but couldn't imagine himself leaving the city of Dallas. Listen

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder tip off on Sunday night. Who's Dirk got?

"I think San Antonio's going to do it, just because they've got one more home game," he said during Tuesday's appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's "Galloway & Company." "They really came on strong late in the season and they snatched home-court advantage away from OKC. So, I got to think just by that there is a little slight advantage. But honestly, both teams are good enough to win on the opponent's floor, so I would give a slight advantage to San Antonio, but, man, OKC is looking really good."

He should know. The Thunder rode the Mavs out of the first round in four games, handing Nowitzki the wrong side of the broom for the first time in his career.

Nowitzki's had his classic battles with the Spurs, including the amazing Game 7 in the 2006 semifinals that propelled Dallas to its first NBA Finals. It was a Spurs team that still included the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, yet, as Nowitzki pointed out, it is an entirely different style of ball those boys are playing these days, and the reigning NBA Finals MVP says all credit goes to this season's Coach of the Year, Gregg Popovich.

"To me, he's the best coach in the league, he's a genius on both ends of the floor," Nowitzki said. "The adjustment that he goes through -- at the beginning they win all their championships with defense, and he saw where the game's going; the game is going to free-flowing and more movement, you need basically four shooters on the floor at all times, and he's the man, he made it all happen.

"With [general manager] R.C. Buford helping him, finding people left and right. I mean, they draft people in the second round that nobody gives them a shot and they turn them into players. They have an amazing franchise and they really do a great job finding people that play well in their system and Pop makes them believe in their system. They're really fun to watch, they're rolling."

Dirk said he's ready to get this series going now, but unfortunately we'll have to wait until the end of the weekend. So, he's got the Spurs getting back to the NBA Finals for the first time in five seasons, but he's looking for the thing to go the distance, strictly from an entertainment standpoint.

"It's going to be spectacular. Hopefully, it's going to be a long series and we can all watch some great basketball," Nowitzki said. "The whole thing is full of great matchups. Just off the bench with Ginobili and [James] Harden going at it, the two point guards, obviously [Russell] Westbrook was phenomenal against us all series, but Parker is having a phenomenal year, probably in the prime of his career and Duncan is still looking really good this year. And now they got another week off to rest everybody.

"So, it's going to be an incredible series to watch."

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle had high praise for the Oklahoma City Thunder after being swept out of the first round, and his opinion was likely only reinforced after OKC's impressive dismantling and elimination of the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

"No question that they got better," Carlisle said, comparing this OKC team that is 8-1 in the playoffs to the one the Mavs ousted in five games in last season's West finals. "When they went through what they did last year where they won two rounds and got in a tough series with us and basically were right there in every game, you take quantum leaps in terms of your emotional growth, understanding what it takes to advance to the highest levels."

It's been documented by the Thunder's coolness and effectiveness under late-game duress against the Mavs and Lakers, extinguishing the harshest criticism heaped on the kiddos a year ago.

If the Thunder, elevated by a core of four players age 23 and younger -- Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka -- beat the championship-pedigreed and re-invented San Antonio Spurs in the West finals, their path to the NBA Finals will have rolled through the three franchises that have represented the West since 1999, and that have won 10 of the last 13 championships.

It would certainly signal an official restructuring of the West hierarchy.

"Their players individually have gotten better," Carlisle said. "Westbrook is a better player this year. Durant’s a little stronger and a little bit better. Ibaka has taken a major quantum leap and (Kendrick) Perkins, last year he wasn’t the same player. He was coming off of a surgery the previous summer and there’s a huge difference in his body this year. He’s 20 to 25 pounds lighter, back playing above the rim again and was doing some good things offensively. He really brought toughness to their team. They’re in a great position."

If OKC goes on to win it all -- and for the sake of argument let's say it beats the Miami Heat in the Finals -- will a run through the Mavs, Lakers, Spurs and Heat be more impressive than the trail of superstar ashes left in the Mavs' wake as they bulldozed through the Lakers, Thunder and Heat?

With at least four more days until the start of this highly anticipated West final, let the debate begin.

If Dwight Howard is dead set on leaving the Magic's small (market) world ASAP, as reports suggest, and Orlando grants his wish, it's hard to find the happily-ever-after ending for the Dallas Mavericks.

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Is the Dwight Howard to the Mavs dream alive? Dwight still wants out of Orlando and it could open the door for the Mavs to put a proposal together. Listen

That's the picture Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi painted Tuesday morning during an appearance on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning." If you thought D12 got what he wanted with Monday's news of coach Stan Van Gundy's firing and the franchise parting with general manager Otis Smith, it might come as a surprise then that Bianchi suggested that Howard could be traded before the June 28 draft.

Bianchi believes the Magic will first ask Howard for a long-term commitment. If the game's top (and seemingly profoundly confused) center says no thanks, then Bianchi thinks the Magic will act quickly to move him out to spare the club and its fan base another derailing, drama-filled season.

If Orlando again begins to solicit trade offers for its statuesque big man coming off back surgery just a month ago -- while also likely looking to unload the egregious Hedo Turkoglu contract (two years, $23.6 million) -- what's the Mavs' best offer?

Think the Magic jump at Brendan Haywood, Lamar Odom's partially guaranteed contract, Shawn Marion, Brandan Wright, Rodrigue Beaubois and whoever else the Mavs might want to throw in?

Not likely (and it's here where speculation can run wild that re-signing Tyson Chandler might have made the Mavs a more prominent player in a potential deal).

Howard has been adamant that he wants to play for the Brooklyn Nets. That's presumably because of his desire (or is it adidas' desire?) to play in a large market where his superstardom can really shine, and his arrival would almost certainly convince All-Star point guard and free-agent-to-be Deron Williams to sign long-term in the borough. If the Nets get a top-three pick in the draft lottery May 30, they'll keep their protected pick from the Gerald Wallace deadline deal, a golden nugget to toss into a package to Orlando.

The Nets, with restricted free-agent center Brook Lopez, and the Los Angeles Lakers, with center Andrew Bynum or power forward Pau Gasol as prime bait, are the top contenders to deal for Dwight now.

The Mavs simply are not.

Dallas' best hope would be that the Magic are desperate to trade Howard out of the Eastern Conference and can't work out a deal with the Lakers. The worst-case scenario, obviously, would be for Orlando to deal him to Brooklyn, effectively (presumably) taking the Mavs out of the running for D-Will and leaving Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki staring into an uneasy future.

Seventh in a 15-part series ranking the Mavericks' 2011-12 roster in importance of bringing back next season.

Ian Mahinmi recorded career-best statistics across the board in his second season with the Dallas Mavericks -- his fourth in the league and first as a true backup center.

Even in a lockout-shortened schedule, he played a career-high 61 games this season and average 5.8 points and 4.8 rebounds, also career bests. The 18.7 minutes a game he averaged were 10 full minutes more than he averaged during his career-high last season as the Mavs' third-string center.

So where is Mahinmi's ceiling?

How much is an improving, yet still semi-raw big man worth? How many years is a team willing to give him? Is he starting material or is he destined to be a career backup? Can he become a low-post scoring threat? Can he become a better rebounder? Can he hold his ground better defensively? Can he stop fouling on the perimeter?

All these questions will determine the fashionable Frenchman's worth and whether he'll be back in Dallas or continuing to grow his career with a third team in his fifth season.

The Countdown rolls on at No. 9 ...

IAN MAHINMI
Pos.: C
Ht./Wt.: 6-foot-11, 230
Experience: 4 years
Age: 25 (Nov. 5, 1986)
2011-12 stats: 5.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 18.7 mpg
Contract status: Unrestricted free agent
2011-12 salary: $915,852
2012-13 salary: TBD

His story: He got his initial lessons in American basketball with the fundamentally sound San Antonio Spurs for two seasons in which he barely got off the bench. The Mavs afforded him an opportunity and he's made considerable strides. He got off to such an impressive start to this season that it seemed he might be making a run at Brendan Haywood's starting job. But as Brandan Wright got more playing time, Mahinmi saw his minutes dwindle, as well as his production. In his first 24 games, Mahinmi averaged 20.2 minutes a game, 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds. Then came the 25th game and a curious DNP-coach's decision on Feb. 4 at Cleveland. In his final 37 games, his numbers dipped to 17.6 minutes, 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds... His greatest weakness is his penchant for picking up needless fouls that send him to the bench. Of the Mavs' three centers this season, Mahinmi is the most promising and well-rounded offensively, able to maneuver around the basket and finish while also being able to step out and hit the mid-range jumper at the free throw line and along the baseline.

His outlook: As stated above, where is Mahinmi's ceiling, and how far will a team go to sign him in free agency? If one takes a leap, it would likely mean he'll say goodbye to Dallas. The Mavs, though, have an interesting dilemma potentially brewing. If they use the amnesty clause on Haywood, they will be in need of a starting center. Do they believe Mahinmi can fill that space? Not likely if the goal is to be a top team in the West. Wright, as was seen all season, isn't a true center and doesn't have the body to battle down low for extended minutes. As with everything else tied to the Mavs' roster as the summer approaches, what transpires in free agency (i.e. landing a "big fish") will determine the direction the club takes with Mahinmi and a number of players.

No. 15 Lamar Odom
No. 14 Brian Cardinal
No. 13 Yi Jianlian
No. 12 Dominique Jones
No. 11 Brendan Haywood
No. 10 Kelenna Azubuike
No. 9 Ian Mahinmi
No. 8 Coming Wednesday

Mavericks guard Delonte West dishes on his desire to return to the Dallas, how he feels about Dirk Nowitzki, his relationship with LeBron James and how he ended up hanging out with Dez Bryant over the weekend.

 

On if he expects to return to the Mavericks:

"Yeah, definitely. It's in the Lord's hands and he'll work it out that way but all signs point to me being back here. First and foremost I definitely understand how Rick Carlisle wants to play. What he feels is the right recipe for success ... and that fits to my game. Then I'm the ultimate team player man, you know I can do so much. That's why I really don't do one thing great, cause I do everything good."

On his offseason plans:

"Well my season just began, ya know. It's tough not to stay in the gym because first of all we went out not the way we wanted to, No. 1, so that's tough to swallow. No. 2, you can't go on vacation, those guys are still playing the playoffs. They're still getting better every day, every game, so every day I try to find myself in the gym once or twice a day and try to keep that same high level and keep my body ready. You stay ready you don't have to get ready."

Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel opened the season by imploring his team to become an unselfish, ball-movement offense like the champion Dallas Mavericks.

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But when he told his team Sunday prior to its Game 4 against the Miami Heat to pass like champions, he was probably talking more about the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs, winners of 18 in a row and headed back to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2008 after sweeping the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers, have put on a clinic this postseason in championship passing. No team is throwing the rock around with such exacting precision and spectacularly devastating results.

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are combining for nearly 12 assists a game. Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson are combining for more than seven. And that still leaves five or so assists unaccounted for.

The Spurs' dynamic and often artistic offense -- the only one generating more than 100 points a game in the playoffs (102.5), better than three more points a game than their likely West finals opponent Oklahoma City Thunder -- has reminded just what the re-tooled Mavs lost in a year's time.

Dallas was the No. 1 passing team in the Western Conference last postseason and the best of the four 2011 conference finals teams, having averaged 20.1 assists a game. The Spurs are blowing that mark out of the water, averaging 24.1. They've assisted on 193 of 308 baskets (62.7 percent) in eight playoff games and they were even better in the just completed sweep of the Clips, assisting on nearly seven of every 10 buckets (107 of 154, 69.4 percent).

During this truncated regular season, the Mavs were rarely at full strength -- including the game's all-time second-leading assist man Jason Kidd missing multiple games three different times with back, calf and groin injuries -- and finished 15th in assists. And they regressed further in the four-game sweep at the hands of the Thunder.

The Mavs rank 15th among the 16 playoff teams in assists. Kidd averaged 6.0, but only Jason Terry (3.8) averaged more than 2.0 a game as the team averaged just 15.5 assists in the four games. OKC, not known as a high assist team led by high-scoring point guard Russell Westbrook, out-assisted the Mavs on average by two a game.

San Antonio, meanwhile, is whipping the ball around which such proficiency that no one else is even close. The Celtics rank second at 21.9 assists a game led by triple-double threat Rajon Rondo. The Spurs' two playoff victims averaged 6.25 fewer assists a game, and that includes perennial All-Star point guard Chris Paul.

Of course, players have to make baskets for assists to be racked up. And no one can match the Spurs in that category either. Even Mavs owner Mark Cuban prior to the start of the playoffs questioned whether the 3-ball-happy Spurs could live that way in the postseason. They can and have. San Antonio is killing it from the 3-point arc to the tune of 42.3 percent with six players shooting at least 43 percent from downtown. The Clips are the next best at 37.8.

Overall, San Antonio is shooting a whopping 49.1 percent with the resurgent Duncan hitting running hooks and jumpers from seemingly every angle for a team-best 54.0 percent.

The Mavs shot the 3-pointer fairly well in the first round (37.2 percent) but overall made just 40.4 percent of their shots, not terribly far off from their disappointing regular-season shooting of 44.3 percent that ranked 19th in the league.

Sixth in a 15-part series ranking the Mavericks' 2011-12 roster in importance of bringing back next season.

The curious case of Kelenna Azubuike as a member of the Dallas Mavericks started March 22 when the club released athletic big man Sean Williams, who had spent most of the season with the D-League Texas Legends.

A week earlier, the San Antonio Spurs had traded for Stephen Jackson and were closing in on signing Boris Diaw to bolster their roster for a deep playoff run. What were the defending champion Mavericks up to in releasing Williams and opening a spot on the 15-man roster? Who was on their radar that could provide an immediate jolt one month from the true start of their title defense?

Last year, Dalllas signed veteran sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic and the move paid off handsomely. At this point in the season, they could use someone like him. Three-point shooting -- heck, shooting in general --- had taken a significant dip throughout the truncated schedule and the Mavs would need firepower down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Could 3-point specialist Jason Kapono, recently released by the Lakers, be on his way? Maybe the 6-foot-7 Andres Nocioni? Sure, he was down on his luck, but still he was a 37.3 percent 3-point shooter throughout his career.

Turns out Kapono wasn't coming and neither was Nociono.

Who'd the Mavs have up their sleeve?

Azubuike, an intriguing shooting guard, oh, about three seasons ago before a torn patellar tendon put his career on indefinite hold.

And the Countdown ticks down to No. 10 ...

KELENNA AZUBUIKE
Pos: SG
Ht/Wt: 6-5, 215
Experience: 5 years
Age: 28 (Dec. 16, 1983)
2011-12 stats: Played total of 18 minutes in three games
Contract status: Team option for next season
2011-12 salary: $280,192
2012-13 salary: $992,680

His story: The Mavs signed the 6-foot-5 London native March 23. This was not a shot-in-the-arm acquisition like the S-Jax trade or the Diaw signing the Spurs pulled off (and are now reaping the benefits). Azubuike was starting to make a name for himself in 2008-09 with the Golden State Warriors when the formerly undrafted free agent averaged 14.4 points and 5.0 rebounds and knocked down 3-pointers at a 44.8-percent clip. He was a heck of an athlete built for an up-and-down game. Then came the devastating patellar tendon injury nine games into the 2009-10 season. The impatient Warriors traded him to the New York Knicks, who waived him Feb. 28, 2011. On March 23, 2012, Azubuike got another chance in the NBA, thanks to the Mavs, who knew he wouldn't be helping them to defend the title. So what were the Mavs' hopes in signing him? An inexpensive option with hopeful upside at shooting guard and/or small forward for next season? Perhaps. After all, Jason Terry will likely be moving on and so could be Shawn Marion, maybe even Rodrigue Beaubois and Vince Carter, too, depending on various factors in Dallas' venture into free agency. Interestingly, Azubuike, after playing just three regular-season games with Dallas, was on the active roster in the first round against Oklahoma City, taking the spot of second-year guard and 2010 first-round draft pick Dominique Jones.

His outlook: The Mavs believe they have the best head athletic trainer in the game today in Casey Smith and an elite orthopedic crew headed by team doc T.O. Souryal. Azubuike will be three years removed from the horrific knee injury that put his burgeoning career in jeopardy and one that remains terribly difficult to watch on YouTube. But here's the hope for Azubuike: A second surgery in March 2011 was performed to fix the first surgery that wasn't done properly. Azubuike confirmed that fact on Twitter in March 2011, saying: "The 1st surgery in '09 wasn’t done right. Gettin it done right this time!” The Mavs' medical and training staffs have a track record with patellar tendon injuries after Caron Butler's awful injury on Jan. 1, 2011, in Milwaukee, which happens to be where Azubuike also blew up his knee. There's no guarantee that the the former Kentucky Wildcat will ever regain his explosiveness, but watching Butler this season with the Los Angeles Clippers has to be encouraging that he can at least be a productive player. At less than $1 million next season, Azubuike is low-risk and if he turns out to be high-reward, the Mavs will have made a shrewd move at a time when many were scratching their heads at the timing of the signing.

No. 15 Lamar Odom
No. 14 Brian Cardinal
No. 13 Yi Jianlian
No. 12 Dominique Jones
No. 11 Brendan Haywood
No. 10 Kelenna Azubuike
No. 9 Coming Tuesday