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The Mavericks will need a lot of luck to avoid owning the 13th pick of the NBA draft.

There is about a two percent chance that a Mavs ping pong ball will pop up in the top three picks during Tuesday night’s lottery. Dallas has a 0.6 percent chance to get the No. 1 pick.

President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, who will represent the Mavs at the drawing along with assistant general manager Keith Grant, plans to do everything in his power to improve those odds. He plans to try to tempt the basketball gods by wearing his outfit from Game 6 of the 2011 Finals.

This is the first time the Mavs have had to attend the lottery drawing since 2000, months after Mark Cuban bought a team. They did have one lottery pick during the last dozen years, when Washington drafted Devin Harris fifth overall on the Mavs’ behalf as part of the trade that sent Antawn Jamison to the Wizards.

ESPNDallas.com will compare the Mavericks and Clippers in five facets -- other than money -- that could play a role in Chris Paul's free agency decision in a one-per-day series: owners/front office, coaches, co-stars, supporting casts and franchise tradition. We'll focus on Dwight Howard next week.

Is Donald Sterling seriously considering giving Vinny Del Negro a new contract?

If that’s the case, Mark Cuban ought to offer to pay half of Del Negro’s salary. It’d be worth it to potentially push Chris Paul to leave Los Angeles instead of continuing to play for a clearly overmatched coach.

For the sake of discussion, let’s eliminate Del Negro from the equation. Paul will surely have the right to hand-pick his head coach if he returns to the Clippers, right? That’s just common sense for any franchise trying to keep a perennial All-NBA player.

Still, who could Paul possibly pick that’s better than Rick Carlisle?

The only possible answer would be convincing Phil Jackson to get off his couch and stick it to Jim Buss by coaching the Staples Center’s other basketball team. All indications, however, are that Jackson is only interested in a front-office position at this point, not the day-to-day grind of coaching again.

The Mavs need to maximize Carlisle as an asset in their recruiting pitch to Paul. They need to make a case that Carlisle is a perfect coach for CP3, an elite point guard in his prime with a hard-driving personality.

It’s not just about the credibility Carlisle has from the Mavs’ championship run. His preferred offensive style – a flow system that depends on the point guard to dictate the pace and make good decisions – is a phenomenal fit for Paul and his Jason Kidd-like basketball brain. And Carlisle’s ability to come up with smart, creative play calls when appropriate would appeal to Paul, who praised the Mavs coach via Twitter for a beautifully designed play that freed up O.J. Mayo for a clutch 3 during one of Dallas’ national TV games this season.

Carlisle prides himself on being brutally honest and relentlessly pushing his players. Paul has a similar reputation as a leader, arguably to a fault.

There’s no question Paul’s skills, savvy and take-no-stuff leadership style would make him an ideal point guard for Carlisle. The Mavs must convince Paul that relationship would be mutually beneficial.

EDGE: Another major advantage for the Mavs.

ESPNDallas.com will compare the Mavericks and Clippers in five facets -- other than money -- that could play a role in Chris Paul's free agency decision in a one-per-day series: owners/front office, coaches, co-stars, supporting casts and franchise tradition. We'll focus on Dwight Howard next week.

There’s one reason why Chris Paul might consider leaving millions of dollars on the table to say farewell to a 56-win team with a lot of young talent. His name is Donald Sterling.

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Ryen Russillo and Adnan Virk talk about Dwight Howard's future and say while teams like Houston and Dallas may be able to offer Howard more from a basketball perspective, Howard's image will take an enormous hit if he decides to leave Los Angeles. Listen

Sterling spending money for two good seasons, made possible by the deal to acquire Paul from the Hornets, doesn’t erase three decades of being a penny-pinching NBA disgrace.

Put it this way: The Clippers have made half as many playoff appearances during Sterling’s 32-year ownership tenure as the Mavs have in 13 full seasons under Mark Cuban. Sterling’s squads have won a grand total of two playoff series, 11 fewer than Cuban’s teams.

Oh, and Sterling also happens to have been accused of racism, sexism, etc. in multiple lawsuits. In basketball and his other business, he’s simply an awful boss. Cuban, on the other hand, is widely beloved by those who have played for the Mavs for his willingness to do whatever is in his power to give his team the best chance to win. (He also happens to be friendly with Paul, as evidenced by Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki palling around with Paul at Tiger Woods' charity poker tournament in Las Vegas over the weekend.)

That’s why Cuban vs. Sterling is a point the Mavs must hammer in their talks with Paul.

Clippers president Andy Roeser and general manager Gary Sacks, who was promoted to his position last summer after Neil Olshey made a lateral move to Portland, deserve credit for putting together one of the league’s deepest benches. However, they’ve also been part of the problem franchise for two decades.

The mountains of Sterling’s dirt might be enough to plant seeds of doubt in Paul’s mind about staying in L.A. The Mavs brass would still have to sell him on their ability to build and sustain a legitimate contender with him as a centerpiece.

Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson can point to their dozen-year playoff run with Nowitzki as proof of their credibility. Their challenge will be forming a plan for the future that could make CP3 believe that he’d win a championship in Dallas.

EDGE: Mavs by a mile.

In the likely event that the Mavericks have to go to Plan B to find a point guard, Jarrett Jack’s name should be at or near the top of the list.

There are a lot of things to like about Jack. He’s got a deadly midrange jumper and an effective floater, the kind of shots that come in bunches for guards who run pick-and-pops with Dirk Nowitzki. He doesn’t commit many turnovers. He possesses the kind of mental and physical toughness Rick Carlisle wants from his point guards.

Jack would be a significant upgrade for the Mavs, but he wouldn’t be a perfect fit. In fact, there are some red flags.

Start with the fact that Jack isn’t a pure point guard. He’s a combo guard who thrived as Golden State’s sixth man, often paired with Stephen Curry. He has never averaged more than 6.3 assists per game in a season, and his career assist average (4.4) is lower than Darren Collison’s. When he’s running the point, Jack has a tendency to over-dribble, a big don’t in Carlisle’s flow system.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Jack is a tweener defender, too. He struggles to stop a lot of point guards because of his lack of lateral quickness, and his height often puts him at a significant disadvantage against shooting guards. (Jack’s defensive issues were exploited during the playoffs, when Warriors opponents averaged 5.8 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor than when he was on the bench.)

And then there’s the money.

Jack, who made $5.4 million this season, has made it clear he would prefer to stay with the Warriors. Golden State wants to keep him, too, although the Warriors are in serious jeopardy of paying luxury tax. The Mavs – or any other team bidding on Jack – would have to make an offer out of the Warriors’ comfort range to get him.

How much are you willing to pay for a combo guard who turns 30 in October and has bounced around to five teams in the last six seasons? That’s a question the Mavs must be prepared to answer if they don’t hit a home run and sign Chris Paul.

The Mavericks aren’t in the playoffs for the first time since 2000, so we have to find something to fill the time this spring. Might as well keep up with the players from the Mavs’ title team who are scattered throughout the postseason. We’ll have daily updates as long as Mavs championship alums are still alive in the playoffs.

Jason Kidd: It’s gotten to the point that Knicks coach Mike Woodson is being widely praised for benching Kidd during the second half of New York’s series-extending Game 5 win over the Pacers.

Kidd failed to score for the ninth consecutive game, missing a layup in the second quarter. The missed shot was the only stat Kidd recorded during his 5:20 of playing time.

Woodson opted to play rookie Chris Copeland instead of Kidd. Copeland responded by giving the Knicks a much-needed spark, scoring 13 points in 19 minutes. Kidd has scored a total of 11 points in 11 games this postseason, shooting 12 percent from the floor.

Tyson Chandler: Chandler told reporters he’d be fine for Game 6 despite a nasty fall on his back when he got his shot blocked by Indiana’s Roy Hibbert.

Chandler didn’t put up impressive numbers (two points, 1-4 FG, eight rebounds, two blocks), but neither did Hibbert, who had nine points on 3-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds. Both big men got in foul trouble, limiting Chandler to 27 minutes and Hibbert to 31.

Ian Mahinmi: With Hibbert in foul trouble, Mahinmi played 17 minutes, his high this postseason.

Mahinmi had five points, three rebounds and a blocked shot, but his plus-minus illustrated Hibbert’s importance as Indiana’s defense anchor. The Pacers were outscored by 10 points with Mahinmi on the floor.

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki has half-joked that his German blood makes him pretty pessimistic by nature, but he's preparing to play the salesman role this summer.

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ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about the NBA playoffs. Listen

Nowitzki has a month and a half to perfect his sales pitch for Chris Paul and/or Dwight Howard, but here's what he has in mind.

"I think I’ve got a couple of good years left if I stay injury-free," Nowitzki said Thursday after an event to promote AT&T's program to urge against texting and driving. "I feel like this is a great city. We all know that. I’ve said numerous times that this is one of the top five cities out of the 30 in the league to live in, to play in, for the owner, for the franchise. That’s definitely part of it. No state tax is nice. That’s always part of the pitch.

"And [Mark] Cuban and Donnie [Nelson] always found ways to make this franchise better, if it’s with deals or basically pulling deals out of the hat where nobody saw anything coming. I think Mark obviously has to be a big part of the pitch. And next year, I come off the books. We all know that as well. I’ve got only one more year of big money left, and then it’s pretty obvious I’m going to take a pay cut. If that helps us get even more talent in here, then that’ll be great."

At that point, the big German broke into a goofy grin and added, "That’s all I’ve got. … I’m trying, I’m trying."

Nowitzki, who will join Cuban, Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle on the Mavs' recruiting committee, recognizes that it'll be tough to talk Paul or Howard into taking less money to leave L.A. But he believes it's a possibility.

"By now, I’m sure they’re starting to think about, ‘What’s my future looking like?’" Nowitzki said. "So that’s where we swoop in and hopefully get something going, hopefully get a meeting scheduled somewhere in July and hit it out of the ballpark."

Want a reason to feel a little bit better about the Mavericks’ long shot of landing Chris Paul this summer?

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ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about the NBA playoffs. Listen

Here you go: The Clippers are seriously considering keeping head coach Vinny Del Negro, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne.

This would be a classic Donald Sterling decision. He’d rather pinch pennies than put his team in the best possible position to win.

Why not part ways with a clearly overmatched head coach and grant Paul the right commonly given to franchise players to help pick an upgrade? Well, Sterling is still bitter about paying the remainder of Mike Dunleavy’s five-year, $22 million contract when Dunleavy was fired in 2010, so the comically cheap Clippers owner prefers to give his head coaches short-term deals.

Heck, if Sterling gives Mark Cuban a call, he can probably talk the Mavs’ owner into paying a chunk of Del Negro’s salary. It’d be worth it to increase the Mavs’ odds of acquiring the NBA’s premier point guard.

The Mavericks aren’t in the playoffs for the first time since 2000, so we have to find something to fill the time this spring. Might as well keep up with the players from the Mavs’ title team who are scattered throughout the postseason. We’ll have daily updates as long as Mavs championship alums are still alive in the playoffs.

Jason Kidd: The drought continues.

Kidd went scoreless for the eighth straight game. He’s 0-of-16 from the floor and 0-of-10 from 3-point range over 177 minutes during that span. The Knicks have been outscored by 25 points with the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer on the floor in those eight games.

Kidd’s numbers in the Knicks’ Game 4 loss to the Pacers: three assists, one rebound, one steal, two missed shots and a minus-9 plus-minus in 16 minutes.

Tyson Chandler: The Knicks gave him a lot more help, but Chandler more than held his own in the big man matchup after being dominated by Roy Hibbert in Game 3.

Chandler put up his first double-double of the postseason, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He also matched high during these playoffs with three blocks.

Hibbert’s line: six points on 2-of-8 shooting, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

Ian Mahinmi: Mahinmi gave the Pacers 10 energetic minutes off the bench, grabbing six rebounds, blocking two shots and scoring two points.

One of the silliest things you’ll hear this summer is that free agents don’t want to come to Dallas.

That’s become a meme that’s often repeated in discussions about Mark Cuban’s bold plan to create ample salary cap space by stripping down the 2011 title team. Never mind the facts.

The fact of the matter is it’s difficult to sign free agents if you don’t have salary cap space. That’s not exactly unique to Dallas.

The Mavs whiffed on Deron Williams last summer, although Cuban’s effort in that recruiting pitch resembled some of Josh Hamilton’s final at-bats in a Rangers uniform. Being 0-for-1 doesn’t constitute a trend.

The point isn’t to predict that the Mavs will land Chris Paul or Dwight Howard this summer. The odds are against Dallas simply due to the rules that allow for their current teams to offer an extra year and larger annual raises.

However, from weather to a winning culture, Dallas’ attractiveness as an NBA destination is an advantage to the Mavs. Being a top-five market without a state income tax is a bonus. The days of Kiki Vandeweghe refusing to play for the Mavs are ancient history.

The Mavs have earned a reputation as a first-class franchise during Cuban’s 13-year ownership tenure. That’s why Jason Kidd’s agent helped orchestrate a trade to bring the point guard back to Dallas in 2008. That’s why Shawn Marion’s agent played a key role in making a complicated sign-and-trade deal go down the next year. That’s why Tyson Chandler was crushed when Cuban declined to offer him a long-term deal. That’s why Howard had the Mavs on his very short list of acceptable trade partners when he was forcing his way out of Orlando.

That’s why there will be plenty of free agents who will want to talk to the Mavs in July, a list that perhaps includes the two biggest prizes on the market.

“Who wouldn’t want to play in an environment like this every night?” restricted free agent Brandon Jennings said during the Bucks’ trip to Dallas in February. “You’ve got an owner who’s so into his team and everything like that. Every time you see the Mavs, you see him cheering or going crazy. They won a championship. They’re about winning.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Mavs will win this summer. But if they don’t, it’d be foolish to blame a mythical aversion NBA players have for joining the Mavs.

For the Mavericks to make the Chris Paul/Dwight Howard combo pipedream a reality, they’d have to hire a hypnotist.

How else would they be able to convince Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak to agree to a sign-and-trade deal that would ship Howard to Dallas for a couple of veterans with expiring contracts and spare parts?

For the sake of argument, let’s say that Howard forces the Lakers’ hand by saying that he’s leaving Los Angeles, no matter what. If the Lakers don’t agree to the sign-and-trade that would allow Howard to join Paul in Dallas – for the sake of argument, we’re making the huge assumption that Mark Cuban and Co. have successfully recruited CP3 – the big man will just sign with Houston or Atlanta.

Better for the Lakers to get something for Howard instead of letting him leave for nothing, right? Not really.

Let’s be real. If Howard leaves while Kobe Bryant is in the early stages of his comeback from a torn Achilles tendon, the Lakers have no chance to win a championship next season.

That wouldn’t change if they accepted a sign-and-trade deal that sent every player on the Mavs’ roster not named Nowitzki to Los Angeles. All that would do is prevent the Lakers from avoiding a massive luxury tax bill.

If the Lakers added Shawn Marion, Vince Carter and Mavs filler to a roster that features rehabbing Kobe, ancient Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, they’d be fighting just for a shot to sneak into the playoffs again while paying a luxury-tax bill in the neighborhood of $28 million, assuming they’d use the amnesty clause on Metta World Peace.

What about that would possibly appeal to L.A.?

If Howard leaves, the Lakers might as well unofficially tank the season. They could avoid the luxury tax altogether by using the amnesty clause on Gasol. Kobe could take his sweet time with his comeback.

In this scenario, the Lakers could be looking at a high lottery pick in a loaded 2014 draft, when they’ll also have a ton of cap space. Why would they want to end up with a middle-of-the-road pick after putting together a mediocre team with a nine-figure price tag?

Perhaps you could argue that the biggest obstacle blocking the Mavs from acquiring a CP3/D12 duo is the Lakers agreeing on a sign-and-trade deal.

You could also argue that the only hurdle between the Mavs from acquiring LeBron James is the Miami Heat agreeing on a trade. That doesn’t make it a legitimate possibility.

The Mavericks aren’t in the playoffs for the first time since 2000, so we have to find something to fill the time this spring. Might as well keep up with the players from the Mavs’ title team who are scattered throughout the postseason. We’ll have daily updates as long as Mavs championship alums are still alive in the playoffs. (This one is a day late due to Mother's Day.)

Tyson Chandler: The Knicks are in trouble if Chandler keeps losing the big man matchup in such lopsided fashion. He had nine points and five rebounds in New York’s Game 3 loss, compared to 24 and 12 from Indiana center Roy Hibbert.

A sample of ESPNNewYork.com's take on the Chandler-Hibbert matchup:

Mike Woodson hardly ever criticizes his players in public.

But the New York Knicks coach broke protocol following Game 1 of the Indiana Pacers series.

After he watched Indiana's Roy Hibbert outplay Tyson Chandler in the series opener, Woodson said, "I've got to get Tyson (Chandler) playing better than Hibbert."

So far, Woodson's fallen far short of that goal.

Hibbert's been one of the best players in this young series. And some of his success has come at Chandler's expense.

In the Pacers' Game 3 win, Hibbert poured in 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds (eight offensive); the Pacers outscored the Knicks by 20 with their big man on the floor.

"He kind of had his way," Woodson said after Game 3, "and that's got to change."

The Knicks say that they failed to execute their defensive schemes against Hibbert in Game 3. They intended to trap Hibbert and the other Pacers bigs, just as they had in Game 2.

Instead, they left members of their front line vulnerable in one-on-one matchups and left the rim exposed thanks to poor rotations.

The Knicks' lax approach helped Indiana dominate the boards (53-40) and beat New York on second-chance points (20-10).

"We’re not trapping (the Pacers' bigs), then we’re in a tough spot," Chandler said.

That's a big problem that the Knicks need to handle heading into Game 4.

But they also need a better effort from Chandler if he gets matched up against Hibbert.

Hibbert scored on at least three post moves in which Chandler was matched up with him, one-on-one, in Game 3.

It was hard not to notice Hibbert scoring directly over Chandler, the 2011-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Jason Kidd: The scoreless streak is up to seven games and 31 quarters after Kidd missed his lone shot in Game 3.

Kidd had six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 20 minutes, but it’s hard to make a case that the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer helped the Knicks with another doughnut in the points column. Kidd matched Carmelo Anthony for the worst plus-minus (minus-16) in the loss to the Pacers.

Ian Mahinmi: With Hibbert dominating, the Pacers didn’t need much from their backup big man. Mahinmi only played six minutes, scoring two points and grabbing four rebounds.

Grantland's Bill Simmons has finally completed his 13th annual NBA trade value rankings, a trilogy this year.

Dirk Nowitzki came in at No. 12. The Sports Guy's take on the big German:

One of my favorite NBA lists …

Dolph Schayes
Hal Greer
John Havlicek
Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Paul Pierce
Dirk Nowitzki

That's the 15-Year Club — the only seven NBA players who spent their entire careers with the same franchise, played at least 15 seasons AND won at least one title. You don't just stumble onto that list — all seven are Hall of Famers, with 21 rings among them. Think about what the list means: excellence, durability, longevity, loyalty, championships … it's your best-case scenario for a basketball career, basically.

And you need a little luck along the way. I don't know how Schayes and Greer played that long with all the bad sneakers, bad food, bad medical care, scary travel, second-hand smoke and everything else that should have stopped them back then. Havlicek had a Secretariat-size heart and superhuman stamina. Duncan nearly signed with Orlando. Kobe's Lakers career nearly fell apart twice. Pierce was nearly traded 935 times. Dirk lucked out with a wealthy owner who always spent enough money to compete (so he never had to pull a KG), as well as one sizable break: During the summer of '04, Dallas was the consensus favorite in the Shaq Sweepstakes when Kobe forced the Lakers to trade Shaq the Lakers decided to trade Shaq, only Mark Cuban (astutely, as it turned out) made Dirk untouchable.

At the time, that decision was a much bigger deal than anyone remembers now. A rejuvenated, pissed-off Shaq guaranteed you one title, maybe even two. We all knew it. (As it turned out, Miami won in 2006, and probably would have won the previous year had Dwyane Wade not gotten injured.) When the Lakers could only get Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant's contract for him, I ended up creating the Vengeance Scale to figure out exactly where Angry Shaq ranked among the most vengeful people ever, ultimately assigning him an 8.7 (just behind Charles Bronson in every Death Wish movie). And yeah, I ridiculed the Mavericks for keeping Dirk over dealing him for Shaq, too, even calling Dirk "the German Bob McAdoo" (not a compliment). I never thought you could build a championship team around Dirk's offense. A lot of people felt that way. Looking back, resisting that enticing Shaq trade was probably Cuban's third-greatest NBA moment, trailing the time he stared down David Stern after Game 5 of the 2006 Finals, and, of course, this picture.

What happens with Dirk going forward? Kobe, Pierce and Dirk have one thing in common: They don't have to chase a title like Karl Malone did. Dirk controls his own destiny; if he wants to retire in Dallas, Cuban would be delighted. Kobe probably controls his own destiny, even if there's increasing buzz (no, really) that the Lakers would amnesty him if it guaranteed them Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. Sadly, Paul Pierce doesn't control his destiny — he's probably getting traded this summer by a team that wants to rebuild. That's the difference between being a star and being a superstar. But if you think Dallas isn't going balls-out after CP3 this summer to give their loyal superstar one last run, you're crazy. We might even see Mark Cuban skip a Shark Tank taping this time around! Don't count out Dirk Nowitzki just yet.

Click here to read the entire trade-value trilogy finale on Grantland.

The buzz coming out of Minnesota is that O.J. Mayo could be a prime summer target for new Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders.

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Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle gives his take on the contrasting styles of the Pacers and Knicks, Carmelo Anthony, Bulls-Heat, Tom Thibodeau, the state of the West and more. Listen

The Mavs would like to keep Mayo, but all indications are that they won’t be dragged into any bidding wars for him.

Mark Cuban is likely to have a set price in mind for Mayo – the midlevel exception ($5.35 million salary next season) is an educated guess – and wish him well if the shooting-starved Timberwolves or another team offers more.

The Mavs’ priorities this summer are to make upgrades at point guard and center, whether it’s pie-in-the-sky free agents Chris Paul and Dwight Howard or other more likely options. It’s difficult to envision the Mavs committing huge money to a shooting guard who had some great moments during his season in Dallas but was inconsistent and sputtered to the premature finish line.

Minnesota’s interest in Mayo, however, could benefit the Mavs. One of the major decisions Saunders must make this summer is whether the Timberwolves are willing to pay what it takes to keep restricted free agent center Nikola Pekovic, a 6-foot-11, 290-pound 27-year-old who averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds last season.

The Timberwolves have the right to match any offer for Pekovic and some wiggle room under the salary cap created in part by shedding Brandon Roy’s $5.3 million nonguaranteed salary, but Saunders can’t just be thinking about next season. Can the Timberwolves afford to continue paying Kevin Love’s max deal, re-sign Ricky Rubio to a huge contract in a couple of years, add Mayo and keep Pekovic?

If Mayo is a higher priority than Pekovic in Minnesota, the Mavs might be able to benefit by signing the big man.

Disclaimer: Never put too much stock into a mock draft, especially one more than a month away from the real thing.

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Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle gives his take on the contrasting styles of the Pacers and Knicks, Carmelo Anthony, Bulls-Heat, Tom Thibodeau, the state of the West and more. Listen

Having said that, there's more interest in the NBA draft around these parts than there's been in ages with Dallas in the lottery, so we'll pass on who Chad Ford is projecting the Mavs to pick at No. 13 overall in his ESPN Insider mock draft.

The pick: Dario Saric, a 6-foot-10, 223-pound, 19-year-old small forward from Croatia.

Ford's analysis:

The Mavs will have a tough call here between Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams and Saric. The Mavs want a player with big upside, and both Carter-Williams and Saric have it. But I'm hearing the Mavs, who have historically been on the cutting edge of drafting international players, feel Saric could be a star someday -- especially if he has a year or two of mentoring from Dirk Nowitzki.

For what it's worth, Ford projects the two seasoned college products I figure would be great fits for the Mavs -- who would love to get an immediate contributor -- to be off the board by No. 13. He has Lehigh guard C.J. McCollum going ninth to Minnesota and Oklahoma City selecting Louisville center Gorgui Dieng with the 12th overall pick, which has gone from Toronto to Houston to OKC.

It’s probably painful for the Mavericks’ front office to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder during these playoffs.

PODCAST
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle gives his take on the contrasting styles of the Pacers and Knicks, Carmelo Anthony, Bulls-Heat, Tom Thibodeau, the state of the West and more. Listen

Derek Fisher is essentially doing exactly what they envisioned when they signed the five-time champion point guard to a veteran minimum deal early in the season. He’s knocking down open jumpers at a ridiculous rate (61.3 percent from 3-point range), drawing charges and doing all sorts of savvy type of dirty work and serving as a plus-minus monster (plus-21 per 48 minutes).

Of course, the Mavs had no control over Fisher’s decision to leave Dallas. And Mark Cuban’s hard feelings have been well chronicled regarding Fisher’s late-season change of heart over the value of family time once a contender called.

Nevertheless, a strong argument can be made that the Mavs would have at least extended their playoff streak if Fisher would have stuck around. But he’s not even the best point guard playing for the minimum in these playoffs.

Imagine if Nate Robinson would have been on the Mavs’ roster.

Lil’ Nate is the buzz of the Eastern Conference playoffs right now – having just dropped 27 points and nine assists despite getting 10 stitches in his lip during Chicago’s Game 1 upset of the Miami Heat – but he was a journeyman desperate for a job in the offseason. He accepted a partially guaranteed minimum deal to join the Bulls.

Robinson, the 5-foot-9 former slam dunk champion, has always had a Jason Terry-like borderline irrational type of confidence. And that hasn’t always gone over well, which is part of the reason he’s played for five teams in the last four seasons.

But Robinson has the game of a hyperathletic J.J. Barea. He’s got the ability to score in bunches – as a 3-pointer shooter, off the dribble, as a pick-and-roll initiator. It’s certainly intriguing to think about how he’d fit as an off-the-bench sparkplug playing with Dirk Nowitzki.

There didn’t seem to be a fit for Robinson in Dallas last summer, when Delonte West was on the roster to back up Darren Collison and provide what the Mavs hoped would be a healthy edge. (Yeah, so much for that.)

Might the Mavs and Robinson be a match this summer? His game would definitely work in Dallas, but his playoff performance could be putting him out of the Mavs’ price range for a backup point guard.