DALLAS -- Owner Mark Cuban made it clear that the Mavericks are aggressively seeking trade options.

Is the face of the franchise on board with making a blockbuster move?

"That’s not for me to decide," Dirk Nowitzki said. "I play hard every night. I just work here, and we’ll go from there.

"But I think we showed earlier this season that we got what it takes. We won some big games, won some big games on the road. It’s just that now we’re in a little funk, little hole. We’ve just got to keep on plugging. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s all we can do now. I’m not looking for any help but in this locker room."

Dirk is usually as straight-up a superstar as you'll find, but he's feeding us a bunch of bull here. And wisely so. As sensitive as Josh Howard is, Dirk doesn't need to publicly lobby to get rid of him.

I don't know exactly what Dirk thinks the Mavs should do in the trade market. But I do know that he will be asked for his input on any major move the Mavs make, as was the case before the Jason Kidd deal.

Dirk didn't lobby for that deal, either. He doesn't barge into the offices of Mark Cuban or Donnie Nelson and make demands. He waits until he's asked to weigh in with his opinion. And my hunch is it'll be slightly different than what he said after the Mavs' fourth loss in five games.

On a couple of somewhat related notes, Washington's Caron Butler capped a 31-point, nine-rebound performance by nailing a 19-foot stepback jumper to beat Orlando, and Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala contributed 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a win over the Hornets last night.