ESPN

Veteran swingman Brian Cardinal and sharpshooter Steve Novak have made the Mavericks' opening night roster, according to team sources.

All NBA teams must reduce their rosters to a maximum of 15 players by Monday afternoon, but the leaguewide deadline for cuts was essentially Thursday because players need 48 business to clear waivers.

On Thursday, Dallas announced the release of guards Dee Brown and Adam Haluska, its other two players in camp.

The Mavs also waived swingmen Rashad McCants and Sean Williams.

McCants and Williams were signed earlier this week to audition for the Mavs and undergo physicals. Under a new rule instituted by the NBA starting this season, Dallas' D-League affiliate in nearby Frisco can claim the rights to three of the four players released Thursday for the coming season as long as their D-League rights were not previously held by another team.

McCants and Williams are both expected to sign with the Texas Legends -- who will be coached by Nancy Lieberman and who are co-owned by Mavs president Donnie Nelson -- after clearing waivers next week.

After initial indications that the Mavericks would keep only Cardinal or Novak and leave one roster spot open, management decided to keep both, meaning Dallas will begin the season with 15 players.

Cardinal was always considered the favorite, sources said, but Novak came on strong as the preseason progressed.

Point guard Dee Brown came to Dallas Mavericks training camp on a make-good contract, but he knows no matter how much good he makes on the floor, his chances of sticking with the team beyond the preseason is ultra-slim.

The Mavs are full up on point guards with Jason Kidd, J.J Barea and Roddy Beaubois, who will likely play more shooting guard than point guard when he returns from a broken left foot, but the Mavs still have plans to use him at the point, too. Still, Brown, whose professional career as carried him overseas and back, is in Dallas with a constant smile on his face and positivity oozing from every inch of his 6-foot (with blocks tied to the bottom of his shoes maybe) frame.

"I feel like my heart is big enough and my ability is set to play at a high level. At the end of the day, I know I traveled overseas and I haven’t had a great NBA career, but I think my professional career has been going well because each year I got better. My resume is good," Brown said. "Each year I got better. Each year I try to develop as a person and as a player and I’ve done that. So, I’m very pleased with the way that I’ve been growing. But you still can’t be satisfied or complacent, so I try to get better and try to reach my goals."

The Mavs brought Brown in because of Beaubois' injury. They wanted an up-tempo point guard who could somewhat similate how Beaubois might run the offense. Of course, Beaubois is expected to miss all eight preseason games with hopes of returning by the Oct. 27 season opener.

"He’s here because there’s an opportunity to play and possibly make our team or show what he can do for other teams that are watching," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "I know he has opportunities in Europe if he wants them, but he’s focused on coming back and being in the NBA, so I think this is a good shot for him."

In Tuesday's preseason opener against the Washington Wizards, Brown, the former Big Ten Player of the Year at Illinois when he played alongside Utah Jazz star Deron Williams, logged just 5:14. He made his only shot and had a steal and rebound.

"We've potentially got minutes," Mavs president Donnie Nelson said. "When you’re in the preseason and still trying to win games and set the table for the regular season, you want a guy that has experience. As far as a roster spot, we have three point guards so it will be tight there. But, he’s certainly a worthy training-camp candidate, but you never know what happens."

UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas --When the Dallas Mavericks open the preseason Tuesday night at home against the Washington Wizards, there will be interesting areas to observe, such as who starts at shooting guard and small forward, as well as the anticipated debut of rookie Dominique Jones.

But, the most heated competition going on will be for the 14th spot on the roster and the important role as backup power forward behind Dirk Nowitzki. OK, so maybe that role is better defined as backup backup power forward because small forward Shawn Marion and center Tyson Chandler are expected to play the bulk of the minutes there during the 13 minutes or so a game when Nowitzki is not on the floor.

Still, outside of Nowitzki, the Mavs don't have a true power forward. They made it clear what type of player they were looking for when they passed on 6-foot-9 inside presence Ike Diogu (the Garland product joined the Detroit Pistons on Monday on a make-good contract) and signed a pair of power-forward perimeter shooters to make-good contracts in Steve Novak and Brian Cardinal. The Mavs also brought in shooting guard/small forward Adam Haluska and undersized guard Dee Brown.

All figure to busy during the preseason.

"Last year we only had seven exhibition games. This year we have eight and no back-to-back so we are going to have to use all eight to look at these unknowns," Carlisle said. "The possible 14th spot, the different big guys, what they can do."

The big guys are young and unproven centers, 6-11 Ian Mahinmi and 7-foot Alexis Ajinca. They're part of the Mavs' overcrowded, four-headed center position behind Brendan Haywood and Tyson Chandler.

Ajinca was acquired from Charlotte along with Chandler in the Erick Dampier trade. Ajincawas put on the trading block, but obviously the club wasn't able to move him. That could change once the preseason begins. Carlisle was talking up Ajinca's attributes Wednesday and his solid performances in the early days of camp.

"I'm very certain there's going to be teams calling us about trade possibilities once they start seeing some of these younger guys in exhibition games," Carlisle said. "But, we'll see about that."

*The Mavs are back at SMU Thursday for two practices, a morning and late afternoon session. The annual Fan Jam will be held at the American Airlines Center Monday night before the preseason opener on Tuesday.

As the Dallas Mavericks smiled through Monday's Media Day and prepare to open a more serious four-day training camp at SMU on Tuesday, the club is trumpeting its depth as its strength. Of course, it can only work that way if the players, particularly those who might be asked to accept new roles or reduced minutes, buy in.

"It's going to be real competitive between our first and second group, and we're going to look at different combinations and different guys in different situations," third-year coach Rick Carlisle said. "And look, it's very possible we're going to have some guys coming off the bench that are not accustomed to doing that."

Carlisle wasn't smiling when he suggested that he'll have limited patience for players who place their personal interests ahead of team goals.

"Anybody that presents themselves with that kind of selfishness isn't deserving of being in a Maverick uniform. That's my feeling about it. I know it's Mark's feeling about it," Carlisle said. "This ain't going to be about role definition. It's going to be about role acceptance. We'll see the character of our team, the resourcefulness of our team. Both those things are huge, and that's what's going to define us as a special team as opposed to a good team."

The biggest question heading into camp is who will start at shooting guard? The question is more complicated because of the foot injury that will keep Roddy Beaubois out of action for likely all of the preseason and possibly into the regular season. The team has sent signals that they'd like to start Caron Butler at small forward instead of at shooting guard as he did last season, which would bump Shawn Marion to the bench, a role he's never played before and one that Jason Terry has embraced the last few seasons. Terry spent most of Monday talking up his plan to reclaim the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

The Mavs could be looking at a second unit that includes Terry, Marion, J.J. Barea, Tyson Chandler, as well as possibly Beaubois and impressive rookie Dominique Jones and DeShawn Stevenson.

"If you bring Shawn Marion off the bench we're really going to have the best bench in the league, if that's what it is," Terry said. "My focus right now is getting that second unit in tune, getting us in gear so when we come in the game there's no fall off. We're coming in to make an impact and to be effective and just cause havoc."

Regardless of who starts and who doesn't, the Mavs are loaded with players that are used to starting. While Terry accepted the change and thrived, other players tend to interpret a move to the bench as an indication that the franchise believes their game is in decline. In the Mavs' situation, it is about finding combinations that put players in the best spot for the team to succeed.

Dirk Nowitzki, entering his 13th season, said whatever moves are made, it is up to veteran players to accept them and move on.

"Looking at it, you can't have hurt feelings on a good team, we're beyond that," Nowitzki said. "If you want to win a championship, you can't be running around being mad all the time at the coach or at the situation. I think we're all in this together. Some nights coach has shown that his substitution patterns are different, I want to say. Some nights you might play a lot of minutes and the next night you might not see the court. That's just Rick and we all got to get used to it and I think we did last year."

*The Mavericks on Monday officially announced the signing of Dee Brown, Brian Cardinal and Adam Haluska, along with last week's signing of Steve Novak to non-guaranteed contracts. The training camp roster stands at 17 players.

The Mavs have 13 guaranteed contracts heading into training camp, leaving two roster spots open.

"It's extremely competitive. There's spots to be earned, but there's going to be a decision made based on preseason and training camp so I think we're all just trying to bring our best," said the 6-foot-10 Novak, who played the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers and two seasons prior with Houston. "We know what we've got to do. None of us are rookie, first-year guys, we've all been through it before and know that you have to put your best foot forward and show them what they want to see."

* Beaubois participated in Media Day on Monday and, in a good sign, he was was wearing sneakers -- on both feet. Beaubois is out of the boot that was saddled to his left for several weeks as he's recovered from surgery to repair a broken bone. Carlisle said Beaubois has had no setbacks, but a timetable remains elusive. The hope is he will be ready to play in the season opener on Oct. 27.

Steve Novak is the latest player the Dallas Mavericks will bring into training camp on a non-guaranteed contract.

The 6-foot-10 Novak played the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. He'll join forward Brian Cardinal and guards Dee Brown and Adam Haluska as hopefuls to make the final roster.

The Mavs have 13 guaranteed contracts, leaving two roster spots available.

The team will hold Media Day on Monday at the American Airlines Center and open training camp Tuesday at SMU.

Former NBA guard Dee Brown announced through his Twitter account Thursday night that he is coming to Dallas Mavericks training camp later this month hoping to re-ignite his career.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban confirmed that the 6-footer, who last year played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, will be in camp. Brown will come on a non-guaranteed contract. The Mavs have one open spot on the 15-man roster.

Brown, the 46th overall draft pick of the Utah Jazz in 2006 out of Illinois, where he played with Jazz All-Star point guard Deron Williams, also played with Washington and Phoenix, as well as several stints overseas.