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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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ESPN's Stephen A. Smith chimes in on the Dallas Mavericks' season, their free agency plans and more. Listen

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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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

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."

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."

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."

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.

PODCAST
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."

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.

For years now talk has revolved around bringing in a second superstar to pair with Dirk Nowitzki. That hasn't changed, obviously, with the Dallas Mavericks having carved out salary cap space to make a run at Deron Williams, a perennial All-Star point guard and the lone superstar headed for free agency on July 1.

What has changed is the language the Mavs are using to describe Nowitzki -- the No. 2 superstar -- as he creeps into his mid-30s.

The No. 2 superstar? Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said it earlier this week.

"That's our goal," the coach said, stressing the need to lift the scoring burden from Dirk's shoulders entering his 15th NBA season.

There's certainly nothing wrong with that. It's not to say that Nowitzki doesn't have at least two more seasons -- the length of his contract that will take him through age 36 -- of All-Star-caliber fallaways and one-legged leaners left in his 7-foot frame. But it is getting unreasonable to expect Dirk, who turns 34 next month, to be the same player, or play the same minutes as he did at age 28 or even at 32 when he had the postseason of his life and led the Mavs to the franchise's lone title.

Did that dip start this season with Nowitzki posting near career-lows across the board? It was such a funky season that it's tough to say if Father Time indeed has his irreversible chops into Nowitzki, but regardless, inevitable decline will come as he ages. That's just how it works.

Which reinforces the obvious that Nowitzki can't get this thing back to an elite situation by himself. It was practically a miracle how the Mavs came together in 2011 and roared through Portland, L.A., OKC and Miami to win it all. Just look at the four teams left in the the Western Conference playoffs. One-superstar outfits don't exist. San Antonio still has three strong superstars surrounded by a deep supporting cast that is helping to keep Tim Duncan spry and sharp.

The Lakers have perennial MVP candidate Kobe Bryant with two All-Star sidekicks, in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The Thunder obviously have the youngest and perhaps most fearsome Big Three going that includes three-time scoring champ Kevin Durant and the Sixth Man of the Year James Harden. Even the Clippers boast Chris Paul with rising star Blake Griffin.

Nowitzki needs help, and this summer represents the best chance to lure elite-level help because, for the first time in the Mark Cuban era, Dallas wades into free agency with hearty cap space bait.

"We want to have the best players in the game, that’s always going to be our goal here," Carlisle said. "And there’s three ways you get them: you draft them, you trade for them or you get them in free agency, and we’re going to explore all three of those vehicles to continue to improve the team and get the right guys around Dirk Nowitzki. Our championship happened because we had the perfect mix of guys, not only on the floor, but around him. We’re always working on that."

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

From the day Yi Jianlian stepped foot in the Dallas Mavericks' locker room, the 7-footer had his own Chinese media contingent following him at every home game and some road games, too. That's right, a small crew consisting of a couple of reporters and a videographer, all quite polite, courteous and friendly, were there to get Yi's perspective, and that was mostly from his spot on the bench.

It can't be an easy job to do day after day. After all, after Yi signed with the Mavs on Jan. 6, he played in just 30 games and averaged 6.8 minutes in those games. You try coming up with questions after every game when a guy doesn't take off his sweat suit.

The problem with Yi is that he doesn't play the game to his size. He's a perimeter shooter who doesn't shoot all that great (37.8 percent this season, 40.4 percent for his career) and he doesn't get dirty much defensively or on the boards. There's just not going to be many minutes for a guy like that behind Dirk Nowitzki, or really with most teams. It's obviously one of the reasons why Yi has played for four teams in five seasons.

And why he's probably headed for a fifth in six.

And so we roll on with the Countdown at No. 13 ...

YI JIANLIAN
Pos: PF
Ht/Wt: 7-0, 250
Experience: 5 years
Age: 24 (Oct. 27, 1987)
2011-12 stats: 2.6 ppg (37.8 FG%), 1.6 rpg
Contract status: Free agent
2011-12 salary: $771,706
2012-13 salary: TBD

His story: The benchmark for Yi is the 2009-10 season when he averaged 12.0 points and 7.2 rebounds in 31.8 minutes a game for the New Jersey Nets. That was his last of two seasons with the Nets. He spent the next season with the Washington Wizards, averaging 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.7 minutes over 63 games. The Wizards then said no thanks. A knee injury while playing in China over the summer kept Yi on the market into January when the Mavs signed him to a one-year deal. He might have helped himself if he could have played center on this team, but at this point in his career he is purely a perimeter player.

His outlook: The Mavs seem to like Yi's potential so there's always a chance he could be back. He'll come cheap, which is important in this summer of roster upheaval and superstar pursuit, and Yi also has another thing going for him -- he doesn't turn 25 until October. Dallas could view him as a developmental player because 7-footers just don't fall off trees. It's just difficult to get excited about the prospect of Yi having much impact on a re-tooled roster next season.

The Countdown
No. 15 Lamar Odom
No. 14 Brian Cardinal
No. 13 Yi Jianlian
No. 12 Coming Thursday

With the no-brainer contract becoming a done deal today, assuring that Rick Carlisle is signed up to coach the Dallas Mavericks through at least the 2015-16 season, the real work begins.

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Coop and Nate weight in on Rick Carlisle's new contract with the Mavericks. Listen

When Carlisle arrived on the scene in 2008 as the successor to Avery Johnson, the roster included soon-to-be 30-year-olds in Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion, and a 35-year-old Jason Kidd. Wow, seems like spring chickens.

When Carlisle and the Mavs open training camp in October, the roster will include a 34-year-old Nowitzki and ...?

Who else is the $81 million question, or the $108 million question -- the amounts the Mavs or Brooklyn Nets will pay Deron Williams, respectively, whenever he chooses one over the other (interesting, of course, that Johnson coaches the Nets). Terry and Kidd are free agents and Marion isn't guaranteed to return.

Beyond Dirk, Carlisle doesn't know who will be on the 2012-13 roster in what promises to be a significant transition season coming of the 2011 championship followed by the first-round sweep out of the playoffs by the young hot-shots due north in Oklahoma City. It's not soft-pedaling things to say that the Mavs will battle mediocrity (36-30 this season) and even relevance, at least to the standard set during Mark Cuban's 12 years of ownership, if Williams opts to stay with the Nets.

Not that the perennial All-Star point guard promises a quick return to the Finals, but it would be a promising start. The free-agency list won't be laden with superstars or superstar potential to drape around Nowitzki.

Still, with or without Williams, Carlisle will indoctrinate a slew of new players into the system, a task he will no doubt attack with vigor, yet one that could be considered more daunting than the one he inherited even with the club having bottomed out emotionally in the first -round loss to the Chris Paul-led New Orleans Hornets in five games.

At least the Mavs took a game from those Hornets, the No. 2 seed then just like the Oklahoma City Thunder who swept Carlisle's Mavs to an early summer vacation less than two weeks ago. If the title team looked different this season, just wait until next season.

It will take a strong communicator to bring an unfamiliar group of players together and launch new era of winning basketball in Dallas. Carlisle proved he could bring a cast together during the championship season, coming off what had the makings of a devastating first-round playoff exit to the San Antonio Spurs the season before.

Carlisle believes the area he's grown the most over these last four years in Dallas is in communicating with his troops, a trait that cannot be undervalued in the NBA.

Or undersold, say, if Kidd relates his experiences with a flexible, open-minded Carlisle to a potential point-guard newcomer who happens to be friends with Kidd and shares the same agent.

"One of my strengths is that I’m an open-minded coach, I’m open to communication and I listen to the players," Carlisle said during the team's exit interviews on May 6. "I’m always working on being a better communicator as a coach and I work on that every single day and I’ve gotten better with it and I’ll continue to get better with it."

It could be the single most important aspect to the job as Carlisle is now officially on board to tackle the changing environment at the American Airlines Center.

ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Ben Rogers and Skin Wade wrap up the 2011-12 season, break down the Mavericks pursuit of Deron Williams and discuss whether Dirk Nowitzki is too old to carry the team in the season finale of Mavs Pick & Roll.

DALLAS -- Big changes are in store for Dirk Nowitzki both on and off the court. Of course, by now everybody knows that the big man is on his way to marital bliss after he proposed to longtime girlfriend Jessica Olsson in February. Not sure if the nuptials are shaping up for the summer, but it's great that the world's most unassuming superstar has found The One.

On the court, Nowitzki has always had the same life-long partner in German coach Holger Geschwinder, famous for his plaid button-down shirts and for some of the most unorthodox conditioning workout drills in the history of modern basketball. Well, Holger might re-tool some things this summer after Nowitzki, who turns 34 in June, went a few rounds with Father Time, as some call it, for the first time this season.

Knee swelling and stiffness robbed Nowitzki of his mobility and effectiveness over the first month of the season and led him to take an unprecedented eight-day hiatus from playing so he could work behind the scenes to strengthen the sore right knee and round his body into better condition. He was not a fan that such a scenario had to play out.

"It was something I haven’t gone through in the league so far, struggling physically for the first time in my career and dealing with some knee swelling for weeks, almost months," Nowitzki said. "Obviously what happened at the beginning this year is probably going to change my routine a little bit. I’m probably going to lift more this summer and try to keep my legs strong so we don’t all have to go through what I went through at the beginning of the season, because that was pretty ugly."

At one point early in the season, Nowitzki was shooting below 20 percent from 3-point range. His scoring averaged dipped below 17 points a game in early February, bottoming out soon after his four-game absence. One month later, he had raised his average by three points, but still far from Nowitzki's standard.

"I started getting more comfortable again, was doing some of the same stuff I did last year," Nowitzki said. "That’s not only shoot but also move and get to the foul line and stuff like that, where before the injury I couldn’t drive that much and was basically a spot-up shooter. If I’m still able to drive some and post some and mix my game up, I still think I’m able to do it a couple more years."

The knee issue and compressed 66-game schedule conspired to produce Nowitzki's lowest scoring average, 21.6 points a game, since his second season in 1999-2000. His 45.7 shooting percentage was the lowest since his rookie season.

Nowitzki said the return of normalcy to the start of training camp, a full preseason and a regimented 82-game regular season will help him get his groove back.

"We kind of know when to start, we know when to be in shape, we know we have four weeks to get going and get games under our belt [before the start of the regular season]. I should be fine. I’ve got two more years [on his contract] and I still think I can play some great basketball."

The big question now is who he'll play some great basketball with. Big changes are in store for Nowitzki's supporting cast as well.

Brendan Haywood knew he’d be an amnesty clause candidate as soon as he saw the new collective bargaining agreement. He certainly won’t be surprised if the Mavericks cut him loose this summer.

PODCAST
Mavericks center Brendan Haywood shares his thoughts on the playoffs, being an amnesty candidate, how the CBA affected this year's team and more. Listen

It’s virtually guaranteed to happen if the Mavs can convince Deron Williams to join Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas.

“I have no control over that,” Haywood said during a Tuesday appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3’s Ben and Skin Show. “I have enjoyed my time in Dallas. I was part of a championship team. If it happens, it happens, and I’ll have to move on and continue to try to advance my career somewhere else. If it doesn’t, I’ll be happy to be back. I don’t really have an opinion on that because it’s out of my control.

“I won’t be offended if they do, because I know what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to revamp the team on the fly, keep Dirk around, bring in another superstar, maybe two. And if that’s the case, they’ve got to free up everybody.”

Haywood is due to make $8.35 million next season and $27.2 million during the three remaining guaranteed years in the deal he signed in the summer of 2010. He’ll get that money no matter what, but like most of the Mavs, he isn’t sure where he’ll play next season.

“Basically, we might not be back next year and nobody knows just yet,” Haywood said. “That’s the business side of it. You’ve got to just go into the summer time, enjoy your time off, prepare for next season and if you’re there, put your all into it. If you’re not, put your all into another team.”

DALLAS -- Pick whichever side you want on the Dirk Nowitzki vs. Father Time debate, but Charles Barkley makes one point that is pretty tough to argue against.

It's not realistic to continue counting on Nowitzki, who turns 34 next month, to be "The Man" on an otherwise starless championship contender.

Really, it's miraculous that the Dallas Mavericks reached the NBA mountaintop last summer with Nowitzki as the only All-Star on the roster. A lone star team has broken through about once a decade in recent NBA history, and it's foolish to think lightning will strike twice in Dallas as Nowitzki nears his rocking chair years.

For Nowitzki to have a legitimate chance to win another championship, he needs to become a co-star, preferably playing Robin instead of the Batman role.

That's not a knock on one of the best power forwards of all-time. It's just reality.

"Hey, I mean, if that's the case, I'd love to hand over the keys," Nowitzki said. "We'll have to wait and see what happens, but I still think I can play some great basketball and can still contribute to a good team."

There's no question Nowitzki can contribute to a good team. He has the kind of game -- heavily reliant on shooting touch, needing just a decent dose of mobility -- that ages well. But the big German can't be expected to carry a great team in the twilight of his prime.

You can read the rest of the story here.

DALLAS – When the Mavs opted not to offer Tyson Chandler and Co. long-term deals, this summer’s free-agency crop was expected to be headlined by a few superstars.

The landscape quickly changed when Chris Paul exercised his player option for next season after being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. It changed for the worse again when Dwight Howard surprisingly committed not to opt out of the final season of his contract with the Orlando Magic just before the trade deadline.

That leaves Deron Williams as the lone big fish. What happens if the Mavs don’t convince The Colony native to come home?

“You’ve got to have your A, B, C, D and E and so on, but you also understand that this is a global plate tectonic,” president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. “Things are moving and situations are fluid. You go into it with eyes wide open and hopefully you can come out of it with what you want.”

The Mavs want a player who can create offense on his own, a necessity to take pressure off of Dirk Nowitzki.

PODCAST
Mavs GM Donnie Nelson gives us an inside look at the team's summer plans as the franchise has financial flexibility for the first time in over a decade. Listen

A reunion with Steve Nash is a possibility. The Mavs declined to pay what it took to keep him in Dallas eight seasons ago because of concerns about durability, but he’s coming off a season in which he led the Western Conference in assists (10.7 per game) and shot a career-best 53.2 percent from the floor.

Everyone knows the chemistry with old pal Nowitzki would click. However, the Mavs would probably take a major step back defensively by adding a 38-year-old point guard who has always been considered a liability on that end of the floor.

Houston’s Goran Dragic, who made himself a ton of money as the fill-in starter for Kyle Lowry in the second half of the season, is a much younger option. Dragic, 26, Nash’s former backup, averaged 18.0 points and 8.4 assists while shooting 49.0 percent from the floor in 28 games as a starter this season.

Some other proven shot creators in the market: New Orleans’ Eric Gordon (restricted), Memphis’ O.J. Mayo (restricted), Minnesota’s Michael Beasley (restricted and off-court issues) and Boston’s Ray Allen (turns 37 in July).

The market for big men, which will be a big need if the Mavs use the amnesty clause on Brendan Haywood, is headlined by Indiana’s Roy Hibbert (restricted), Denver’s JaVale McGee (restricted), Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez (restricted), New Orleans’ Chris Kaman, Houston’s Marcus Camby, Philadelphia’s Spencer Hawes and Chicago’s Omer Asik. The Mavs might also explore taking a minimum-salary flyer on Greg Oden in hopes of resuscitating the former No. 1 overall pick’s career after it has been derailed by knee injuries.

“There’s a lot of good players out there,” Nelson said. “Whether it’s A, B, C, D, E, F, or keep the powder dry, which is always an option. Just because we have it doesn’t mean we have to spend it.”

Is putting a subpar supporting cast around Nowitzki for another year of the twilight of his prime really an option? Isn’t there a sense of urgency to maximize the chances of winning another championship while the best player in franchise history is still a superstar?

“Listen, how many years have we made it in the playoffs in a row?” Nelson said. “We don’t plan on putting out anything less than a championship-caliber team. That’s me and Mark’s history and that’s our commitment to our fans and this city.”

They’ve got their work cut out for them this summer, especially if they swing and miss on Williams.