ESPN

Jason Terry said the draft-night trade for shooting guard Rudy Fernandez was not surprising news. However, if the acquisition means the loss of DeShawn Stevenson, Terry said that would be very unsettling news.

Terry, who fought along with Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki for Stevenson to start early in the season and then again prior to the playoffs, made a strong pitch for the team to re-sign Stevenson, an unrestricted free agent who no doubt increased his value with an impressively gritty postseason. Of course, with the lockout Terry hasn't been able to make his voice heard to management. It's not stopping him from campaigning.

"Oh, we got to get DeShawn back. Unless you can find another guy like DeShawn," Terry said. "DeShawn just has ‘it.’ Whatever that is, it’s special and I’m a guy that’s fighting for him to be back with the Mavericks."

Stevenson's value won't be found in his statistics. This is a guy who sat at the end of the bench when he arrived in February 2010 in a trade that also brought more prominent players Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. Had Rodrigue Beaubois been healthy last season, Stevenson might never had gotten off the bench.

He averaged just 5.3 points in the regular season and less in the postseason, but he was a dead-eye from 3-point range, particularly in the Finals against the Heat. It was his tenacious postseason defense, however, against some of the league's top scorers that was immeasurably valuable, Terry said.

Terry had little problem describing Stevenson's "it" factor during a rather impassioned plea to keep the massively tattooed one in a Mavs uniform.

"What he did in this organization for us, you can’t put a price on it. Because me, watching the playoff series, not only the championship, but the first, second, third rounds, he defended his butt off and he set the tempo for us," Terry said. "That kind of toughness you can’t buy. It has to be in you. He’s one of the few guys in this league that has that and it’s special, it’s unique and I believe it’s at premium. And, I think it’s something that we have to have on our team going forward.

"Is Rudy Fernandez that type of player? Not that I know. He’s more offensive-minded. Is he tough? Yeah, he’s tough, but to guard Kobe [Bryant] and [Kevin] Durant and LeBron [James] and Dwyane Wade, you have to have a certain nastiness about you, and DeShawn Stevenson has that."

Currently, the Mavs have 16 players on their 15-man roster, including six free agents. President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson has said he'd like to re-sign them all. Unless the NBA expands rosters that won't happen. A new collective bargaining agreement with a revamped salary structure will first have to be in place to gauge what the market will bear for a veteran such as the rugged, 6-foot-5 Stevenson.

The key is issue for Dallas is just how many players it can carry at one position. The list of shooting guards is lengthy: Fernandez, Jason Terry, Rodrigue Beaubois, Dominique Jones, plus Stevenson. Corey Brewer is also an option.

The decision with Stevenson could also hinge on whether the Mavs re-sign small forward free agent Caron Butler, a similarly rugged defender obviously with far more offensive chops, as he returns from a major knee injury. If the tough-minded Butler goes elsewhere, Stevenson's value to the Mavs instantly increases.

"I’m confident in Donnie Jr., and Cubes [owner Mark Cuban] to put this thing back together," Terry said. "We know what pieces we need to go forward."

If Stevenson walks, someone will have to explain why to Jason Terry.

From the moment the team hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy, Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson has consistently stated his desire to bring all the boys back for another title run. That message is consistent with what Nelson has told the players' agents, too.

Mark Bartelstein, agent for down-and-dirty shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, who proved himself as being resilient, a hard-edged defender and quite capable of draining big 3-pointers on a championship squad, said he spoke to Nelson after the Mavs traded for shooting guard Rudy Fernandez on draft night, a move that, on the surface, said good-bye to Stevenson, an unrestricted free agent.

"I spoke to Donnie after the trade and he said that's not the case at all," Bartelstein said. "He made it very clear that he's somebody they want back."

(All talks between teams, players and agents ceased on July 1 when the collective bargaining agreement expired and the lockout started)

The trade for Fernandez put the number of players on the Mavs' 15-man roster at 16. It boosted the number of shooting guards on the roster to five and those who can play the position to seven. Six players on the roster are free agents, including Bartelstein client Brian Cardinal.

Dallas has close to $62 million locked up in players under contract for 2011-12. They dearly want to re-sign free agents Tyson Chandler (who won't come cheaply) and Caron Butler, with J.J. Barea and Stevenson also having increased their value with strong postseasons.

And, of course, no one knows what the salary cap parameters will be once a new collective bargaining agreement is enacted.

So the question regarding Stevenson has never really if the Mavs want to re-sign him, but rather can they afford to?

They 11-year veteran earned $4.15 million last season, and before the playoffs started it would have been a decent bet that Stevenson would not match or exceed that amount on the open market. However, his defensive tenacity going up against Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, and coolness in burying 39.7 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs (not to mention his professional demeanor throughout the season when he could have whined -- and with reason) will supply the 30-year-old will suitors once free agency begins.

"No question," Bartelstein said, while acknowledging it is impossible to determine a market during the lockout. "He would love to be back in Dallas and defend the title."

Like Nelson said, the Mavs would love to bring them all back. Unfortunately, that will be near impossible.

Someone will have to go, and a crowded shooting guard position would seem the first place to look.