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

Surely one can look around the NBA and field a lineup of unfulfilled careers. With the Dallas Mavericks that search stops with Rodrigue Beaubois, the highly-talented guard whose career appeared headed toward the stars until the unfortunate day when the fifth metatarsal in his left foot snapped.

Nothing's been the same since. And everything's been a struggle.

Beaubois is heading into the most important summer of his young NBA career and he knows it.

"I cannot tell you what is going to happen, but obviously I know that this summer is going to be big for me," Beaubois said. "I have to work out a lot and make sure that I am ready because if they give me space (more playing time) I will have to be ready for that."

For the first time in three summers, Beaubois is healthy and able to train. He broke his foot in early August 2010 training with the French national team and underwent surgery soon after. He missed two-thirds of the following season because he re-injured the foot and then hurt it again in the final game of the regular season, forcing him out of the entire championship run and back into the operating room.

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Few inroads were made this season and so here we are at a crossroads. Beaubois is effectively entering the final year of his contract. The Mavs can make a qualifying offer next summer or they can say goodbye.

The Countdown ticks down to No. 7...

RODRIGUE BEAUBOIS
Pos.: G
Ht./Wt.: 6-foot-2, 180
Experience: 3 years
Age: 24 (Feb. 24, 1988)
2011-12 stats: 8.9 ppg (42.2 FG, 28.8 3FG, 2.9 apg)
Contract status: Signed through 2012-13
2011-12 salary: $1.2 million
2012-13 salary: $2.2 million

His story: The second surgery ruined another summer of work and development with the lockout adding another layer of frustration because it prevented Beaubois from working, or even visiting, with Rick Carlisle and the coaching staff. Once again, Beaubois' role this season is in total limbo because that's also where the Mavs' roster is. Will they sign Deron Williams and re-sign Jason Kidd to back him up at point guard? Will Delonte West and/or Jason Terry return along with Vince Carter to fortify the shooting guard position? And then there's the whole issue of whether he's a point guard -- which he mostly played to varying degrees of success this season -- or a shooting guard, or does it even matter? Or will that be determined simply by where there is room for him?

His outlook: Any number of backcourt variables that emerge after July 1 could open up playing time for Beaubois or again leave him buried behind a veteran crew. Or, in yet another scenario, Beaubois could get caught up in a trade to create additional cap space. Beaubois was essentially out of the rotation in the playoffs, leaving him with still virtually no postseason experience in three trips. Will the 2012-13 season be something of a rebirth for Beaubois in Dallas or the beginning of the end?

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 Coming Friday

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

The curious case of Kelenna Azubuike as a member of the Dallas Mavericks started March 22 when the club released athletic big man Sean Williams, who had spent most of the season with the D-League Texas Legends.

A week earlier, the San Antonio Spurs had traded for Stephen Jackson and were closing in on signing Boris Diaw to bolster their roster for a deep playoff run. What were the defending champion Mavericks up to in releasing Williams and opening a spot on the 15-man roster? Who was on their radar that could provide an immediate jolt one month from the true start of their title defense?

Last year, Dalllas signed veteran sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic and the move paid off handsomely. At this point in the season, they could use someone like him. Three-point shooting -- heck, shooting in general --- had taken a significant dip throughout the truncated schedule and the Mavs would need firepower down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Could 3-point specialist Jason Kapono, recently released by the Lakers, be on his way? Maybe the 6-foot-7 Andres Nocioni? Sure, he was down on his luck, but still he was a 37.3 percent 3-point shooter throughout his career.

Turns out Kapono wasn't coming and neither was Nociono.

Who'd the Mavs have up their sleeve?

Azubuike, an intriguing shooting guard, oh, about three seasons ago before a torn patellar tendon put his career on indefinite hold.

And the Countdown ticks down to No. 10 ...

KELENNA AZUBUIKE
Pos: SG
Ht/Wt: 6-5, 215
Experience: 5 years
Age: 28 (Dec. 16, 1983)
2011-12 stats: Played total of 18 minutes in three games
Contract status: Team option for next season
2011-12 salary: $280,192
2012-13 salary: $992,680

His story: The Mavs signed the 6-foot-5 London native March 23. This was not a shot-in-the-arm acquisition like the S-Jax trade or the Diaw signing the Spurs pulled off (and are now reaping the benefits). Azubuike was starting to make a name for himself in 2008-09 with the Golden State Warriors when the formerly undrafted free agent averaged 14.4 points and 5.0 rebounds and knocked down 3-pointers at a 44.8-percent clip. He was a heck of an athlete built for an up-and-down game. Then came the devastating patellar tendon injury nine games into the 2009-10 season. The impatient Warriors traded him to the New York Knicks, who waived him Feb. 28, 2011. On March 23, 2012, Azubuike got another chance in the NBA, thanks to the Mavs, who knew he wouldn't be helping them to defend the title. So what were the Mavs' hopes in signing him? An inexpensive option with hopeful upside at shooting guard and/or small forward for next season? Perhaps. After all, Jason Terry will likely be moving on and so could be Shawn Marion, maybe even Rodrigue Beaubois and Vince Carter, too, depending on various factors in Dallas' venture into free agency. Interestingly, Azubuike, after playing just three regular-season games with Dallas, was on the active roster in the first round against Oklahoma City, taking the spot of second-year guard and 2010 first-round draft pick Dominique Jones.

His outlook: The Mavs believe they have the best head athletic trainer in the game today in Casey Smith and an elite orthopedic crew headed by team doc T.O. Souryal. Azubuike will be three years removed from the horrific knee injury that put his burgeoning career in jeopardy and one that remains terribly difficult to watch on YouTube. But here's the hope for Azubuike: A second surgery in March 2011 was performed to fix the first surgery that wasn't done properly. Azubuike confirmed that fact on Twitter in March 2011, saying: "The 1st surgery in '09 wasn’t done right. Gettin it done right this time!” The Mavs' medical and training staffs have a track record with patellar tendon injuries after Caron Butler's awful injury on Jan. 1, 2011, in Milwaukee, which happens to be where Azubuike also blew up his knee. There's no guarantee that the the former Kentucky Wildcat will ever regain his explosiveness, but watching Butler this season with the Los Angeles Clippers has to be encouraging that he can at least be a productive player. At less than $1 million next season, Azubuike is low-risk and if he turns out to be high-reward, the Mavs will have made a shrewd move at a time when many were scratching their heads at the timing of the signing.

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 Coming Tuesday

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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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.

This is how Shawn Marion said he would implore free-agent-to-be point guard Deron Williams to sign this summer with his hometown Dallas Mavericks:

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"Get your a-- home. Home is where the heart is."

In less than two months we'll find out which way Williams' heart tugs.

There's also another local lad, a free-agent-to-be who has all along thought the idea of playing pro ball in his backyard would be pretty cool. In less than two months we'll find out how interested the Mavs are in bringing home C.J. Miles.

Drafted in 2005 by the Utah Jazz, the Skyline High School product has remained with the Jazz for his entire seven-year career, averaging 8.4 points in 19.3 minutes a game. At just 25 years old, Miles becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1 for the first time in his career. Of course, Miles and Williams were former teammates in Utah.

During a May 2010 guest appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's "Galloway & Company," the 6-foot-6 shooting guard made it clear he'd like to play at home. Here's a snippet of how that conversation went:

"I definitely would want to do that at one point in my career. Just to have that feeling. That hometown feeling of having my friends and family behind me to see me play and see how I've grown. I definitely have that feeling sometimes."

As for what it would take to make it happen?

"I don't know. I guess I'd have to be free and, if they were interested, I'd definitely take it into high consideration."

With Jason Terry hitting free agency, will the Mavs be in the market for a young, athletic shooting guard? Miles, who earned $3.7 million this season, isn't exactly a sharpshooter, hitting for 38.1 percent overall this season and 30.7 percent from beyond the arc. His career numbers are just a few notches better at 41.9 percent and 32.9 percent, respectively.

Miles recently told the Deseret News that he is looking forward to exploring his options and that being reunited with Williams is an intriguing possibility.

"If that was an issue that came up I definitely would look at it. Who wouldn't, especially with the way that team is built now," Miles said. "They're aging a little bit and I'm pretty sure they're going to be looking for some guys that do some of the things I do."

Would the Mavs be interested? So much depends on if Williams signs, which players remain on the roster after any trades to create additional cap space and how much money the Mavs then have to fill out the roster. Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones both have a year left on their deals and Vince Carter will probably be returning. Delonte West joins Terry in free agency.

The Mavs shipped off athletic small forward Corey Brewer before last season, but there's no doubt they want an infusion of youth and athleticism in their backcourt.

Now it's all about how the dominoes fall.

It comes as no surprise, but the NBA decided to finally make it official Thursday, naming Oklahoma City guard James Harden as Sixth Man of the Year by a landslide.

The Dallas Mavericks have no objections, and that likely includes Jason Terry, who finished third in the voting.

The last game Harden played, he schooled the Mavs with one drive to the rim after another, scoring 15 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter of the Game 4 clincher.

Harden, the third overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Arizona State, led all NBA reserves in scoring (16.8 points per game) in helping Oklahoma City finish with the NBA’s third-best record (47-19). The Thunder await the winner of the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers series in the West semifinals.

Harden received 584 of a possible 595 points, including 115 of a possible 119 first-place votes, from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Lou Williams, who led the Philadelphia 76ers in scoring (14.9 ppg) despite not starting a single game, finished second with 231 points. Terry was a distant third with 81 points (20 second-place votes, 21 third-place votes).

Terry averaged 15.1 points per game during the season, shooting 43 percent overall and 37.8 percent from beyond the arc. His scoring average dipped to 13.8 in the first-round playoff loss. Terry, 34, now heads into free agency after eight seasons in Dallas.

Denver's Al Harrington finished fourth, and San Antonio's Manu Ginobili was fifth.

Eras have a definitive starting point and a definitive ending point.

Clearly this current Dallas Mavericks' era could have a few starting points: The hiring of Don Nelson in 1997, the draft-day trade for Dirk Nowitzki in 1998 or the sale of the franchise to Mark Cuban in 2000. For the sake of this argument, we're going to suggest that the official start was the 2000-01 season, the launch of a decade-plus string of 50-win seasons and the first venture back into the postseason since the 1990s blackout.

And so may we now suggest that the current Mavs era -- with the first-round sweep at the hands of the Western Conference's baby superstars in Oklahoma City and an expected roster overhaul that could turn over everyone not named Dirk Nowitzki -- represents the end of a 12-season era. That era included three coaches guiding vastly different rosters -- with Nowitzki as the only constant -- to at least the West finals.

In those 12 seasons, the Mavs hit phenomenal milestones and set the standard for teams to come:

* The franchise's first championship in 2011

* Two NBA Finals appearances (2006 and 2011)

* Three West finals appearances (2003, '06, '11)

* 12 consecutive postseason appearances

* Franchise-best 67 wins in 2006-07

* 11 consecutive 50-win seasons (or the equivalent of a .600 winning percentage) all with Nowitzki, and the last eight with Jason Terry.

That last feat is also the signal of the end of this era. This season's team with its hastily fashioned roster finished 36-30 (.545), the first time since the the 1999-2000 season (40-42) that it did not reach at least a .600 winning percentage. It meant a struggle just to secure a playoff berth, finishing with the No. 7 seed and the same record as the No. 8 seed Utah Jazz, and just two games ahead of the lottery-bound Houston Rockets.

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"When you’re used to going a little farther and doing a little better, everything becomes a priority," Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. "The priority is for us to be healthy in the here and now, and also in the long-term, and to never go back to those 10 years of the Bataan Death March walks in the desert of no playoffs. That’s the plan."

Welcome to the new era.

The question ahead is whether the second decade of Cuban-style Mavs basketball will begin in earnest next season with local lad Deron Williams as Nowitzki's sidekick until the big man decides to step aside, or if next season only becomes something of a stopgap before regrouping in the summer of 2013 with a new plan to keep the successes coming.

At the moment, we can't even be sure if coach Rick Carlisle will make Dallas the longest coaching stop of his 10-year career. Carlisle appears headed toward free agency, having yet to strike a deal with Cuban for a fifth season and beyond. At times Carlisle has, strategically or not, talked about coaching the Mavs in the past tense. Other times he seems ready to embrace the uncertain future.

"I look at this summer for this franchise as a summer of opportunity and excitement," Carlisle said. "And I don’t think anybody should look at it any differently."

Surely the coaching situation will get resolved soon, seemingly with Carlisle signing a lucrative new deal to stay in Big D. Then all attention will shift to July 1 and the start of free agency, and whether the perennial All-Star point guard called D-Will will make 2012-13 the official launch party for the next era of Dallas Mavericks basketball.

DALLAS -- Rodrigue Beaubois' first order of business is going home to Guadeloupe and spending time with his mother and family after the untimely death of his father in February.

Then this summer becomes all about one thing for the young guard who is coming upon the final year of his contract with the Dallas Mavericks: getting better.

"I know one thing is this summer is going to be real important for me," Beaubois said. "I will start planning my summer and make sure that I do everything I can to come back ready. It is going to be the first summer that I will be able to work out so I am going to do everything I can to be back healthy, in shape and ready to go."

Two summers ago, Beaubois fractured his left foot working out with the French national team in preparation for the 2010 World Championships. He missed two-thirds of the 2010-11 season and then re-injured the foot in the season finale and missed the entire playoffs. A second surgery last summer prevented him from returning to the basketball court until training camp opened last December.

His contributions on the court this season were again minimal, spiced by the occasional flashes that had the team believing he was a superstar-in-the-making after his rookie season. Both player and team will now settle for him being a consistent contributor.

"Right now, shoot, he's our starting point guard," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said during a Monday appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Ben & Skin Show. "We're still excited about Roddy. He's one of the fastest young point guards in the NBA and he's still developing, so there's real good upside there."

Take that starting point guard thing in the proper context, of course. Jason Kidd, Delonte West and Jason Terry are all free agents. And of course, the Mavs will looking to snare big fish Deron Williams in free agency come July.

But the fact remains that Beaubois, unless he's scooped into a cap-space-clearing trade, remains a great, young hope for a franchise that selected him 25th overall in the 2009 draft (acquired in a trade with Oklahoma City). Beaubois played the majority of his time this season at point guard, particularly when West was out for six weeks, which has to be viewed as some progress in that difficult transition.

He averaged career highs in points (8.9), assists (2.9) and minutes (21.7).

"I cannot tell you what is going to happen, but obviously I know that this summer is going to be big for me," Beaubois said. "I have to work out a lot and make sure that I am ready because if there if they give me space I will have to be ready for that."

DALLAS -- It will be interesting to see how teams value certain free agents this summer and the money they're willing to spend with the new collective bargaining agreement in place and harsher penalties for luxury tax spenders beginning in the 2013-14 season.

The Mavericks will be players on the free-agent market for big fish like Deron Williams and also for cheaper labor to fill out the roster. At this point in his career, Jason Kidd will be considered cheap labor, at least by the Mavs. Same goes for Jason Terry.

"I feel like I can still help a team win, and hopefully it's back here," said Kidd, who has expressed interest in relinquishing his starting role if it means backing up Williams.

Does Kidd, 39, have a basement salary figure in mind for next season? Would he accept a veteran's minimum deal or perhaps the mini mid-level that Vince Carter signed in December with the Mavs? Or is there a team willing to pay him more than that?

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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

Kidd, who posted a career-low numbers across the board this season and dealt with three separate injuries, just completed a three-year deal that paid him in excess of $25 million. In the previous six seasons, he earned between $13 million and a career-high $21 million (2008-09). Kidd has earned more than $180 million in his career.

So how much does the 10-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer think he's worth heading into his final contract, one he said he would like to sign for two years to take him through 20 NBA seasons?

"It's more fit, but hopefully I do have a little value," Kidd said. "I don't want to come cheap or come free, but it's ... The finance part, that always takes care of itself."

How much would you pay Jason Kidd?

DALLAS – Jason Terry is welcome to return to the Mavericks.

It’s just a matter of negotiating a deal that’s agreeable to both parties. And that’s a heck of a lot harder than it sounds, considering that the Mavs hope to make major roster upgrades with their salary-cap space and the 34-year-old Terry would surely like at least one more lucrative contract.

“We’d love to have Jet back,” president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said Sunday. “You talk about a guy that’s given his heart and soul to this franchise, and made big plays and big shots. You would love to have him back. It’s just, at what cost?”

Terry was excused from Sunday’s exit interviews so he could coach the Lady Jets, his daughter’s AAU team. However, he acknowledged after Saturday’s sweep finale that he might have played his last game in a Mavericks uniform, calling it a “hard pill to swallow.”

Terry has made it clear over the years that he has hoped to retire as a Maverick. He spent the last eight seasons in Dallas, making him the longest tenured teammate of Dirk Nowitzki's career.

In a classic Jet moment during the celebration at the end of last year's championship parade, days after Terry was the star of the title-clinching Game 6, he pointed to the spot in the American Airlines Center rafters where he thinks his No. 31 should hang one day. It’s tough for Nowitzki to envision Terry wearing that number for another team next season.

“He’s my man,” Nowitzki said. “Hopefully it’s going to work out, it’s going to work out for him the way he wants it to. Maybe he’s going to be back here. I think it’s definitely going to be weird seeing him in a different jersey, so hopefully we figure it out and he’ll be here.”

DALLAS -- Last week Charles Barkley joined ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Galloway & Co. and said adding Deron Williams alone to complement Dirk Nowitzki won't be enough to return the Dallas Mavericks among the Western Conference contenders.

Barkley said Nowitzki needs a big man in the middle.

After the Mavs went from championship to swept Saturday at the hands of the young Oklahoma City Thunder, Jason Terry, who might not be back with the team after eight seasons, said Nowitzki has plenty left in the tank, but that the Mavs must get him interior help.

"Dirk's so wonderfully amazing with his ability to play the game at high level night in and night out with the defenses that he faces," Terry said. "But, again, for Dirk to be successful and go to where we went to last year he has to have an active big to play alongside him. He has to. And he knows it. So, if he's involved in any kind of decisions I know that's what he's going to be looking for."

The comments by Barkley and Terry certainly sound like indictments of Mavs starting center Brendan Haywood, who had a miserable series and still has three guaranteed years and some $28 million remaining on his contract.

Haywood played a series-high 25 minutes, most of which came after Thunder center Kendrick Perkins left in the first quarter with a right hip strain. Yet, the 7-foot Haywood could only muster four points and four rebounds. He played a total of 36 minutes in the first three games and was benched to start the second half in Games 2 and 3.

In Game 4, the Mavs' interior defense was laughable, particularly in the fourth quarter when the Thunder scored 20 of their 35 points in the paint with the majority coming from James Harden. He drove past Dallas' guards at will and met little resistance as he attacked the lane and then the rim for 15 fourth-quarter points. He scored one fewer point in the quarter than the entire Mavs team.

Haywood played just the first 4:33 of the fourth quarter, long enough for Harden to put in six points and to be whistled for an offensive foul away from the ball. Ian Mahinmi finished out the game with little effectiveness on the defensive end to slow Harden. Mahinmi, who will become a free agent, did have 10 points and five rebounds in 14 minutes.

Because of his uninspired play during this brief series, the man who backed up Tyson Chandler last season and played just 25 minutes in the NBA Finals because of a hip injury sustained in Game 2 could fall victim to the amnesty clause this summer. It would allow the Mavs to rid their books of Haywood's remaining contract heading into next season. Shawn Marion is also a candidate for the amnesty clause, but the forward's value, particularly on the defensive end this season, can not be understated.

Although Carlisle twice went to Mahinmi to start the second half, the coach kept Haywood in the starting lineup all four games. It's uncertain at the moment if Haywood will be back in the starting lineup next season -- or back at all.

Here's three more things to consider as the Mavs head into a long offseason:

1. Half man, half awful: Vince Carter certainly had some moments this season and he even delivered a vintage jam in Game 4. But all in all, the Carter experiment didn't pan out. He had an abysmal series shooting the basketball. He made 3-of-10 shots in Game 4 and for the series he made 12-of-41 shots (29.3 percent). Carter did make 2-of-3 buckets from beyond the arc on Saturday, but he was 3-of-10 for the series. Carter is likely one of the few players that will return next season. He's under contract for the next two seasons.

2. Quiet Delonte West: He certainly provided Mavs fans with some entertaining play and antics, both on and off the court, this season, but his playoff series didn't leave much of a mark. West came off the bench for the first time in the series in Game 4 and had just two points and three assists in 18 minutes. West endured the unfortunate dislocation and fracture of his right ring finger in February and missed six weeks. As a free-agent-to-be, West said he hopes he's proven to the league that he's trustworthy of signing a multi-year deal. If that is the case, he will likely be signing somewhere other than Dallas.

3. What's next for Roddy B?: Rodrigue Beaubois played a grand total of 12 minutes in the four-game sweep. He got into Game 2 as something of an emergency sub when the Mavs fell behind by 16 points in the second quarter. It's been another rough season for third-year guard after coming back from a second foot surgery last summer. He said he can't be sure he'll be back with the Mavs -- he could be trade bait to create cap room if needed -- but Beaubois is excited to be healthy for the first time in three summers and capable of working out and working on his game. With the possibility that Terry, Jason Kidd and West won't be back, there could be real opportunity for Beaubois if the Mavs still believe he can be a contributor to the future of the franchise.

DALLAS -- Jason Terry has been preparing himself all season to let go. It won't be easy.

On Saturday night, after the Oklahoma City Thunder ended the Dallas Mavericks' title defense in a sweep, the idea of leaving the Mavs' locker room one last time started to hit home. If he doesn't return, Terry said he still has hope that the franchise will reserve a spot in the rafters for his No. 31 jersey some day.

"This is where the Jet was made," said Terry, who was inserted into the starting lineup for Game 4, just his second start all season. "The whole mantra of the Jet's on the runway, and the community and everything, they made me who I am. So that's just a hard pill to swallow if I have to leave that behind. But it's a reality."

Terry will become a free agent for the first time in his 13-year career July 1. He's spent the last eight seasons in Dallas since coming over in a trade to replace Steve Nash after he bolted for a lucrative payday with the Phoenix Suns.

As disappointed as Terry was that the championship team was not brought back and that the title defense ended so quickly, he will always go down in Mavs' lore for scoring 27 points in the Game 6 clincher last June in Miami and for the remarkable run he crafted after enduring several gut-wrenching playoff losses with Dirk Nowitzki.

"The whole entire journey," Terry said. "Think about it, losing the '05-'06 (NBA Finals), being the guy that everybody was looking at for what happened and then to come through like we did last year is going to be my lasting memory -- if it has to be."

Terry didn't finish this season off quite as well. He had tough night in Game 4, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting and he had all kinds of difficulties -- just like every other Mavs guard -- defending Thunder guard James Harden in the fourth quarter.

With three seconds left in Game 4, Terry said he spotted his four daughters in the stands. After the buzzer sounded, he took off his jersey and handed it to longtime Mavs season-ticket holder Neil Hawks and tossed other souvenirs into the AAC crowd that he has entertained for eight years with long-distance buckets and encouraging cheers by flapping his arms and putting his hand to his ear.

"Just mixed emotions right now," Terry said. "I'm not going to go home and cry about it. But, again, look at what we've accomplished here. To leave that all behind, that's tough."

Nowitzki was the only other member of the Mavs team that endured the 2006 Finals collapse and the following year's crushing first-round defeat to the Golden State Warriors after a 67-win season. The two have had their run-ins on the court and shared difficult times along with the highest triumph 11 months ago.

Nowitzki said he hadn't yet had time to process life possibly without the Jet.

"I think that’s something that’s going to sink in more over the summer," Nowitzki said. "That’s another decision obviously we have to make. He’s probably going to test free agency and see what’s out there for him. Obviously he’s an older guy, see what kind of money and what kind of contract length people are going to give him, but obviously we’d love to keep him. Not only as a player has he been phenomenal here, but in the community, he’s one of a kind.

"You guys know he’s always smiling and high-fiving and bringing 85 kids to the game. He’s just a wonderful, wonderful guy. That’s another decision obviously that we’ll wait and see what happens this summer, but I haven’t really thought about him leaving. That never crossed my mind. The end kind of snuck up on us now."

DALLAS -- If guard Jason Terry has played his final game with the Dallas Mavericks, he will leave feeling he and the remaining members of the championship team didn't get a fair shot to repeat.

Terry was the most vocal Mavs player throughout the season regarding owner Mark Cuban's decision not to re-sign key free agents from last season's championship team because of changes to the collective bargaining agreement. After being swept out of the first round by the rising Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, Terry, a free-agent-to-be for the first time in his career, said the personnel on this team wasn't good enough to contend.

"Every year I’ve been on the Mavericks team and we’ve had a realistic chance, it’s because of the personnel," Terry said. "Look at your personnel and what they surround you with, your core nucleus, and you can see if you have a realistic shot. For us, it was a long shot. Nobody’s going to downplay that at all. If you look at our roster to a man, it was a long shot this year. But we still made the playoffs, but we just didn’t have enough."

Terry said Cuban knows that this team didn't have a fighting chance to contend.

"Yeah, he knows it, the city knows, we all know it as players," Terry said. "But with the team we have, the nucleus we have, the core group of guys, we feel like we can beat anybody, that’s just us as competitors. But, again, you have to have the personnel. You have to have the personnel to get it done."

Cuban maintained from early in the season to as recently as right before the playoffs that this team was better than the one that bulldozed through the Trail Blazers, Lakers, Thunder and Heat to win the franchise's first title in 31 seasons. Cuban, citing changes to the CBA that focused his team-building strategy on cap space for the coming summer, did not bring back defensive-minded center and team leader Tyson Chandler, penetrating point guard J.J. Barea and gritty defender and 3-point shooter DeShawn Stevenson, among others.

Prior to Saturday's Game 4, Cuban said he had no regrets about not bringing back the title team and said he fielded the best possible team he could given the constraints of the new CBA.

The Mavs' key acquisitions included Vince Carter in the twilight of his career and Lamar Odom, whose emotional baggage got the best of him and forced Cuban to kick him off the team.

Asked if he believed last year's title team would have had a legitimate shot to repeat if left intact, Terry initially said he didn't know before quickly changing his tune.

"I do. Why not?" Terry said. "That’s the team I wanted, so I believe we’d be just as good as anybody. But you can hope and wish and think about that all you want, but the reality of it is the season’s over and we’ve got the future to look forward to. Thank God for my health and my family."

Terry received support from longtime teammate Dirk Nowitzki after the game. Nowitzki has mostly toed the company line when it came to talking about not bringing back the team.

“Knowing as players, we were for sure disappointed in December in free agency when we didn’t get the same team back,” Nowitzki said. “That’s for sure.”

Now Terry, after eight seasons in Dallas, and the Mavs head toward a crossroads this summer. Terry, 34, will likely be seeking a new home to end his career as the Mavs face an overhaul of the roster and their most uncertain future in Cuban's dozen years as owner.

"You know we like to make changes year-in and year-out, but not a complete overhaul," Terry said. "That’s what this is going to be, an entire different ballclub I would expect. But, the formula is there, the formula’s there. We set the bar very high last year with what we did and what we accomplished. They know the formula and it’s on them to put it back together."

DALLAS -- For years prior to winning the title last season, the debate has raged: Should Mark Cuban blow up the Mavericks?

Well, that point might actually be upon the Mavs' owner as his club faces the prospects of being swept out of the first round of the playoffs on the heels of winning it all. Not exactly the way a defending champion wants to go out, but it's a path that Cuban can't claim will have come as a total shock.

The owner decided to dismantle the title team and play the free-agent game in the summer. And once this season comes to a close, whether it melts away tonight or in Game 5 in Oklahoma City on Monday or somewhere stays alive beyond the that, the names on the jerseys are going to change.

Check out the list of names that could be making their final appearances tonight:

* Shawn Marion
* Brendan Haywood
* Delonte West
* Jason Kidd
* Jason Terry
* Rodrigue Beaubois
* Ian Mahinmi
* Brian Cardinal
* Dominique Jones
* Yi Jianlian

The only player guaranteed to be back is Dirk Nowitzki. A few guys would seem likely to be back, such as Vince Carter, who has two more years left on his deal, Brandan Wright, who the Mavs would figure to pick up the team option, and Kelenna Azubuike, who they acquired late in the season and have under contract for next season.

Otherwise it's wide open, and much will depend on where super free-agent-to-be Deron Williams lands. It will be a busy July around here. The Mavs would like to at least keep things going a bit longer in May.

Series: Oklahoma City Thunder leads, 3-0

When: 6:30 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: TNT/TXA 21

Radio: ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM/1270 AM (Spanish)

What to watch: Level of play. Coach Rick Carlisle continued to emphasize Saturday morning that the Mavs' effort was up to snuff in Game 3 and that it was their level of play that let them down. In that case, the Mavs' season must hinge on whether they can make baskets, hold onto the basketball and keep the Thunder from making more baskets. If they do that, then they should win and extend the series.

Key matchup: Kevin Durant vs. Shawn Marion
As terrific as Marion's defense was on Durant in the first two games, Durant got off early in Game 3 and scored 21 of his 31 points in the first half. Needless to say, that can't happen again. Marion will turn 34 on Monday. Depending on how well he can defend Durant tonight will determine if he's celebrating another year in Oklahoma City before a Game 5 or while on vacation.

Injuries: Thunder -- G Eric Maynor (torn right ACL) is out. Mavs -- None.

Up next: Game 5 -- Mavs at Thunder, 7 p.m. Monday (if necessary)

DALLAS -- "No question," was Jason Terry's response when asked if he's thinking that tonight's Game 4 could be his last wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform.

"All that’s on the line and all those thoughts are there," Terry said. "And that means more of a reason why I want to come out and play well tonight and get the win."

It's been a wild eight-year run in Dallas for Terry, who was acquired in 2004 in a no-win situation to take over for the beloved Steve Nash. It didn't help that Nash and the Suns eliminated the Mavs in the second round with the former Mavs point guard nailing a huge 3-point shot with Terry playing off of him and Dirk Nowitzki then giving his new teammate an earful.

Bygones are bygones. That's what winning a title will do for you. That was just 11 months ago, and now here the Mavs are, not only staring down first-round elimination, but a sweep at the hands of the youthful Oklahoma City Thunder.

"But no excuses," Terry said. "Come out here tonight. If we get one it's going to get scary. The pressure is on them."

Terry played the pressure card, trying to sound convincing that team up 3-0 in the series is actually shouldering the pressure. Terry said he's also been taking other measures to help get Dallas a win and begin to turn this thing around.

"I broke every broom in the house, so that’s a little superstition so I don’t think there will be any sweeps going on," Terry said. "I’ve got the black shoes on for tonight. I wanted to wear the gold ones, but they (the NBA) banned them. We’re going to try the black suit thing -- the funeral -- and we just hope it ain't ours."

After his red-hot start to the series, Terry has not been a factor, averaging 14.7 points and 4.0 assists. He's had trouble breaking free for open looks, particularly when guarded by 23-year-old Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook.

"The pressure is on them all the way," Terry said. "They're kind of young. They might not realize it, but it’s there, and hopefully they’ll feel it during the game because it’s hard to close a team out. And then if you do lose, then what? Now you start to think about it a little bit. Not a situation (down 3-0) we want to be in, but we’ll take it at this point."

When the Mavs signed Vince Carter, they viewed him as the kind of aging offensive player who still had enough skills to help them win a playoff game - or series. You know, kind of like Peja Stojakovic last season against the Lakers.

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Well, for a quarter it looked like Carter might be able to provide that kind of spark against Oklahoma City.

He scored seven points in the first quarter, including a Vinsanity flashback - he drove through the lane and powered home a one-handed dunk in traffic - and a corner three with nine seconds left in the quarter.

The spurt ended a stretch of seven consecutive points that pulled the Mavs within 32-26, entering the second quarter.

He didn’t score again.

Carter finished two of eight from the field in 27 minutes in Dallas' 95-79 loss.

We shouldn’t really be surprised.

The Mavs have eight players in their 30s, and it showed during Game 3 and the season. Their bodies didn’t respond to the NBA’s compact schedule - 66 games in 123 days - and they haven’t been able to get all of their older guys playing well at the same time in the playoffs.

That’s what happens to older players. They lose the consistency that made them stars in their prime. They can dominate for spurts as Carter did for a few minutes in Game 3, but it’s difficult for them to maintain that high level of performance for a game or a series.

Here are three more areas of interest heading into Friday:

Three-headed center: Once again, the Mavs received virtually nothing from the center position and it played a role in their demise. Brendan Haywood, Ian Mahinmi and Brandan Wright combined to score nine points and grab eight rebounds in 30 minutes, but had no positive impact on the game. Haywood, the starting center, played just seven minutes.

Jason Kidd: The NBA's quintessential point guard is a facilitator by nature, but the Mavs’ stagnant offense turned him into a shooter in Game 3. That’s never, ever a good sign. Kidd, who made just four of 18 shots in the series’ first two games, finished second on the team with 12 points, while taking a season-high 12 shots. Kidd made two of his six three-point attempts. When Kidd is that involved in shooting and scoring, the Mavs rarely win.

Jason Terry has no impact: After three games, Jason Terry has had one great half, and that occurred in Game 1. He’s been a non-factor in the other five halves of this series. Terry scored 11 points on three of 12 shooting with six assists and three rebounds, but Mark Cuban pays him to score. Without his scoring, the Mavs had no chance.