ESPN

Here’s how Mark Cuban views the first NBA postseason that doesn’t include Dallas in a dozen years: "Mavs fans just want teams with free agents to get eliminated early."

Well, then Lakers-Spurs couldn’t have gone better, huh?

After all, Dwight Howard’s team got swept. Heck, Howard didn’t even stick around the whole four games, getting ejected early in the second half of the embarrassing finale. And then he called his season in Los Angeles "a nightmare."

Howard, as expected, is sending all sorts of mixed messages about whether he’ll stay or leave L.A. It’s at least enough of a possibility that the Mavs must be fully prepared to make their best recruiting pitch.

And, no, there isn’t any question about whether the Mavs would want to take on all that Dwight drama. Here’s a pretty good rule of thumb for NBA GMs: If you can get the game’s best big man in his prime, do it.

Howard has plenty of baggage, but he’s a perennial All-Star who averaged 17.1 points, a league-high 12.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in a down year while coming off back surgery and dealing with a bum shoulder. He represents the Mavs’ best chance of pulling off the "quick rebuild" that Cuban is determined to make happen.

(That’s assuming Chris Paul stays with the Clippers, which we’ll probably address after the other L.A. team’s playoff run is over.)

Let’s make another thing clear: A lack of cap space won’t be the reason if the Mavs miss out on Howard. They’d have to move Shawn Marion or Vince Carter to be able to give him a max deal, but it wouldn’t be difficult to dump the salary of a quality veteran entering the last year of his contract. (CBA expert Larry Coon details the Mavs’ cap situation to the dollar here.)

First and foremost, it’s a matter of whether Howard is miserable enough as a SoCal scapegoat to leave the Lakers’ five-year, $118 million offer on the table to take $87.6 million over four years from another team.

If that’s the case, then Cuban, Donnie Nelson, Rick Carlisle and that goofy German guy must make a strong enough pitch to persuade Howard to pick Dallas instead of other potential destinations, such as Houston or Atlanta.

All due respect to Dirk Nowitzki, who is more than willing to become the second fiddle to accommodate a twenty-something superstar, but the presence of one of the all-time best power forwards can’t be the Mavs’ primary selling point. Not with Nowitzki turning 35 this summer and James Harden just approaching his prime in Houston.

The Mavs must sell Howard on their ability to build and sustain a contender around him. They did it for a dozen years around Dirk, and they need to make Howard believe they can do it for a decade around him.

Cuban, who is making the great sacrifice of not scheduling any "Shark Tank" tapings during the July free agency period, has to paint a championship picture for Howard. The big man has to believe, with the Mavs scheduled to have a ton of cap space again next summer, that the front office can put the pieces around him required to get another ring.

Two major pieces are in place: Nowitzki and coach Rick Carlisle, who can help the Mavs’ cause by showing clips of some of the plays the Pacers used to run to get Jermaine O'Neal the rock during his All-Star days.

And the Mavs must play to Howard’s flaws, convincing him that he’ll be comfortable in Dallas for the rest of his career. It helps that the front office has a strong relationship with agent Dan Fegan, who also represents Marion.

Is it likely that Howard will leave L.A. for Dallas? Nope.

But, hey, what were the odds in October that the Lakers wouldn’t win a single playoff game? That stunning development – and all the drama that unfolded this season in L.A. – certainly improved the Mavs’ odds of landing the NBA’s best big man as their next centerpiece.

Mark Cuban, who has often been a vocal supporter of gay rights issues, considers NBA center Jason Collins' coming out of the closet a breakthrough moment in sports.

“Good for Jason. I hope this opens the door for other players to be honest about who they are,” Cuban wrote in an email reply to ESPNDallas.com.

Cuban told TMZ earlier this month that he would be “honored” to have on his team the first NBA player who came out publicly.

“I think things have changed, significantly, in that the players would accept him,” Cuban told TMZ. “All professional sports have had their homophobic missteps along the way; it's a new era, a new generation and the player would be accepted. I think we are starting, at least on the edges, to break down those barriers. This shouldn't be a big deal.”

The 34-year-old Collins is entering free agency. Known for being a great locker room presence and physical defender, Collins averaged 1.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.2 fouls in 38 games for the Celtics and Wizards this season.

UPDATE: Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said Monday night that he has known Jason and twin brother Jaron Collins since he worked with them at a camp more than a decade ago, calling them "pure class on and off the court."

"I applaud Jason's announcement and view it as a further demonstration of his strength and character," Carlisle said via text message.

DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki has made it clear that he can’t stomach the thought of finishing his career fighting just to make the playoffs.

That doesn’t mean he’s pondering ever putting on another NBA franchise’s uniform. He’s simply pointing out the importance of the front office making major roster upgrades this summer to give the Mavericks a chance to compete for championships again.

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Chuck Cooperstein and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Mavericks' disappointing season and what needs to happen for them to get back to the playoffs. Listen

“Honestly, I can’t really see myself going anywhere else but here,” Nowitzki said at the beginning of his first playoff-free offseason since 2000. “Really, the pressure is on Mark (Cuban) and Donnie (Nelson) to get this franchise back to where it belongs, and they know that. Then we’re all good, everything’s fine.

“I mean, I belong to this city. That’s just the bottom line. I could never see myself playing for another franchise, putting another jersey on. That would be probably the hardest thing I’d have to do in my life. I want to stay here, but I also want to play at a high level with a good team that we can be proud of and represent this city and this franchise.”

Nowitzki, who intends to sign a two- or three-year deal when his current contract expires after next season, is willing to do anything he can to help the Mavs recruit free agents this summer.

Unlike most summers, he’ll be in Dallas instead of his native Germany the majority of the time. That’s largely because his wife, Jessica, is expecting the couple’s first child. However, Nowitzki said he planned to be in Dallas at the beginning of July for professional reasons anyway.

“It’s a big summer,” Nowitzki said. “I would have probably been here in July regardless to knock on Cuban’s bunker suite every other day and see what he’s got cooking.”

The ever optimistic Cuban recently noted that Nowitzki’s wife is much more attractive than him, so the future Hall of Famer must have some persuasive skills. Those will be tested in early July, with Nowitzki still holding out hope that he can help talk Chris Paul and/or Dwight Howard into leaving Los Angeles for Dallas – or at least help recruit more realistic talent upgrades.

“I can try, but I’m really not the most positive person,” Nowitzki said. “I guess that’s a German thing.”

Nowitzki can confidently talk in glowing terms about his experiences living in Dallas and playing for Cuban, Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle. Those three men would be a major part of Nowitzki’s basketball sales pitch.

“We have a great owner and a great GM in place. We have a great coach in place that coached us to win the championship,” Nowitzki said. “We’ve got a couple of veterans (Shawn Marion and Vince Carter) still under contract. We’ve got some veteran leadership already, and then we’ve got a lot of roster space.

“We’ve got some cap space and we can get some players in here that can help. I think all those three experienced guys, they’ve still got something left in the tank. Come on in, we’ll see how far we can ride it out.”

Nowitzki plans to ride it out in Dallas until he retires, which is at least three years away.

DALLAS – Let’s take a quick look at the Mavericks’ financial forecast this summer, with an assist from renowned salary cap expert Larry Coon.

The Mavs have the following eight seven players under contract next season:

Dirk Nowitzki ($22,721,381)

Shawn Marion ($9,316,796)

O.J. Mayo ($4,200,900)

UPDATE: Mayo decided not to exercise his player option for next season.

Vince Carter ($3,180,000)

Jared Cunningham ($1,208,400)

Jae Crowder ($788,872)

Bernard James ($788,872)

Josh Akognon ($788,872)

Marion has an early termination option, which was news to him and is extremely unlikely to be exercised. Mayo has a player option and said he intends to meet with his agent, Rob Pelinka, and Mavs owner Mark Cuban in the near future to begin his decision-making process. The salaries for James and Akognon are non-guaranteed.

PODCAST
Donnie Nelson joins Chuck Cooperstein and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Mavericks' season and the importance of this summer. Listen

Those eight salaries add up to $42,994,093. Coon is projecting next season’s salary cap to be in the range of $58.5 million to $60 million. Assuming lottery luck doesn’t shine on the Mavs and they end up with the 13th overall pick, they’d have a cap hold of $1,655,300, as well as a charge of $490,180 for each vacant spot up to 12 on the roster.

If Mayo had exercised his option to return, according to Coon’s calculations, the Mavs would have had between $13.0 million and $14.5 million if they deemed James and Akognon expendable and renounced the rights to all of their free agents. Those two rookies with non-guaranteed salaries essentially cost the Mavs $298,692 apiece against the cap (the difference between their salaries and the roster charges for a vacant spot).

With Mayo opting out, the Mavs will have between $17.2 million and $18.7 million in cap space, minus James and Akognon. The Mavs could add to that number by making salary-dump deals or using the stretch provision on contracts signed under the new collective bargaining agreement.

The Mavs would also have various exceptions available, as Coon details on his website, the go-to place for caponomics questions.

“We’re going to be opportunistic and try to improve the team,” Cuban said. “I don’t see us just signing just one-year deals anymore. I think we want to grab onto some people to be part of a longer-term solution and see what happens.

“We’re not going to make a financial commitment just to say we made a financial commitment and say that we did. If there’s nobody there to sign that helps us, we won’t sign anybody and we’ll tell everybody exactly why we did what we did and deal with the consequences.

“But we think there will at least be some guys that we think can help us. We’ll see who they are and we’ll see what we can do.”

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks do not celebrate mediocrity.

OK, maybe they enjoyed shaving a few days ago.

But a franchise that popped champagne in Miami’s Club Liv a couple summers ago in celebration of an NBA championship doesn’t get giddy about going .500.

Granted, a 41-41 record is a fairly impressive accomplishment given that the Mavs were 10 games below in mid-January. They can be proud about putting up enough of a fight to be on the fringe of the playoff picture until the final week of the regular season. And at least they didn’t have their first losing season since 1999-2000, finishing even after a 99-87 win over the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans in Wednesday’s finale.

“Those are all good things, but I’m not gonna try to blow sunshine up your butt and try to tell you that we’re happy to be .500,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, putting things in perspective in typically colorful fashion. “That’s just not how things go here.”

Who knows how things are going to go this summer in Dallas?

This much is clear: Major changes are coming for the Mavs. Owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson can’t miss again this summer.

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Chuck Cooperstein and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Mavericks' disappointing season and what needs to happen for them to get back to the playoffs. Listen

“We’re going to do everything possible to get back to where we need to be,” Cuban said before Wednesday’s win.

Eight or nine players from the Mavs’ final roster will be free agents, depending on whether O.J. Mayo exercises his option to return for a $4.2 million salary or tests the market for the second straight summer. Almost to a man, they say they’d like to be back in Dallas, but that’s not the way the business works.

The Mavs, depending on Mayo’s decision and the salary cap figure the NBA sets, will have somewhere between $13 million and $18.7 million in spending money this summer -- unless they create more space with salary-dump deals. They need significant upgrades to have a serious chance of competing at the level they had become accustomed to over the previous dozen seasons.

“I’ve been saying it all season long: It’s a big summer for us,” said Dirk Nowitzki, who is the only player guaranteed to return to Dallas next season. “We’ll see what Mark and Donnie can come up with. They’re always geniuses at making stuff happen. We need a big summer, obviously, to compete again for the championship and not for the eighth seed.”

It’s especially not the way the business works for a franchise embarrassed by being average and determined to get on the fast track back to contender status.

Carlisle, Cuban and Nelson are embracing the challenge of attempting to buck the odds with a quick rebuild. Nowitzki has committed to do whatever he can to aid the recruiting process.

Average is acceptable in some NBA cities. It’s a disaster in Dallas.

“You just get fired up to go to work and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Cuban said. “You can’t dwell, you can’t get mad. I’ve already broken up with this season, probably a game too early. I’ve already started the seven steps of recovery. I’ve been mad, and I’ll move forward."

“After tonight, it’s time to start looking forward to dating a new season," he said. "It’s been tough. It was definitely the date from hell.”

This is as far as the Mavs have been from guzzling bubbly in a long time. There’s no buzz, just a sick feeling in their stomachs.

DALLAS -- Is it appropriate and accurate for Mark Cuban to shoulder all the accountability for the Mavericks missing the playoffs?

"Yeah, I mean, it’s not Tyson’s fault or the guys’ or J.J.’s," Dirk Nowitzki said. "Obviously, winning it all, they got a better deal somewhere else. You can’t fault the guys for going there where the money is. I guess that’s part of the business. We let the guys go and it is what it is.

"I said it all year long, that we can’t judge yet if it was a mistake or not. I think it’s going to depend on this offseason. If we end up empty-handed again, then maybe it was the wrong decision to let everybody go. But if we make a good move here with all this cap space, then maybe it wasn’t all bad. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what this summer brings."

While Nowitzki brought up the post-lockout decision not to make more than one-year offers to Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and other free agents from the 2011 championship team, Cuban maintains that he doesn't regret those decisions. However, the Mavs have yet to reap the benefits of the salary cap space created as a result.

Nowitzki's initial reaction to Cuban blaming himself for the 12-year playoff streak ending was to wonder what might have been if he hadn't needed to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in October, forcing him to miss the season's first 27 games.

"When we put this roster together, I thought we were solid," Nowitzki said. "I figured if I stayed healthy and didn’t need surgery, we would be fighting right around the playoffs, for a six, seven, eight, nine seed. I figured before the season that’s where we were going to end up. I didn’t think we were going to be a top four seed, but then obviously I needed surgery and missed almost two months and once I came back I wasn’t in the shape I really needed to be to be a factor out there. That’s where we’re at."

DALLAS -- All due respect to Dirk Nowitzki, but he’s not the Mavericks veteran owner Mark Cuban is most sympathetic toward after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Cuban feels worse for Vince Carter, who signed a three-year deal worth a little more than $9 million with the then-defending champions because he desperately wanted a chance to compete for a championship near the end of his potential Hall of Fame career. The 36-year-old Carter has been a tremendous bargain for the Mavs, although he’ll enter the last season of his contract with a grand total of zero playoff wins in Dallas.

“Vince is a warrior,” Cuban said before Friday’s game. “All these things I’ve heard in the past about him being soft and not playing hard, f--- that. That dude comes out to deliver every f---ing night.”

Case in point: Carter’s spectacular outing in Dallas’ 108-105 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets. In the Mavs’ first game after being eliminated from playoff contention, Carter put up 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, two blocked shots and a steal in 34 max-effort minutes.

It was a performance that epitomized the pride and professionalism that Carter, an eight-time All-Star who had a bad rap for being a bit of a prima donna before signing with the Mavs, has consistently displayed during his time in Dallas.

It’s the kind of performance that has Cuban convinced that Carter, whose .500 beard has several gray strands, is a keeper even after his contract expires next summer.

“He’s just a first-class guy who busts his ass every f---ing game," Cuban said. "You never look at Vince and say he’s taking a play off. He’s taking charges. ... You guys talk about doing it for Dirk; doing it for Vince is just as important.

“He just wants to compete and win, period, end of story. All the s--- I heard from the past, I don’t know where that came from. I’m proud that he’s on the Mavericks. The guy lays it out every time. I can’t put it any other way. He’s one of those guys I want to retire here.”

Carter, who is averaging 13.3 points per game and playing outstanding defense in his first season as a sixth man, broke into a big smile after being informed of Cuban’s comments, particularly the part about signing him to another contract.

“That’s why he’s my guy,” Carter said, laughing. “That’s why he’s my guy. I worked my butt off this summer for a lot of reasons, just to prove that I’m still capable at this tender age, and I think he appreciates that. He’s a fiery guy, very passionate about the game, as we all know. That’s what he looks for.

“Just coming in and seeing what he’s all about, he’s a great owner to work for, just for the simple fact that he just wants to win. That’s kind of how I approach the game. I just want to win. For the people who don’t know me or didn’t know me before, I think now they’re starting to understand.

“Yeah, I can put the ball in the basket or whatever, but I just want to win and see my team succeed. It’s just great that it’s appreciated by the top dog.”

When he came to Dallas, fresh off playing for three teams in three seasons, Carter had a lot to prove. He wanted to show he still had a lot of game at his advanced age, and he wanted to eliminate any doubt that winning was his top priority.

Carter promised to do whatever the Mavs needed him to do to help them win, regardless of position or role. He’s done that, accepting the sixth-man job and playing the majority of his minutes at small forward.

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Galloway & Company to discuss the Mavericks playing after being eliminated from playoff contention, who he wants to keep for next season and much more. Listen

He promised to play as hard as possible every minute he was on the floor. He’s done that, as evidenced by his leading the team in charges drawn by a wide margin.

“I’ve prided myself on being one of the older guys that wanted to play every game possible and go harder than everybody out there,” Carter said. “They do go hard, but for me, I just want to compete at the same level as the younger guys and set the example. We want that to be the way of life around here.”

Carter has more than held up his end of the bargain for the past two seasons, disappointing as they’ve been from a team standpoint.

As far as Cuban is concerned, Carter has a bright future around here.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently said that he would consider selecting Brittney Griner in the second round of the NBA Draft.

Could Griner play in the NBA? Would it be wise for the Mavericks to use a second-round pick on the Baylor women’s basketball superstar?

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Galloway & Company to discuss changing up his starting lineup, Brittney Griner possibly playing for the Mavericks and much more. Listen

Mavericks don't draft well

Since Cuban became majority owner of the Mavericks in 2000, their 22 draft picks have combined to make just one All-Star appearance -- Josh Howard, a first-round selection in 2003 who played in the NBA ASG in 2007.

In fact, Howard's visit is the only All-Star appearance by any of the Mavericks' 35 draft picks since 1995.

Since 1995, the Mavericks are the only NBA franchise whose second-round draft picks have fewer than two combined career All-Star appearances (other than the Bobcats, whose first season was 2004).

Let's take a look at the Mavericks' second-round picks in the Cuban era:

Darius Johnson-Odom (2012): Four career games, zero career points

Targuy Ngombo (2011): Never played in NBA

Solomon Alabi (2010): 26 career games, 39 career points

Ahmad Nivins (2009): Never played in NBA

Shan Foster (2008): Never played in NBA

Milovan Rakovic (2007): Never played in NBA

Renaldas Seibutis (2007): Never played in NBA

Nick Fazekas (2007): 26 career games, 107 career points

J.R. Pinnock (2006): Never played in NBA

Vassilis Spanoulis (2004): 31 career games, 85 career points

Xue Yuyang (2003): Never played in NBA

Mladen Sekularac (2002): Never played in NBA

Kyle Hill (2001): Never played in NBA

Kenny Satterfield (2001): 75 career games, 321 career points

Dan Langhi (2000): 133 career games, 393 career points

Pete Mickael (2000): Never played in NBA

Since 2000, the Mavericks' 16 second-round picks have a combined 295 career games and 945 career points.

These second-round picks were technically selected by other teams, but acquired by the Mavericks in draft-day deals:

Jae Crowder (2012): 70 games and scored 378 points

Bernard James (2012): 43 games and scored 129 points

Eduardo Najera (2000): 3,052 points in 619 career games

The success rate for second-round picks isn't very high league-wide. From 2000 to 2011, only 30 percent (108 of 356) of second-round picks have played at least 100 career games in the NBA.

Griner dominated college game

Griner has 18 career dunks, more than every other woman combined in Division I history. Griner dunked three times in one game, while Candace Parker is the only other woman to dunk more than three times in her entire college career.

Griner is the most efficient player in women's college basketball. She led the country in points per post-up play and points per play overall this season.

Of course, men's college basketball is a completely different game than Griner's competition. But for what it's worth, nobody in men's college basketball averaged as many points per play (1.14) as Griner averaged on post-ups this season (minimum 150 plays).

Griner held opponents to 0.56 points per play and 23 percent shooting as an on-ball defender this season, both of which led the country (minimum 275 plays).

If Griner posted those same numbers in men's college basketball, she would've led the country in points per post-up plays, points per play allowed and opponent field-goal percentage.

Wouldn't be the first woman to be drafted

If Griner were to be selected, she wouldn't be the first woman ever chosen in the NBA Draft. In 1969, Denise Long was selected in the 13th round by the San Francisco Warriors. Long was a high school player who averaged 62.8 points per game during her senior year. However, the NBA later voided the selection because they felt it was a publicity stunt.

In 1977, Lusia Harris was selected in the seventh round by the New Orleans Jazz. The Delta State star officially became the only woman ever picked in the NBA Draft, although she never actually played in an NBA game.

DENVER – Corey Brewer will forever be remembered by Mavericks fans for his phenomenal eight-minute stint in Game 1 of the 2011 West semifinals, when he came off the bench to spark a comeback at the Staples Center, setting the tone for a stunning sweep of the two-time defending champions.

“Corey won that game against the Lakers for us,” Mark Cuban said recently, “and we’ll be forever in his debt.”

That outing, however, didn’t earn Brewer a spot in the Mavs’ rotation. In fact, he was deemed so expendable that Dallas dealt him and Rudy Fernandez for a 2016 second-round pick in a post-lockout, salary-dump deal with Denver.

Brewer, the slender, springy, 27-year-old small forward, has blossomed into a significant piece of arguably the NBA’s deepest bench in Denver. He’s averaging 11.8 points and 1.4 steals in 24 minutes per game this season, making him a bargain with a $3.24 million salary in the last year of the deal he signed with Dallas midway through the 2010-11 season.

“He has found the perfect situation for him,” said coach Rick Carlisle, who spent many hours working individually with Brewer during the former No. 7 overall pick’s brief stint in Dallas. “They’ve found a player that fits their style.

“Last year when we were formulating our roster and we signed Vince (Carter), there just weren’t going to be a lot of minutes for Fernandez and Brew. And there were financial considerations, so that deal was made. I’m happy for Brew. The guy helped us win a championship."

Cuban called Brewer a “good fit for that system,” referring to the Nuggets’ frenetic pace, but said he had no regret about dealing Brewer to Denver.

“None. Either we were doing what we were going to do or we weren’t, you know?” Cuban said, referring to the Mavs creating salary cap space. “The worst place we could be is caught in between and indecisive. Nope. I mean, he’s a great fit for their team and it’s working out well for him.”

LOS ANGELES – Coach Rick Carlisle cited “embracing our imperfections” as one of the keys to the Mavericks’ 11-5 March.

Perhaps their biggest flaw bit the Mavs hard as they opened April with a lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavs, who rank third to last in the league in rebounding differential, got absolutely dominated on the glass by the longer, more athletic Lakers. L.A. had a 57-37 rebounding edge and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds.

“That’s really the game,” Carlisle said. “I know they’re big, but our persistence has to make up for our lack of size.”

That definitely wasn’t the case in Tuesday night’s critical loss. NBA rebounding leader Dwight Howard grabbed a dozen boards in addition to his game-high 24 points, and he was one of four Lakers to post double-doubles. Actually, Kobe Bryant (24-11-11) had a triple-double, with Earl Clark (17-12) and Pau Gasol (14-10) contributing to the Lakers’ paint domination.

“Ain’t no excuses” said Shawn Marion, who led the Mavs with seven rebounds. “If you really want it, you’re going to get it done. All the loose balls went to them. All the 50/50 balls went to them. It’s frustrating, man.”

Added Vince Carter, who grabbed just a lone rebound in 27 minutes: “We had our moments where we just let them take advantage of us.”

A few more notes from the Mavs’ crushing loss:

1. Dirk’s dud: Coming off his best week of the season, Dirk Nowitzki couldn’t keep it going against the Lakers.

The Mavs’ superstar was held to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. He even looked like Dwight Howard from the free throw line, making only 2-of-6 attempts.

The Lakers simply never let Nowitzki, who had 33- and 35-point performances last week and scored 30 in the Mavs’ last meeting with L.A., establish a rhythm. He was more effective as a distributor (six assists) than a scorer.

“They had long bodies on him. They were physical with him,” Carlisle said. “When we got him a lot of touches, a lot of times he was forced to pass. Unfortunately, we were unable to hit a lot of the shots where he kicked out. Getting him quality shots is always going to be tougher against better teams and experienced teams.”

Added Nowitzki: “I didn’t have a lot of easy ones tonight. I had to work for it. The ones I did have, I’ve just got to knock down.”

2. Kaman’s contributions: Chris Kaman, the 7-footer with the $8 million salary, led the Mavs in scoring with 14 points after making his first start since March 20.

Kaman, who refused to speak to reporters after the game, made 7-of-10 shots from the floor and grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes. That came on the heels of playing a total of 12 minutes in the Mavs’ previous four games, including two DNP-CDs.

“I think Kaman is a good player and he’s a guy we need,” Carlisle said. “I thought coming into tonight, our best chance to get something out of him was to start him because he can get open looks, he’s a big body, he can use some of his fouls on Howard early. I thought he did a really solid job out there.”

The Mavs didn’t get much out of their two big men who had been playing the vast majority of the minutes. Brandan Wright and Elton Brand combined for only six points and six rebounds in 30 minutes.

3. Love for Shaq: The Lakers retired Shaquille O’Neal’s number at halftime, giving Mark Cuban an opportunity to reminisce about his days as verbal sparring partner with the legendary big man.

“He was a beast,” Cuban said. “But forget the player. Everybody knows who he was as a player. He's just a great guy. He brought so much fun and attitude and energy to the game. That's what makes Shaq special then and now.

“Plus he was a nice foil. He would come at me and I think when he realized I wouldn't back down from him, that I'd come right back at him, then it got fun for both of us. And we've stayed friends. We're good friends now.”

A combination of Bikram yoga, early morning track workouts and the copious amounts of drilling in the gym with longtime NBA guard John Lucas has helped keep the Mavericks' Mike James far fitter than most 37-year-olds.

And playing his way into the starting lineup for a team in a full-fledged playoff race has convinced James that he can play at the highest level for another season or two.

PODCAST
Marc Stein joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the Mavericks-Lakers game Tuesday night. If the Mavs lose, are their playoff hopes over? Listen

"My plan is to play two more years and my hope is to be able to finish my career here in Dallas playing for Rick, Donnie and Mark and with Dirk," James said, referring to Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, team president Donnie Nelson, owner Mark Cuban and star forward Dirk Nowitzki.

"If there's one thing my career has taught me, it's (that) what I hope and what happens are sometimes two different things. But this experience since I've been here has made everything I've gone through extremely worth it. Now we just got to make these playoffs."

The Mavericks became James' 11th NBA stop in early January when he was called up from Dallas' D-League affiliate in nearby Frisco and signed to the first of two 10-day contracts. Well aware of the Mavs' seasonlong struggles finding consistency from their point guards, James joined the Texas Legends with the intent of convincing Dallas that he could still contribute. One game with the Legends did the trick, with James gradually working his way into the starting lineup by early March.

The move partly stems from Carlisle's belief that projected starter Darren Collison is more effective coming off the bench, but there's no denying the impact of the switch: Dallas is 10-4 with James starting.

Despite appearing in a mere 15 NBA games over the previous three seasons, James averaged 9.2 points and 4.7 assists in 26.4 minutes per game in March and shot 45.6 percent on 3-pointers.

"I said to my agent (Bernie Lee) the other day, if everything that happened to this point in my career happened to bring me to play for Rick at this stage of my life to prepare me for this, then it's been worth it," James said.

"I'm in the middle of this right now and all that matters to me is making the playoffs. I want this so bad, I can't express it. But in the summer when I take a step back and look at it, I think I'll be able to appreciate it more, the fact that I fought really hard to be a part of this team."

James has a natural bond with fellow vets Elton Brand and Vince Carter -- referring to Carter as his welcoming committee when he first got to town -- but likewise has a lot to say about playing with Nowitzki, who didn't do too badly in March, either.

Dirk's numbers for the month: 20.0 points per game on .548 shooting from the floor and .468 shooting on 3s.

"Being that I've been so many places and played with so many quote-unquote superstars, I think I have a pretty good handle on (that description)," James said. "And Dirk is the best I've ever played with or been around.

"He's hard-working, humble, intelligent and doesn’t miss anything. On off days, he's in the weight room or in the pool. He's so intelligent and driven to know his body and what he needs to do to get ready. I wasn’t here when he was hurt and I know it's been a challenge for him, but over the last few weeks, day by day, you can see his work paying off."

DALLAS – Lamar Odom, whose one-year stint with the Mavericks was one of the biggest disgraces in Dallas sports history, returns to the scene of the crime Tuesday night.

PODCAST
DeAndre Jordan of the L.A. Clippers joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about the Mavericks, why Dirk Nowitzki was one of his favorite players growing up and how he enjoyed the success of his Texas A&M Aggies on the football field. Listen

The court of public opinion has found Odom guilty of first-degree basketball fraud for his antics last season, when his out-of-shape body went through the motions with the Mavericks while he left his heart and mind in Los Angeles.

Khloe’s little Lam Lam was acquitted on one count of attempted murder on the Mavs’ soul. After all, Odom can’t be reasonably accused of trying during his four months of failure in Dallas.

“It was like going to war with wet gunpowder,” Donnie Nelson said after the Mavs parted ways with the veteran in April, summing up the Lamar Odom saga in Dallas.

Alas, the punishment for Odom’s hoops felony is pretty light. Other than a permanently stained reputation for the former reality show star, all Odom has to deal with is the wrath of the American Airlines Center crowd during the Los Angeles Clippers’ lone visit this season.

It’s safe to assume that Mark Cuban will join a sellout crowd in giving Odom a cold welcome. Cuban admits to muttering bad things about Odom under his breath during the Mavs’ two road losses to the Clippers earlier this season. The boo-every-time-he-touches-the-ball treatment would be appropriate.

You can’t blame Cuban for still being furious about Odom’s fraud. Forget what seemed like a steal of a deal backfiring in the Mavs front office’s face. Odom made Cuban look like a fool for having his back over and over again to the point of being perceived as an enabler, especially during Odom’s bizarre post-All-Star-break sabbatical, when the owner met with Odom at the W Hotel to talk him into rejoining the team while the rest of the Mavs were in the midst of the lockout-compressed season’s most grueling stretch of games.

Cuban finally had his fill of Odom’s bull by April 7, well after home fans had started booing him. After seeing Odom loaf through four first-half minutes in Memphis that night, Cuban angrily confronted him in the locker room, repeatedly asking if he was “in or out.” Odom’s response of “stop playing games” didn’t satisfy the owner, who decided to send Odom home for the rest of the season, paying him to just go away.

Oh, and the Mavs aren’t done paying for the Odom ordeal.

Dallas still has to give up a first-round pick to complete the Odom trade. It’s now the property of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who acquired it in the James Harden deal from the Houston Rockets, who acquired it from the Lakers along with Derek Fisher (how fitting) for Jordan Hill.

The pick is top-20 protected through 2017, so the worst-case scenario is that the OKC gets a lottery gift from its Interstate 35 rival in 2018, just before Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook turn 30.

Maybe the Odom deal, which was made possible by the trade exception created in the sign-and-trade that sent Tyson Chandler to the New York Knicks, was the basketball gods’ way of punishing Cuban for breaking up a team coming off an NBA title.

The basketball gods certainly didn’t enact any vengeance on Odom. He landed back in Los Angeles with the contending Clippers, making the full $8.2 million salary in the final season of his contract to serve as a role player on arguably the NBA’s best bench. (The fact that Dallas was able to trade Odom for essentially nothing instead of having to pay his $2.4 million buyout was considered a minor win for the Mavs.)

Odom hasn’t exactly regained his Sixth Man of the Year from 2010-11. In fact, he’s averaging a career-low 4.1 points per game while shooting an unsightly 38.8 percent from the floor, numbers that are a continuation of his drastic offensive decline last season. However, Odom has been a contributor for the Clippers since getting in reasonably decent shape, averaging 5.8 rebounds in 20.4 minutes and playing good defense.

“He’s in a situation that’s really perfect for him,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, taking the diplomatic route. “He’s a defender, rebounder and can play off of other people. He’s having a really good year for them.”

Mavs fans have every right to interrupt that “really good year” by making Odom miserable for one night.

DALLAS – Jason Terry’s career took off when he improved his game after his first season in Dallas.

Mark Cuban believes the same thing could happen for O.J. Mayo.

“At 25, he’s going to get better,” Cuban said of Mayo. “Much, much better.”

If you just look at the numbers, Mayo’s production this season (16.7 PPG, 4.4 APG) stacks up well to what Terry did throughout his eight-year tenure with the Mavs. The most glaring difference, however, was that Terry developed into a dominant clutch player after an inconsistent first season in Dallas, arriving as a 27-year-old in a trade from Atlanta.

“You just can’t replace his kind of experience,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of Terry, who returns to the American Airlines Center tonight with the Celtics.

Mayo has shown he can be a clutch scorer, averaging 27.3 points per 48 minutes this season in clutch situations (last five minutes, score within five points). However, he’s committed way too many turnovers, averaging 3.5 per 48 clutch minutes, a rate that gets alarmingly higher the later close games get.

That’s part of the learning process. And Cuban believes Terry’s development in Dallas should be an example for Mayo.

“They’re completely different players, but I think O.J. can learn a lot from Jet,” Cuban said. “Jet really got better when he became catch and shoot or one dribble and shoot. I think that’s something that O.J. needs to add to his game, and I’ve told that to him.”

Mayo’s work ethic is one thing that can’t be questioned. That’s the primary reason Cuban believes that Mayo, who is extremely likel to exercise his right to be a free agent again this summer, can improve drastically.

“What I love about O.J. is nobody works harder to get better,” Cuban said. “Not just on shooting, which everybody works on, but his knowledge of the game, his dedication to the game. It’s really, really surprised me how committed he is.”

DALLAS -- One day, Jason Terry's No. 31 should hang from the American Airlines Center rafters, somewhere in the vicinity of the championship banner with his name on it.

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Galloway & Company to discuss Jason Terry's return to Dallas, why Dirk Nowitzki isn't getting the ball enough at the end of games and much more. Listen

On Friday night, a sellout crowd is expected to give the Boston Celtics’ No. 4 a standing ovation, as a man coach Rick Carlisle refers to as “Mavericks royalty” returns to the AAC for the first time since essentially being forced to leave in free agency this summer.

“I hope they give him a standing ovation,” said owner Mark Cuban, who made a difficult business decision not to match the three-year, $15.7 million deal the Celtics gave Terry, a longtime Dallas fan favorite and friend of Cuban’s. “He deserves it. He’ll be a Maverick for life. He’s part of the family.”

Life will be interrupted for the next three years. Maybe longer, if the 35-year-old Terry accomplishes his goal of playing until he’s 40.

But Cuban has made it clear that the man known as “JET” will be welcomed back into the Mavs organization on a full-time basis once he is done playing ball. Cuban has offered Terry a job in the Mavs’ front office, with the responsibilities to be figured out once the time is right.

“Basketball is a short part of your life, and then there’s the rest of your life," Cuban said. "Hopefully, we’ll be part of JET’s after he retires."

It wasn’t a popular decision to let Steve Nash leave and trade for Terry to replace him, but Terry established himself as a local legend due to his personality and performance during his eight-year tenure with the Mavs.

Terry joined Dirk Nowitzki as the only players on the rosters of both Mavs teams that made Finals trips and played a huge role in knocking out the Miami Heat in 2011. Terry came up huge in the clutch in Games 4 and 5 after publicly doubting whether LeBron James could shut him down the whole series and scored 27 points in the Game 6 clincher. Nowitzki has called his former scoring sidekick, who might as well have been the championship parade marshal with the victory cigar dangling from his mouth, one of the best clutch shooters in the game on countless occasions.

JET was also an unofficial mascot/cheerleader. A generation of Mavs fans grew up imitating the wings he made with his arms after hitting big shots, or really whenever the feeling hit him. Terry cared deeply about connecting with the fans, waving his arms to hype up the crowd and making hundreds of appearances in the community.

“He’s one of the most beloved players, I think, in the history of this franchise because of his personality, his relationship with the fans and the community, and he was a great player,” Carlisle said. “He was a prime-time great player in the clutch. Guys like that always distinguish themselves. It’ll be emotional, I’m sure, for him and the fans and some of us that got to know him well. But we know how good he is, and we’re game-planning for him too.”

Added Nowitzki: “He meant so much to our franchise. Not only on the court, where, to me, he’s one of the best clutch shooters I ever played with, but also off the court. He was a great community man. Every other day, he was doing something, appearances left and right. He’s just a guy with a huge heart. I wish him all the best this season, and hopefully he gets the ovation that he deserves.”

DALLAS -- Just another game for Deron Williams, huh?

For as well as Williams has been playing after emerging from the All-Star break healthy and slim, that might not be stretching the truth too much.

Just a guy who plays on another team? Yeah, Mark Cuban’s pregame attempt to downplay D-Will’s return to Dallas was way off the mark.

Maybe Williams really didn’t draw any extra motivation from his summer flirtation with his hometown team and fall back-and-forth with Cuban after deciding to be the face of the Nets’ move to Brooklyn. But Williams definitely gave the Dallas Mavericks a painful glimpse of exactly what they missed out on when their free agency pitch to Williams failed.

Williams torched the Mavs for 26 of his 31 points in the second half of the Nets’ 113-96 win, lighting up whichever overmatched Dallas guard was unfortunate enough to draw that defensive assignment, scoring on a variety of jumpers and drives.

Perhaps the prettiest of Williams’ 11 buckets in the second half: an 18-foot fadeaway that he launched just a few feet from Cuban’s courtside seat. That stretched the Nets’ lead to nine, prompting Mavs coach Rick Carlisle to call a timeout and Williams to crack a huge smile while glancing at the Dallas bench.

“When you’re feeling good and feel like you can’t miss,” Williams said, “it’s a good feeling.”

An especially good feeling because of Cuban’s claims that the Mavs were “better off” without Williams? If that was the case, Williams certainly wouldn’t admit it.

He stuck with his pregame claim that the only reasons the Nets’ annual trip to Dallas was special was because he got to play in front of friends and family and loved shooting at the American Airlines Center. Williams figured the cheers from those folks drowned out the smattering of boos from bitter Mavs fans when his name was announced with the Nets starters.

“I always get up for the games at home just because it’s home and given the situation,” said Williams, who kissed his wife and one of his children at courtside before heading to the Nets locker room after the game. “Honestly, I tried to attack it as a regular game. I didn’t eat anything special. It was a regular game for us, but a big game for us.”

After a rough first half of the season, Williams is having big games on a regular basis now.

Williams is back to being the point guard who had two franchises trying to convince him to accept their max offers this summer. (It must be mentioned, though, that Cuban didn’t exactly go the extra mile, opting to film “Shark Tank” in California instead of travel to New York with the rest of the Mavs’ recruiting party to meet with Williams.)

Since the All-Star break, when Williams dropped weight with a juice-cleansing program and got cortisone and platelet-rich plasma injections to help his ailing ankles, the Nets’ franchise player has been earning his money. Williams has averaged 23.9 points on 48 percent shooting since the break, scoring at least 30 points four times in 15 games.

“If you looked at the League Pass the last couple of weeks, he’s been on fire,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “He’s been moving better. I don’t know if he had health problems early in the season, but he looks way more aggressive. He’s in a groove. I don’t think it had anything to do with tonight. He wanted to win the game and he took it over.”

Added Carlisle: “He’s just a great player that got in a groove.”

Williams played a facilitating role in the first half, patiently running the offense while big men Brook Lopez (season-high 38 points) and Andray Blatche (14 points, all before halftime) kept the Nets in the game.

It became Williams’ game early in the third quarter. He got hot while exploiting a mismatch against the smaller Darren Collison and kept on rolling.

“He was so much more aggressive in the second half,” Dallas center Elton Brand said. “You could see it in his eyes. He wanted the next one. He was going to shoot no matter what. I know he wanted to prove a point, but I didn’t think he was overly aggressive. He’s just playing at a really high level right now.”

Kinda makes you wonder how the Mavs might be faring if they had Williams as the starting point guard instead of 37-year-old journeyman Mike James, huh?

Nowitzki, who led the Mavs with 16 points on 80-percent shooting but got only 10 field goal attempts, doesn’t want to go down the what-coulda-been road.

“He’s an exceptional player,” Nowitzki said. “We knew that before. That’s why we were trying to recruit him, so this is nothing new. He’s been one of the best point guards in this league.

“We had to move on as a franchise, though. We can’t be lingering. He made a decision last summer and I think both franchises moved on. That’s where we’re at.”

With Williams, the Nets are headed for the playoffs. Without him, the Mavs need a miracle to reach the postseason, especially after Williams’ game got the last word Wednesday night.