2011-12 Dallas Mavericks: Worst Season for Any Defending Champion in NBA History

June 2011 will forever go down in history as the ultimate team win. The Dallas Mavericks won the NBA championship, and showed the rest of the league that a team can overcome a handful of superstars on their path towards a world championship.

Although, something peculiar has happened since those lovely summery days in Dallas where Cuban posed with the trophy, Dirk sang "We Are The Champions", and the entire team was seen all over the media as the kings of basketball.

The word team had been thrown out the window. The team was the speedy JJ Barea and the defensive mastermind Tyson Chandler. The team was the unpredictable, brash but effective Deshawn Stevenson, and Caron Butler.

These guys have been shown the door because of salary cap issues. In came Vince Carter (about as anti-team as one can be) and Lamar Odom (a strong all-around player who will soon begin to gel with his new teammates).

This team will be one of the worst defending champions in NBA history. This is not based solely against the first two abysmal losses, where Dallas was down more than thirty at home in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history.

This has to do with the unbelievable change this franchise has suffered in a matter of six months. The vets are aging, Dirk's reliable sidekicks are not kicking, the defense is disappearing, and the coaching staff is scrambling. There is an obvious championship hangover lingering in the locker room.

But, everything is going to be alright. Cuban and Nelly (In Cuban and Donnie we Trust) have a master plan. It is clear that they are shedding expensive pieces and snagging great chips to all use in the monster 2012 summer, which will create seismic shifts in the NBA landscape.

Will Dallas be able to land Deron and Dwight? Will a core of Dirk, Dwight, Deron in Dallas lead to championships?

What about just Deron or just Dwight?

Either way, Cuban and Nelly are willing to sacrifice one year in Dirk's prime for the magical possibility of partnering the game's best power forward, with the games best center and point guard. As a diehard Mavericks' fan, that makes me giddy.

This season is a lost cause. The Mavs will still make the playoffs as a lower seed and get knocked out by a newcomer in the Thunder, Grizzlies or Clippers in the first round.

No big deal, imagine 3D in "BigD".