Can Dallas Mavericks Ride Intangibles to Another Championship?

You'd have to go back to 2011 for a Dallas Mavericks team that had this kind of vibe.

And if it was good enough for a championship then, it just might be good enough for another one.

Then and now, the Mavs have heart—heart that was on full display as they pushed the San Antonio Spurs seven games in the opening round of last season's playoffs. But Dallas' capacity for overachievement may reach new heights with the return of a center who played an integral role in its last title.

According to the Star-Telegram's Dwain Price, "Tyson Chandler acknowledged that a 'happy feeling' came over him this past June when he heard he was headed back to play for the Dallas Mavericks."

"I enjoyed my entire time with the Mavericks and it was a sad process for me and my family leaving Dallas, especially after the amazing experience and amazing run that we had," Chandler explained. "As I left I told those guys, 'You know, I love you and I'll love you forever and I love everything you have done for me and did for me.'"

Chandler's ability to bring a team together is only one of his charms. His optimism is another.

The almost-32-year-old recently recalled how high he was on Dallas' prospects the first time the club acquired him in 2010.

"At the minimum, I thought we could have made it to the Western Conference Finals," he said, per SportsDayDFW.com. "From there, I was just waiting to see what was going to happen."

The franchise now looks forward to similar possibilities after landing Chandler (and point guard Raymond Felton) in exchange for a package that sent Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington and a couple of second-round draft picks to the New York Knicks. 

The deal was about far more than adding a starting-caliber center.

As ESPN.com noted, "Chandler is the player Dallas has missed most since it decided to let go several key contributors in free agency after the team's championship run in 2011."

The 13-year veteran averaged 8.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest in 55 games with the Knicks last season, but he delivers the kind of intangibles that transcend on-court production—especially for the Mavericks.

"Continuity was important, and I think that’s a vote towards Tyson because I think he's comfortable in our system," team president Donnie Nelson explained, per Mavs.com's Earl K. Sneed. "... And to get him back and his familiarity with the system, his familiarity with [head coach] Rick [Carlisle], our city, Dirk [Nowitzki], you go right down the line, our kind of guy in the locker room."

The kind of guy whose effort can be infectious.

As Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney put it, "Chandler's arrival should bring about defensive improvement—largely on the grounds of his particular talents and commitment to a leadership role."

Indeed, Chandler leads vocally and by example alike. His penchant for doing dirty work invariably sets a much-needed tone. The physicality, timely defensive rotations and hard screens quietly have a force-multiplying effect—making it easier for teammates to do their jobs while simultaneously encouraging those teammates to do their jobs even better.

"That skill set might not sound like much, but a mobile, athletic center with those qualities can stimulate offensive production while rarely touching the ball," argues Mahoney. "There's high basketball value in players who can exercise influence over the game without direct control. Chandler is in the rare class that can do so on both ends."

He's also the rare type who can inspire synergistic collaboration among his compatriots. They like playing with him.

"He helped me get the championship," Nowitzki told reporters when word of the deal broke. "We had great chemistry together, and if it's true I'll be more than thrilled."

The feeling is mutual.

"We don't have enough time on this show for me to explain the type of respect I have for Dirk Nowitzki," Chandler told the Ben & Skin Show on KRLD-FM 105.3 (h/t SportsDayDFW.com): 

"

He and Jason Kidd are two of the most incredible teammates that I've ever been around. They're two future Hall of Famers, but you wouldn't know it walking into the practice facility. They're in every meeting, every practice and they're super humble always passing the credit along. He's the type of guy, if I was a GM or president or owner, that I'd want to start my team with.

"

This isn't just another lovefest. It's how championship teams are built—with personalities and relationships counting for something. In a league that sometimes finds itself preoccupied with talent and star power, Dallas' fate ultimately rests on a different kind of formula.

"We think chemistry matters," owner Mark Cuban recently told KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan on Friday, according to SportsDayDFW.com.

That chemistry won't benefit from incoming personnel alone. It helps that Nowitzki has already forged a rapport with key pieces like Monta Ellis, Devin Harris, Jae Crowder and Brandan Wright—all returnees from last season's rotation.

You'll see a lot of new faces this season—including role players like Richard Jefferson and Al-Farouq Aminu—but there's still a familiar core in place, a core that should preserve some of the corporate knowledge this club's accumulated since its last title.

But chemistry isn't the only intangible variable Cuban's Mavericks have going for them.

Point guard Raymond Felton—acquired in the Chandler deal—will have a chip on his shoulder after averaging a career-low 9.7 points per contest and making just 39.5 percent of his field-goal attempts in New York last season.

At 32, Jameer Nelson—also a point guard—may look to prove he still has quality minutes left in the tank after spending his first 10 seasons with an Orlando Magic team that recently turned its attention toward a protracted rebuilding process.

And most importantly, Chandler Parsons will almost certainly attempt to demonstrate he's worth every penny the organization invested in him this summer—pennies the Houston Rockets opted not to match.

Even if the public tone suggests otherwise.

When asked if he felt any pressure to make good on the new contract—which pays him $14.7 million in the first season—Parsons played it cool.

"Not at all," Parsons told NBA.com's Jeff Caplan. "I was underpaid my first three years and that didn’t affect how I played. People are going to talk about my contract now just because it’s a huge raise, but it really doesn’t matter to me. I’m a basketball player and I’m going to continue to get better and do what I do regardless of how much money I’m making."

Even if Parsons is telling nothing but the truth, it's hard to believe he isn't at least somewhat interested in proving his old Rockets wrong. He expressed some very real resentment back in July.

"Honestly, I was offended by the whole process," Parsons told Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears. "They publicly said that they were going out looking for a third star when I thought they had one right in front of them. I guess that's just how they viewed me as a player. I don't think I've scratched the surface of where I can be as a player and I think I'm ready for that role."

A little healthy bitterness can translate into a lot of determination.

In turn, Parsons should fit right in on a team that reasons to be plenty determined after nearly upsetting the Spurs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference. 

And he should fit right in under the coach who almost made it happen.

During that series, The Dallas Morning News' Tim Cowlishaw described Carlisle's approach as "what the best coaches do, and it’s the kind of leadership that allows an unadorned team to stride confidently onto a stage as grand as a Game 7."

Indeed, it was the kind of leadership that makes you forget all about how a team stacks up on paper.

For the record, Dallas looks pretty good on paper, too. But it's the potential to be so much more that makes this team a legitimate contender once again.