Dallas Mavericks: 30 Team Previews in 30 Days

2009-10 Statistics

Finished 55-27, first in Southwest Division, second in Western Conference.

Postseason

First Round: Lost to San Antonio 4-1

Additions and Re-Signings

Dirk Nowitzki via re-signing, Alexis Ajinca via trade, Tyson Chandler via trade, Brendan Haywood via re-signing, and Ian Mahinimi via free agency.

Losses

Erick Dampier via trade, Eduardo Najera via trade, and Matt Carroll via trade.

A decade of 50-plus wins every regular season. A decade of high hopes. A decade of disappointment. The story of the Dallas Mavericks the past 10 years has been filled with what could have been and what's holding us back. Year after year, the Mavericks are a Western Conference favorite by winning 50 or more games. Come postseason time, their run ends in an instant.

Last season's 55-27 record wasted with a first-round exit against the San Antonio Spurs might have been the straw that broke the camel's back with the Mavericks. First and second round exits no longer fly with this franchise.

Superstar Dirk Nowitzki tested free agency by opting out of his contract before quickly re-signing back with the Mavs to an $80 million over four years. At 32 years old, if Nowitzki can't win the championship for his team within the next four years, then there's a chance Dallas will become a mediocre team before they win the title that they've been yearning for the past ten years.

Dirk has averaged 23 points and nine rebounds over his lengthy career with Dallas and has an MVP and a Western Conference championship to show for it. In his one chance for championship glory, he and the Mavs were six minutes away from closing out the Miami Heat in the 2005-'06 NBA finals and taking a 3-0 series lead before Dwyane Wade went berserk and won the next four games.

Dirk has established himself as a prolific scorer and clutch shooter and is the main reason why the Mavs continue to wipe the floor with the Western Conference during the regular season. Postseason is a completely different time, though. Dallas has been forced to suffer through embarrassing defeats and quick series losses. This was the case last season when they lost to the 7-seed Spurs in five games.

Nowitzki wasn't the only one to resign with Dallas who joined Brendan Haywood in a return to the home base. Haywood might have been overpaid at $55 million over the next six years, but he provides the Mavericks with a strong body in the middle who can contribute some sort of post game.

The Mavericks could see another shot at a championship run this season now that Caron Butler is ready to play his first full season with the team. In 27 games with Dallas last season, he averaged 15 points and five rebounds while adding another driving and shooting threat to a team with already a lot of shooters.

Butler's versatility makes this Mavericks team more dangerous than it already was and his first full season with the team should establish a better chemistry with his fairly new teammates. Caron could be the piece of the puzzle that the Mavericks have been missing for so long.

Dallas will still have it's veteran leader in Jason Kidd running the point and proved last season, that he's still got the swagger that he's been using for the past 15 years to establish himself as a premiere point guard. Kidd averaged 10 points, nine assists, and five rebounds last season, while shooting 43% from beyond the arc and making a career high two three-pointers per game.

Kidd has fit very well with Dallas since arriving three seasons ago and not only adds another shooter, but a multi-dimensional threat who can shoot or find an open teammate to make the shot or easy basket. At 37 years old though, Dallas will need to utilize the ageless veteran to his full potential in the postseason before his age eventually catches up to him.

One of the strongest advantages Dallas has over other teams is their extremely deep bench led by three-point shooting specialist Jason Terry who is two years removed from his first Sixth Man of the Year award when he averaged 20 points on 46% shooting and three assists off the bench. His numbers dropped last season when he averaged 17 points on 43% shooting and four assists. Dallas is going to need Terry to perform how he did two seasons ago if they want to make another title run in the near future.

At 33, Terry's age could be creeping up on him much like many of the other players that greatly contribute to this team. Every starter on Dallas is at least 30 years old with some of them beginning to show their years more than others.

The two youngest contributors are J.J. Barea and Rodrigue Beausbois who surprised many last season as an unknown 25th pick out of Guadeloupe. Beausbois averaged eight points last season as a back up to Kidd and Butler. Barea showed flashes of J. Kidd last season when he averaged eight points and three assists coming off the bench.

The Dallas Mavericks have always the potential to win multiple NBA championships, but have yet to secure anything of the nature. They need to transition their regular season game to the postseason when they need the players who won 50 plus games a few weeks before to step up when they are needed most.

The disappointment could come to an end soon for the Mavs if they can get far enough in the postseason to topple the Los Angeles Lakers. To do that they'll need to learn from their past mistakes and perform the way they do in the first 82 games of the season in the last sixteen.

Projected Starting Lineup

PG-Jason Kidd

SG-Caron Butler

SF-Shawn Marion

PF-Dirk Nowitzki

C-Brendan Haywood

Prediction

54-28

This is Pt. 6 of a 30-day series of 2010-11 season previews of each NBA team. My profile will contain every other team that has been previewed before.