The NBA Draft lottery is tonight. The Mavs are certainly in a position of relatively unfamiliarity as they will be a participant in the lottery. The ping pong balls could alter the path the Mavs take this offseason in a dramatic way. Though it’s unlikely that they’ll find their name being announced last, giving them the No. 1 overall pick, the lottery represents the official start of the offseason. Dallas will have more information than they had the previous day and be able to really chart a path to their offseason, starting with a draft pick. On top of that, it’s commission David Stern’s last lottery. Insert your emotional response here.

For those who don’t know, Donnie Nelson will represent the team at the drawing. Assistant general manager Keith Grant will be with Nelson in New York.

With all of this in mind, a very knowledgeable man has stepped up to the plate and delivered a very thorough recap of the Mavs’ lottery past, giving you a look back as you prepare for the next chapter. That man is Mark Followill. If you have no clue who he is, what’s wrong with you? Followill is the television play-by-play voice of your Mavs. He’s been chopping it up, talking about the Mavs and other sports in the metroplex since the mid-90′s, so he’s more than just another guy when it comes to this bit of information.

With that in mind, enjoy the trip down memory lane. Enjoy reading this while listening to Followill’s golden tones in your ear, or your own.

The last time we watched a draft lottery because it determined where the Dallas Mavericks would be drafting, Bill Clinton was in the White House. I know the decade plus of success and a championship have brought a lot of new fans to the Mavs. Those new fans may not know and even the longtime MFFL’s may not remember from back in the day the Mavs have never improved their potential draft position in the lottery. With the Mavs hours away from hoping their combination of ping-pong balls comes up for the first time since 2000, let’s look back and see why history says it won’t happen or why perhaps they are finally due!

1986: Before the Draft Lottery there was a coin flip between last place teams in each conference for the top pick. Dallas even won one of those in 1981 and drafted Mark Aguirre. Accusations that teams were losing deliberately to have a chance at the No. 1 pick led to the creation of the lottery. Starting in 1985, envelopes with the logo of the seven non-playoff teams were placed in a hopper and drawn at random to determine the order of the top seven picks. In 1986 the Mavs were a participant because it was the last of four straight years of first round picks they had pilfered in trades from then Cleveland owner Ted Stepien. The Cavs had the 3^rd worst record but there still wasn’t the weighted system that exists today to favor the worst of the lottery teams. It was just a 1-in-7 chance for anyone to get the top pick. In a closed door dress rehearsal two hours before the Mavericks  actually won the No. 1 pick. GM Norm Sonju would say after he knew that meant they would end up 7^th when the real one took place and sure enough they did. Dallas took Roy Tarpley, whose immensely promising career was derailed by substance abuse.

1989: After taking the Lakers to seven games in 1988 Conference Finals, the Mavs plummeted out of the playoffs, ending up with the 8^th worst record in the NBA. The lottery was still envelopes drawn out of a hopper, but by then the lottery was only for the top three picks. After those picks were selected the remaining non-playoff teams drafted in inverse order of record. With expansion franchises Charlotte and Miami added in 1988 the lottery included nine teams now. As we know, the Mavs did not jump into the top 3 and with the 8^th pick set out to right the wrong of passing on a certain power forward out of Louisiana Tech four years earlier. That night I listened to Norm Hitzges (who I have the pleasure of working with again on this year’s NBA Draft coverage on The Ticket) dissect the draft on 570 KLIF. Excitement rose in Norm’s voice when David Stern announced Indiana at No. 7 had surprisingly taken Florida State’s George McCloud. The man the Mavs wanted at No. 8 would be there! Unfortunately Randy White was never a poor man’s Karl Malone and just washed out after five non-descript seasons.

1990: Before plunging into the abyss of the 90s, the Mavs had one last swim through the playoffs but were swept out in the opening round by the Portland Trail Blazers. However, there was hope. The trade of Jay Vincent in 1986 to the Washington Bullets had netted them a first-round pick in 1990. That year ushered in the era of weighting the lottery to give the poorest teams a better chance at acquiring the top pick. Now the worst team had about a 17 percent chance of landing the first pick. The worst team (the Nets) did get No. 1, but Seattle leapfrogged from 10^th to  No. 2 and drafted Gary Payton. The pick from the Bullets, instead of being 8^th , fell to 9 because of that and after the lottery Dallas decided they were better off with a vet who could help right then. They dealt the pick to the Nuggets for Fat Lever, who was never anywhere close to the great player he was in Denver. Miami ended up with that pick and used it on Willie Burton, who does hold the notoriety of being one of the more unlikely players to score at least 50 points in a game.

1991: After a 28 win season, the Mavs had the 6^th worst record and 6^th is where they would stay. The Mavs selected Doug Smith of Missouri, who like Randy White experienced a career of five unremarkable seasons.

1992: The story of 1992 has been told before. Owner Don Carter wanted his team to finish on a high note and the inspired Mavs closed the season with wins over Houston and Denver. Those two wins moved the Mavs past Orlando in the standings to the 3^rd worst record and the Magic had the 2^nd worst mark. Orlando won the lottery and the right to draft Shaquille O’Neal. For the second straight year, Charlotte’s ping pong balls came up moving them to a top 3 spot, and after landing Larry Johnson at the top spot the year before they selected Alonzo Mourning at number 2. Dallas fell to No. 4 and drafted Jim Jackson. There was a contract squabble and by the time the Mavs signed him in March they were 4-50 and needed a late season push to avoid the worst record in NBA history.

1993: After the disastrous 11 win season, surely Lady Luck would shine on Dallas, but not only did the 17 percent chance of the top pick not hit, it went to Orlando who defied the odds with a 1-in-66 chance of winning the lottery. Philadelphia and Golden State also jumped past Dallas. Chris Webber, future Mav Shawn Bradley and Penny Hardaway went 1-2-3. The Mavs dropped to No. 4 and drafted the second of the three Js, Jamal Mashburn.

1994: That year saw another terrible Mavs season (13 wins) and another change in the lottery. The system was weighted to improve the odds even more for the bottom teams. Now the team with the worst record had a 25-percent chance of selecting first. However, Milwaukee, one of three teams tied for the second worst mark at 20-62 jumped to number one (and took Glenn Robinson). The Mavs did end up at No. 2 and of course the prize was Jason Kidd. After two-plus seasons, he was traded to Phoenix for Michael Finley among others. Fortunately that story ended happily with Kidd’s return to Dallas and his vital contribution to the 2011 Finals winning squad.

1995: A late surge in Jason Kidd’s rookie year brought Dallas briefly into the playoff race. That push fell short but with a 36-46 record optimism existed this would be Dallas’ last time in the lottery for a while. Only one of the eleven non-playoff squads were better! The Mavs didn’t jump up into the top 3 and with expansion Vancouver and Toronto being awarded picks at six and seven, the Mavs ended up with the 12^th pick. They drafted Cherokee Parks of Duke and as I recall watching in Reunion Arena that night the announcement resulted in a loud chorus of boos from fans in attendance.

1996: The excitement of the 3 J’s fizzled, Dallas dropped to 26 wins and the 6^th worst record. They didn’t improve in the lottery and before draft night traded that pick and next year’s first rounder to Boston for Eric Montross and the Celtics pick in 1996 at No. 9 which Dallas used on Samaki Walker – enough said. The 1997 first round pick Dallas traded to Boston didn’t improve in the lottery and the Celtics used the No. 6 pick on Ron Mercer.

1998: With the Nelsons’ in charge now, the Mavs had just completed a 20-win season but surprisingly to me looking back there were five other teams who were worse. The Mavs didn’t improve their number six spot in the lottery and then used the pick on Tractor Traylor. Then the big moment arrived as he was traded to Milwaukee for the rights to some 20-year old German kid taken at No. 9. While the lottery drawing did not pay off that year, the wheeling and dealing of draft night did. Not only did Dallas acquire Dirk Nowitzki, they traded next year’s first round pick to Phoenix for Steve Nash. The lottery produced no improvement in that pick in 1999 and, by the way, Charlotte struck again! They had the best record of non-playoff teams but jumped up to third and chose Baron Davis. The Mavs pick traded to Phoenix, slid from 8 to 9 and the Suns landed an eventual staple of the Mavs title team, Shawn Marion.

2000: This is the only year a Mark Cuban owned Mavs team experienced the lottery. Dallas finished with the 12^th worst record and stayed there on lottery night. On draft night, they took Etan Thomas and also traded for a pick owned by Orlando at 13 and selected Courtney Alexander. A few months later both were part of a mega trade for Juwan Howard.

From 2001-12 the Mavs never finished out of the playoffs and so never took part in the lottery. In 2004, they did make a draft night trade for a lottery pick of Washington’s, which predictably was a pick that had been pushed down to fifth based on lottery results. The pick was Devin Harris, who was a few years later traded for Jason Kidd. See, it all comes full circle. After all of that bad luck, the Mavs finally achieved the dream in magical fashion, so all in all the ride was well worth it.

Since it’s been a while, here’s how it works tonight. With the 13^th worst record of those who missed the playoffs, the Mavs have a 96 percent chance of staying there. They have a 2.2 percent chance of moving into a top three spot and a 1.8 percent chance of Utah jumps into the top 3, thus pushing Dallas to 14. As I have said many times, I don’t believe in jinxes and superstitions and such. But just in case, maybe MFFLs can help with a rabbit’s foot, a horseshoe or maybe that lucky pair of socks you wore in the title run. At least history says it can‘t hurt.

You can follow Mark Followill on Twitter (and you definitely should) @MFollowill.

The game of basketball has turned into the business of basketball. Players are still slowly learning that fact. Fans should understand that now. The 2010-11 Mavs are a great example of how business could get in the way of a good thing.

Dallas won the title that year and decided that it wasn’t a safe risk to “bring the band back” for another run at the title. Giving the core a chance to defend their title would have been enjoyable, but there was clear and reasonable logic behind the move the front office made. Mark Cuban has gotten a lot of heat for that decision, but the results of the playoffs this year suggest he was right for letting everyone go. As the Conference Finals are in motion, the Indiana Pacers’ Ian Mahinmi is the lone former Mav from the championship roster who still is playing.

Let’s look at what the Mavs would have theoretically had to do to bring most of the band back. Remember, Brian Cardinal and Peja Stojakovic are out of the league now. That leaves J.J. Barea, Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Ian Mahinmi, DeShawn Stevenson and Jason Terry. One guy to remember but won’t exactly be figured into this equation – Corey Brewer. He signed a three-year, $9,177,000 deal. He is now a free agent.

- Caron Butler signed a three-year, $24 million contract after the title. He still has one year left on the deal at $8 million.

- J.J. Barea signed a four-year, $18 million contract after the title. He still has $9,206,500 left on the deal over the next two years.

- Tyson Chandler departed via sign-and-trade to a four-year, $47,098,100 contract with an $8,311,350 signing bonus. He still has $28,697,426 left on the deal over the next two years.

- Jason Kidd signed a three-year, $9.27 million contract after the title. He still has $6,180,000 left on the deal over the next two years.

- Ian Mahinmi departed via sign-and-trade to a four-year, $16 million contract. He still has $12 million left on the deal over the next three years.

- DeShawn Stevenson signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract after the title. He was eventually part of a sign-and-trade that led to him getting a three-year, $6,721,350 contract in 2012. He still has $4,480,900 left on the deal over the next two years, but the two years are unguaranteed.

- Jason Terry signed a three-year, $15,675,000 million contract with a 7.5 percent trade kicker after the title. He still has $10,675,000 left on the deal over the next two years.

Just taking Butler, Barea, Chandler, Kidd, Mahinmi and Terry have a combined $74,758,926 left on their deals. As a comparison, that total would rank as the fifth highest payroll for the 2012-13 season. If you just want to look at next season, the group would have totaled out at $39,102,538. That’s not even taking into account Dirk Nowitzki or Shawn Marion. For next year, that group with Dirk and Marion balloons over the $70 million mark. The numbers would have gone up even more with the luxury tax implications.

Cuban has cited a team like the Boston Celtics, a team that has won a title and has kept their collective core together. Some would wonder if they kept their core together too long and are forced to restrictive moves based on their cap situation. You don’t hear about many teams getting ahead of the curve, like the Mavs did, but you do hear about teams like Boston who might have held on for too long.

With Memphis, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Golden State still strong and relatively young in some areas, would Dallas be primed to compete against those squads by bringing the band back together?

It’s a harsh reality some have to face, but the business of basketball forced the hand of the Mavs. They made a decision to go with flexibility for the future. They look better today by seeing how the departed champs ultimately did with their new teams. Another fact is that Dallas is still in a rough spot, but they have room to improve.

You can make all the right moves as you move through the minefields and still come out as a loser. That’s just life. The thing is, they’re able to see if they can continue to make the right moves on their terms, not the terms that would be thrust onto them due to salary restrictions.

Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.

I think. I probably think way too much. That’s just what happens when you have time on your hands. Again, I just sat and thought about random things revolving around the Mavs. Answers popped up, and this is the end result. Another batch of 10 questions and answers in regards to the summer and the future for Dallas.

1. Who is the most likely free agent to be used in a sign-and-trade?

I think it’s a toss-up between Chris Kaman and O.J Mayo, but I’m leaning towards Mayo. For Kaman, if you have size and can play at some level, you’re going to find a job. Dallas has always been creative and might find a way to use him to their advantage with a sign-and-trade.

We’ve already started to see rumblings out of Utah and Minnesota that there’s an interest in Mayo. One seems more likely than the other in terms of a sign-and-trade partner.

2. Have the Mavs really had terrible drafts?

Honestly, when you’re drafting outside of the top 5, you’re rolling the dice. Even in the top five, you see moments where you’re wondering what teams were thinking. This is actually a specific subject that’s going to be covered as we get closer to the draft. Have some of the decisions they’ve made been bad. Yes, but you know what, they’re not really alone in that battle.

Comparing Dallas to San Antonio in terms of draft success is taking the easy road if you want to say the Mavs have had a terrible draft. The thing is, if you compare most teams against the Spurs in this aspect, most or all of them are going to look inferior. They’re more of an outlier rather than the standard result for teams around the league.

3. Is Brandan Wright a starting center?

Not for one that has aspirations of winning a championship. Yes, the league has shifted to faster, more mobile big men, but Wright still has his faults. He did improve as a rebounder during the second half of the season, but the bar was so low for him in that area that he could only go up.

His best role is being the first or second big off your bench. If he’s a starting center, you’re asking him to go up against the likes of Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Omer Asik, Nikola Pekovic, Marcin Gortat, DeMarcus Cousins. I don’t think you’re taking Wright over ANY of them, even on a bad day for them.

4. Can you trust Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban?

The only time I would say you can’t trust them is the week leading up to the draft or the trade deadline. Paraphrasing the old saying, you know an executive is lying when they open their mouth.

I think the gripe might be that it doesn’t appear that Cuban is entirely committed to the Mavs as he has other engagements or projects he’s involved in, the most notable one being Shark Tank. It’s been covered over and over how he wasn’t present during their meeting with Deron Williams last summer as he was filming episodes of the show. I think Cuban said it best near the end of the season. “If they don’t know by now that I’m doing everything I can, they’re never going to know,” Cuban said.

Sure, he has outside commitments, but don’t you or do you think about your job all hours of the day?

5. If one thought about leaving out of Dwight Howard or Chris Paul, who would leave?

I would have to think the answer is Dwight. Let’s be honest, no one associates the words leadership or maturity with Dwight Howard. If he leaves Los Angeles, he’s going to be going to his third team in as many years. The lights and pressure that come with playing in LA make it seem like it might not be a situation that he’s necessarily cut out to handle.

Plus, he needs to look at what happened when Kobe Bryant had to miss the remainder of the season. They had an aging and hurt point guard, their power forward is constantly the scapegoat and can float in and out of games and they don’t have a bench. It doesn’t sound like a promising situation.

6. Is Dallas in the best position to land either Dwight Howard or Chris Paul?

Honestly, no. Their current teams have a full extra year and buckets of additional money they can throw at them. If they look to bolt, Houston seems like the more lucrative place for Dwight Howard. Potentially, you could make a case that somewhere like Atlanta could be a spot for Chris Paul, if not Houston.

My wheels are also trying spin how Dwight Howard and Chris Paul could still unite and be in LA, just for the Clippers. That’s theoretically possible, with the Clippers needing to dispose of DeAndre Jordan and some other minor details. Dallas is an option, but it’s still not a likely one.

7. What happens if things go south this offseason?

The first thought is, how will Dirk react? I’m sure he’ll be frustrated, but he’ll be a professional and give it all during the season. I have a hard time believing that he would ask out of Dallas during the middle of the season. That begins the question of what he’ll do going into free agency.

If everyone gets to the bridge and it’s time to cross it, I honestly think he’d either sign another deal with Dallas or just retire. I honestly can’t see him suiting up for another team. The situation would be somewhat different if 2011 didn’t happen. He eats, sleeps and breathes basketball. As a true competitor, all he wants to do is win. Luckily for the Mavs, they took care of business and continue to try to get back to the top of the mountain.

If things go south, the fan base will also likely be very furious. That could lead to some tough realities at the ticket gate for the Mavs.

8. Thoughts on the 13^th pick?

History shows that there’s not a lot of promise of finding the next superstar at pick 13. This will get covered as we get closer to the draft, but there is one thing I’ll mention now. Whatever decision Dallas or any team makes, it’s not a given they’re going to be right.

You’re only getting a brief look at player in the time you’re evaluating them. I say brief as a relative comparison to the rest of their life. You’re taking a chance on a young man who hasn’t really developed into what they’re likely going to be as a player. With players not staying in school longer, you’re basically grabbing lottery tickets and hoping for the best.

This is a draft full of potential rotational guys, not superstars. Dallas just needs to find someone who could potentially fit in as a top 8-9 player on their roster.

9. Would Miami winning another title likely be a good thing for Dallas?

I’m not sure how it actually hurts. It just brings more shine to what Dallas did in 2011. It also makes stars wonder if they actually do need to partner up. There are only so many places left as options, especially taking into account the salary cap implications. Dallas would then become a spot team’s would want to flock to.

The problem, Dallas is still probably one more year away from truly capitalizing on it as Miami didn’t have roughly $22 million committed to Dwyane Wade before LeBron James and Chris Bosh came to town. Dirk will clearly take less money on his next deal, but that doesn’t do anything to change the fact that a big chunk of their cap still is owed to him this year. And to be clear, he deserves that money.

10. Can Dirk be a recruiter?

Since the end of the season, many have asked if Dirk if he’ll take on a different role this summer when it comes on to free agency. Each time he’s been asked, he’s said he will do whatever the front office wants him to do. If they want him to get on the plane and help on the sales pitch, he’ll go. Dirk has already said he’ll be in a ‘war room’ on draft night. How much of a voice he’ll have in that room remains to be seen, but it does appear he is taking on a little more responsibility.

Can he actually work as a recruiter? I think it’s possible. He’s still under the radar as a superstar, but he clearly gets the job done when he’s out on the floor. Dirk definitely isn’t under the radar amongst his peers. Everyone knows how hard he works and that he’ll do whatever it takes to win. He’s a man of few words so the message he sends to prospective free agents could carry some significant weight. His role will be extremely interesting this summer.

Point guard or center: Where do the Mavs focus their attention this summer? That is the question. Last week, we covered how both positions were clearly below expectations for the Mavs and that they need to replenish those positions with upgrades.

I posed the hypothetical question to ESPNDallas.com’s Tim MacMahon during one of our Bloom and Doom sessions during the year about whether Tyson Chandler or J.J. Barea would have been more valuable to Dallas during this season.

Looking back at that, I still feel like I can make that argument and live with it. The better question might be who they miss more out of Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler. You can make an argument for Chandler and I’m not going to scoff at it. That said, Tyson Chandler can be an incredible two-way player as a big, but he still needs a point guard who can throw him lobs in the pick and roll to be truly effective. I have a hard time believing he would have the exact same defensive impact as he did in 2011 because he would have had too much funneled his way due to bad defensive habits by the guards.

One thing is for certain, radio play-by-play voice for the Dallas Mavericks Chuck Cooperstein is definitely old school.

@tedemrich @grantland33 @zachlowe_nba Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was. Build me a big team, I’ll build you a big winner

— Chuck Cooperstein (@coopmavs) May 7, 2013

Big Man, Small Man grantland.com/story/_/id/924… I wonder how much of a shock this is to the analytics crowd. It’s like they just discovered this

— Chuck Cooperstein (@coopmavs) May 7, 2013

I think Zach Lowe, a favorite here at the Two Man Game, hit the nail on the head in his Big Man, Small Man column. Small ball is still the rage and this is still a point guard-driven league, but having a capable big man is still a powerful asset. I don’t think you need a dominant big man to make things work, though. To quote Zach from his article, “A big guy who can actually play both ends of the floor at a B-plus level is the most valuable non-superstar commodity in the league.” That is about as on the nose as you can possibly get.

A defense-first rim protector who is elite at those skills but is putrid on offense could easily be a starter, but foul trouble or other issues could easily limit that man. A one-way big on offense will likely get a ton of money on the market, but they’re still going to be extremely limited. If you can’t protect the paint, you’re going to be in trouble. Both specialists are valuable, but the one who can do both at an adequate ability is the diamond in the rough.

Being that those are harder to find, you go small and go for the guard. Everyone saw how the Mavs fared in the halfcourt setting this year. They weren’t very fluid and things really were ugly until the end of the shot clock or when Dirk got the basketball. Getting Dirk the ball was even a challenge. Guards simply didn’t know how to conduct an entry pass and the court vision was terrible. I started counting times during games where Dirk was on the figurative island, no defender with 4-5 feet, and he was waving his arms in the air, demanding the ball. This exercise grew extremely tiresome when the second hand made the turn into winding back up the first hand.

Like I mentioned earlier, Barea might not be the greatest example of a point guard, but Jason Kidd certainly worked out. That’s why the Mavs paid as much as they did (two first round picks, Devin Harris and company) to acquire Kidd. They knew Harris wasn’t going to cut it, due to health and ability, as the team’s point guard. They needed that basketball IQ to go up in a big way. Time has passed, and the situation remains the same.

Complimentary pieces remain an issue for the Mavs and they’ll fit into place once the bigger fish are fried. They must address the point guard and center positions, exactly in that order.

Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.

I could easily be throwing dirt over Oklahoma City’s coffin way too soon, but history suggests they’re set up for evitable doom as they now the Memphis Grizzlies 3-1. Teams that have been in Oklahoma City’s spot are only 2-32 in their previous series, 1-8 in the conference semifinals. Looking at the potential opponents for Memphis, Golden State and San Antonio, you still have to lean towards Memphis as being the favorites. Would the league be thrilled to see Memphis in the Finals? Probably not, but that’s not the point.

The Memphis Grizzlies being favorites to make a trip the NBA Finals? That’s crazy talk. Yes, a Russell Westbrook injury certainly changed the equation in the Western Conference, but Memphis isn’t necessarily taking advantage of the situation. It’s just a case where Oklahoma City has been exposed as a team that actually needs Westbrook and that they more guys who would be willing to give half the effort or production that Kevin Durant is giving in this series.

Back to the point, Memphis looks primed to make a serious run. It’s not a popular opinion, but I have enjoyed watching them play. Prior to matchups against Memphis, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle has always mentioned that the Grizzlies play a “playoff style of basketball.” How does Dallas, or the rest of the league, look at this and do they adapt?

Easily the biggest takeaway from Memphis’ team is their size. With Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph picking teams apart in the paint, they grind teams down. I think if there’s a ripple effect around the league due to Memphis’ success, teams may go against the hot trend in the league with small ball and go back to traditional, big man basketball.

First, that’s probably not realistic because there aren’t that many capable big men in the league. A good portion of the big men in the league are paid rather well and don’t do much of anything. Why? Because you can’t teach size, you’ll take the size and hope to make the best with it.

There’s a pretty simple blueprint that Memphis is working off of and that’s where Dallas needs to zero in on. Yes, Memphis does have a nasty one-two punch in the post, but you just need a capable big man who can control the paint and is, at worst, adequate on offense. Dirk is going to be the focal point on offense, so the complimentary big just needs to be ready to occupy space in the post and make teams pay. Defense is where they need to make their money and they must be the man who anchors the defense.

The mindset with the big man is also a mindset that should be looked when it comes to shifting the paradigm for the Mavs. The word that almost seems synonymous with Rick Carlisle now is disposition. The word he loves to pair with that is defensive, making it defensive disposition. Led by Marc Gasol and Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince, Memphis will always commit to playing 48 minutes of grind-it-out basketball on the defensive end of the floor. Grantland.com’s Zach Lowe brought back the great link to the chart that BasketballReference.com made that showed that defense really can win championships.

Dallas doesn’t need to become a slow, plodding defensive juggernaut. They just need to realize what Carlisle has been telling them. He’s been telling them that strong defense and rebounding will get them into their offense easier. It seems like Dallas has allowed their offense to dictate their defense. That needs to flip.

Mike Conley came into the league and many thought he would turn out to be a relatively nice point guard. Six years later, it appears Conley is turning the corner as is becoming one of the better point guards the league has. He has speed and agility, but the way he’s doing it is by using his brain. The way he can deceive the opposition with his hesitation dribble and his ability to wait things out until the last possible moment is incredible. He’ll wait until the defense shows its hand before making the move. It goes back to what Dallas needs: an influx of basketball IQ.

The collective basketball IQ translates to one number: 10.4. That number indicates the amount of turnovers the Grizzlies have averaged per game in the playoffs. That number is absurdly low. For a team that is known as tenacious or a little rough around the edges, they’re extremely disciplined on the floor.

Does Dallas need to ditch the glitz and glamour and go for the grit and grind? No, but I think they’re playing a brand of basketball that can win, no matter who the opposition is. Outside the state of Tennessee, I can’t see many people saying Memphis is their favorite team to watch. The last time I checked, it’s not about looking good when you’re in the NBA. It’s about winning games. Dallas’ front office should keep that in mind.

Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of free time on my hands. I like to think when I have a lot of free time. I like to think when I do not have a lot of free time. With that in mind, I’ve sat and wondered about various subjects revolving around the Mavs. I went ahead and got my fingers working on the keyboard and came up with questions and answers about the Mavs. Here are 10 of the questions and answers now. I will share the other 10 later this week.

1. Who is the most likely free agent on the Mavs to come back?

To me, it seems like Brandan Wright is the most likely to come back. He really showed some improvement over the later part of the season. He actually played well WITH Dirk, but I still think there’s limited upside there. Dallas has history on their side with knowing what the market can dictate. They saw what happened with Brandon Bass with the old CBA and they saw what happened with Ian Mahinmi in the new CBA.

I understand Mark Cuban’s logic of not having a problem seeing two of his guys leaving after being projects, but you would eventually like to see one or two of those guys stick and have their potential realized on your own terms.

2. What position should the Mavs go for in the draft?

I don’t think they should necessarily target a specific position in the draft. They just need to find the best player available. Look, Dallas has a lot of holes to fill in their roster. Their .500 record suggests they were very mediocre. That means they need to find a plethora of players to help fix what went wrong this season.

It may be a weak draft, but there’s still a possibility of finding a piece that can help for the future.

3. Is this summer the time to really judge whether Mark Cuban was right to dismantle the 2011 team?

To a certain extent, the results of this summer will be able to help cast judgment on if Cuban did the right thing or not. Last summer was the first time they had cap space to work with. They felt like they had a shot for Deron Williams and Brooklyn made the move to acquire Joe Johnson and that, with the extra money, put Dallas in second place in a two-team race.

There are multiple “big fish” to go after this summer, so Dallas’ chances have improved. There are the same issues in their way as there were last summer with Deron, so we’ll see if they’re able to find a new approach that works.

Either way, they can’t afford to let this summer lead to another quasi-transitional year. Dirk’s time is starting to fade and Dallas needs to make the most of it.

4. If Chris Paul or Dwight Howard was assured of coming to Dallas but it was only one, who would you take?

Give me Chris Paul. Yes, both of them can be obnoxious, but Paul does it with the intention of trying to make his team better. Howard does it because he waffles all of the time and always seems unhappy. Howard is going to be a beast on the defensive end of the floor and he’ll do a lot to fix the rebounding issues, but Paul is going to be able to be a strong defender AND make his teammates better.

There is only ONE red flag that comes with Paul, but I’m not even hesitating about it if I’m Dallas and he says he’ll come and play for you.

5. How weird was this season?

Extremely. Thinking about it, seeing guys like Eddy Curry, Troy Murphy, Mike James and Derek Fish make actual pit stops in Dallas is bizarre in just about every way imaginable. After it seemed like Dominique Jones was never going to be sent off into exile, he finally was. Seriously, the timing of everything was just weird. There were so many new faces on the roster and Dirk wasn’t around for the first quarter-plus of the season. It was a radical makeover.

For as long as you could remember, Dallas seemed like a team that was able to execute down the stretch and that simply wasn’t the case at all during the season. Everything taken into account, it was truly a weird year.

6. If you could add one thing to each of last year’s rookies, what would you add?

Jared Cunningham – health. That’s just obvious. You can look at your hand and he played fewer minutes for the Mavs this season than you have fingers. This pick could easily turn to be a massive bust, but those tend to happen in the later portions of the draft.

Bernard James – More of an offensive repertoire.  He is still incredibly raw on offense. You could throw him a mean alley oop off the screen and roll, but the point guards had a terrible time trying to handle that concept this year. He has a solid foundation as a defender, but he needs more in terms of post moves.

Jae Crowder – This is a tough call. He could use a little bit of everything because he’s shown promise as a rotation guy. If it’s limited to one thing, I’ll say defensive disposition. If he has the ability to guard shooting guards and small forwards with his size, he’ll find his way onto any pro team for a long, long time. There’s more that he can do, but that’s a great starting point for him. He showed he has the ability but, he just needs to continue to harness and improve it.

7. Would starting Vince Carter be a good thing?

There’s an inkling that you could maybe really pass on getting a shooting guard this summer, focus the funds on a point guard, center, fill out the bench and have Vince Carter as your starting shooting guard. It’s hard to argue that his numbers were solid this year, but you’re probably getting back into Vince of 2011-12 if you have him as your starting two. By that, I mean that you’re asking him to do too much. He probably did too much this year but he was able to sustain it. It’s hard to ask him to take on a larger responsibility and do it for at least 28-30 minutes every night.

8. Would sneaking into the playoffs been a good thing?

I still will say the answer is yes. Tanking is the only real option if they weren’t going to make the playoffs. There is no way that would have been possible if Dirk is coming back and wants to play. You can’t tell him to sit out the remainder of the year. That’s just foolish. So, if that’s the case, they weren’t going to be bad enough to tank.

Yes, they probably would have flamed out in bad fashion in the first round. The way I look at it, if I have a chance to watch Dirk Nowitzki play, I’m going to opt in for that. He might have been frustrated or angry with how things went in the playoffs, but you also could have seen flashes of greatness like he had against Chicago in their signature win of the season. I’m not turning down watching a healthy Dirk play.

9. Would Shawn Marion really opt out of his deal and come back to Dallas with a multi-year deal?

This is something I covered two weeks ago. The more I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. It makes sense because he could easily double his money and get security with a three-year deal if he wanted to. He’s certainly betting on himself if he doesn’t opt out of his deal and plans to test to market in 2014. The obvious game is having age rapidly catch up to him and he deals with an injury-riddled season. His market won’t be nearly as good and he might be forced to sign a one-year deal.

It’s a gamble either way, but it might actually be a win-win situation for both parties.

10. What’s the biggest thing the playoffs have taught me?

Dallas has a LOT of work to do this summer. Teams like to try to follow trends for what worked for teams that went far into the playoffs, hence free agents of those teams being poached away. If Golden State makes an incredible run, you could see a run of teams trying to evolve more into a small ball mentality. If Memphis is able to make a run, you could see teams trying to get greedy and look for more than one post presence.

Either way, the teams still playing have a lot of things going for them. Dallas definitely doesn’t have a ton in terms of actual assets right now. They have some serious work to do before they can get back to making a serious run in the playoffs.

Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.

It’s never too early to discuss free agency. Well, yeah, it is too early, but the Mavs actually don’t have anything on the agenda in terms of participation in games that actually count. With that in mind, we’ve gotten our first bit of information in terms of free agent news. It’s not really a shocker.

ESPN 1500 in Minnesota reported late last week that it has “heard from multiple angles” that the Minnesota Timberwolves might target free-agent guard O.J. Mayo. When talking about Minnesota it’s important to remember that they’re under new management now. President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders took over as David Kahn was fired.

Why would Minnesota want Mayo?

They were the worst team in the league in terms of 3-point percentage. Saying they were the worst is not hyperbole. They shot a league worst 30.5 percent from distance. To their credit, I think, they only took 18.0 treys per game.

Desperate, they took a chance on Brandon Roy this season to help fill the role of a shooter. We all know how that turned out. Clearly, they need someone who can help spread the floor. Mayo can certainly do that. Mayo shot a career-best 40.7 percent from 3-point range for the Mavs. That also includes the 33.3 percent he shot from beyond the arc in the final 21 games of the season.

If Rick Adelman returns to coach the Wolves, he’s surely going to find a way to make Mayo successful in Minnesota. That would be quite the run of coaches Mayo would get guidance from as both Rick Carlisle and Rick Adelman are considered to be two of the best coaches in terms of offense. With pieces like Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio in the mix, all he would have to do is be a shooter. That’s the role that is best for him.

It’s nice to have role players fill out your roster, but it eventually comes down to putting the ball in the basket. For all of his shortcomings, Mayo can still shoot the ball.

New management or not, the Wolves did like Mayo at some point as they originally drafted Mayo before trading him to Memphis for the rights to Kevin Love. It makes plenty of sense for them to like him as a free agent.

What problems does this interest present to Dallas?

Obvious ones. Despite the struggles to end the year, they like Mayo. They invested a lot of time and effort into developing him during the year. Carlisle referenced that he felt like a little league dad as he saw Mayo play. His last impression might not be great as his performance soured, but the club liked how Mayo approached the season and his overall work ethic. Again, things didn’t work out, but that’s not to say that he’s doomed going forward as a prospect.

Dallas does like Mayo, so he’s still in the plans as a free agent. Rick Carlisle said it best though during his exit interview. “Like everything else in this world, this is probably going to come down to money,” Carlisle said.

Money is going to be the big issue for both teams. Dallas has visions of big free agents, making available cap space limited for the time being. Minnesota will eventually have to deal with a long-term extension for Ricky Rubio, they’ve already committed money to Kevin Love and have restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic up in the air. It’s certainly possible for both parties to come away relatively happy in this situation. Dallas could bow out of the running for Mayo, Minnesota could sign him and Dallas could pursue Pekovic.

The lobotomized muscle for General Zod…wait. Okay, he just looks like Jack O’Halloran, the actor who portrayed Non in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies in late 70’s and early 80’s.

Pekovic is quite the intriguing possibility as a free agent. Whether talking about Mayo or Pekovic, the sign-and-trade angle for both parties makes it even more interesting.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Mayo was certainly not trash, but he certainly did show some massive inconsistencies. This report from Minnesota shows that if Dallas is interested in keeping Mayo, they might have to get in line. Don’t be surprised if you hear names like Utah or Indiana pop up as potential suitors for Mayo. While there may be names on the market that are better than Mayo, he’s still going to be a name that is in constant discussion. It’s a simple case of supply and demand.

Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.

It’s time to wrap up the position by position evaluation. If the point guard position was the worst spot for the Mavs, the center position was the second choice. Folks got a harsh reminder that Tyson Chandler wasn’t going to be walking back through that door. Going into the 2011-12 season, Dallas had the likes of Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi that had to be replaced.

They got creative by replenishing their center spot by signing veteran big man Chris Kaman to a one-year deal. They also claimed Elton Brand off waivers as he was released by Philadelphia due to the amnesty provision. Brandan Wright continued to log minutes at the center spot, but he also saw more time at the power forward position.

Summing it up:

The centers definitely never had a chance to get into a groove as both Kaman and Brand expected to be playing off of the attention that Dirk Nowitzki received from the opposing defenders. Dirk’s time away due to his knee surgery definitely altered that plan for both big men. That certainly changes the expected results for the centers, but the numbers are still pretty poor over the course of the season.

In terms of rebounds from the center position, Dallas’ centers tied for dead last in the league at 4.3 rebounds per game. The two teams they tied with made the playoffs, but they definitely had more to work with. The teams were the Los Angeles Clippers and the Miami Heat. Both teams were clearly limited with their size in the frontcourt, but they had athletes that helped masked that deficiency.

Those rebounding numbers for the center show a pretty significant correlation to the fact that they weren’t good at getting second chance points. Dallas’ centers were below average in second chance points as they only averaged 3.5 per game. New Orleans’ big men led the league in that category at 6.5 per game.

The Dallas centers had the 11^th worst defensive rating for centers at 103.8. Elton Brand was brought in to be the enforcer and anchor in the paint. His defensive rating for the season was 102, better than his career average. He wasn’t necessarily outmatched in his position. Brand isn’t the tallest center in the world, but he’s able to use his frame and long arms as leverage as a defender. The problem was that he wasn’t necessarily set up in a position to succeed as the perimeter defenders weren’t exactly staying in front of their man. That forced the centers, like Brand, to help more than they probably should have needed to.

 What do they need?

You either believe you need a dominant center and pair him with Dirk, or you need a highly-skilled point guard and pair him with Dirk. Both would clearly be ideal, but it’s entirely possible the Mavs might have to select just one option.

It’s always ideal to now follow the blueprint that was created with Tyson Chandler. Dirk has said it over and over again that a mobile center who can play defense is one that works best alongside him. Comparing this summer to next summer, this summer’s crop has the potential to bear more fruit as next summer has intriguing names but the options are relatively limited. That means centers, which always get paid, will really get paid next summer because the options are just so limited.

Through free agency and the draft, there will be plenty of options for Dallas when looking at centers. It is very evident that, like the point guard position, they really need to take care of the center position this offseason. It will be very interesting to see which route they take when it comes to the center spot.

Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.

As the position evaluation moves on, we land at the power forward spot. Needless to say, the Mavs haven’t had to worry about filling this position in terms of a starter for an entire season for a long time. Dirk Nowitzki remains the franchise. If all goes well, Dirk will likely retire a Maverick when the time is right. The good news in that situation is that possibility still seems further down the road.

Dallas has had Shawn Marion become the ultimate security blanket for them as he’s been able to move up and fill the backup power forward position for the team over the last couple of years. They also took a chance and gave Brandan Wright more of an opportunity to play at that position. With Dirk firmly established as the starting power forward, it’s worth looking at how the team is in terms of depth behind him.

Summing it up:

The guys did an admirable job doing what they could while Dirk was out for the first portion of the season. Dallas had quite a few options to work with in terms of backups. As it was mentioned above, they had Shawn Marion and Brandan Wright log minutes behind Dirk. Wright logged time as the backup center, but they found certain lineups that allowed the lanky big man to slide down to the four spot.

It was actually surprising that the Mavs went ahead with playing Wright at that spot. When he joined the team prior to the 2011-12 season, he said he felt more like a power forward than a center and Rick Carlisle immediately said afterwards that they envisioned him being solely a center.

It wasn’t sunshine and daffodils the entire time, though. For a brief time, try 81 minutes, they tried Elton Brand as the power forward next to Chris Kaman. Those two worked together well when they played together for the Los Angeles Clippers between 2003 and 2007. It didn’t necessarily work in 2012 as the combination was a -26 in their time together.

What do they need?

First off, they need Dirk to stay healthy. It starts and ends with him being ready to go for as many games as possible. There’s been a question that’s lingered over the last 5-7 years when it comes to the backup power forward position. Do you go with someone who operates closer to the rim at the power forward position or do you go with a stretch 4? The Mavs certainly tried to go with the stretch 4 when they brought Troy Murphy into the mix. Remember him?

If the Mavs intend on bringing Brandan Wright back, I doubt it’s with the primary intention to back up the team’s best player. He can operate in that position, but they probably want to continue their development with him as part of a platoon at the center position. If they could establish another three-headed monster at that position, that would be ideal.

If Wright is coming back, it would probably be ideal to have more of a physical presence backing Dirk up. It’s not that Wright is soft or anything, but he’s not going to be confused with a bodybuilder. What makes him dynamic as a player is his size and mobility. It only makes sense to match that up with someone who will be physical and battle in the trenches.

The free agent pool isn’t that stacked for talent in that position, at least not in the form of a cheaper backup power forward. The draft could be a route the Mavs look at replenishing that position. That being said, it’s not incredibly likely that they would find a power forward to eventually groom into Dirk’s spot. It’s not like they would necessarily want to do that either since both Dirk and the franchise believe that he has more than a year or two left of prime basketball left in him.

If the pieces work out, they’re likely hoping that they can bring Wright back, and have him as a third option behind Shawn Marion.

Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He also attended Ball So Hard University, studying ideologies of Clark Kent. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.

Summing it up:

Shawn Marion dealt with some nagging injuries over the course of the season, but he was arguably the team’s best or most consistent player. He was certainly the most underrated player for the team. He averaged a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game for the Mavs. That’s great that Marion was able to rebound at that clip, but it also suggests that they had a major rebounding issue.

Marion also had 73 three-point shots for the Mavs this season, the most he’s attempted for the Mavs and the most since he attempted 167 for the Phoenix Suns during the 2007-08 season. Clearly, he was more proficient from the corners as he shot 17-of-50 (34.0 percent) on corner 3s. For those curious, the right corner was his better side as he went 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) on right corner 3s. Whether the amount of 3s is a good thing or bad thing isn’t the major issue. Marion remained extremely valuable as he was able to plug up different holes for the team. Whether they needed a strong defensive, rebounding or scoring effort, Marion stepped up.

What can be said about Vince Carter’s season? From a player’s perspective, he got the highest praise you could receive as owner Mark Cuban called him a “warrior” near the end of the season. With bench scoring being an issue, Carter stepped up by averaging 13.4 points off the bench for Dallas. His scoring helped lead the charge as the Mavs averaged a league-high 41.5 bench points per game in 2012-13.

Carter was stellar from 3-point range as he made a team-high 162 3-pointers and shot 40.6 percent from long range. It tied his career-high for most 3-point field goals made in a season (162 for Toronto during the 2000-01 season). He started in three games for the Mavs during the season, so 158 of his 3-point makes came off the bench, tying for the most 3-pointers made off the bench for the year (Oklahoma City’s Kevin Martin also made 158).

Carter’s individual and team defense was underrated, as well. For a better portion of the year, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle would often cite that Carter led the team in charges taken. At 36, Carter taking charges and showing a strong defensive disposition showed that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to try to help the team win.

When looking at the season as a whole, Crowder’s rookie season should be seen as a relative success, especially for a second-round draft pick. Crowder actually started in eight games for the Mavs during the time Dirk Nowitzki sat out. The lights didn’t seem too bright for Crowder as he scored eight points on 3-of-7 shooting with three rebounds and two assists in the team’s season debut against the Los Angeles Lakers. Crowder ended the season logging 1,353 minutes, establishing himself as a part of the rotation. That is the most total of minutes played by a Mavs rookie since Josh Howard played 1,589 minutes during the 2003-04 season.

What do they need?

For both Marion and Carter, they need continued health and to avoid rapid deterioration to their respective games. With roster turnover expected again, those two players will be asked to continue to handle the veteran leadership role of the team, alongside Dirk Nowitzki. If those two can bring the types of efforts they brought during this season into next season, that will be a good starting point to the team’s core.

For Crowder, he needs to continue to refine his game. He shot 32.8 percent from 3 during the season. Considering he wasn’t really known as a shooter coming into the league, it remains to be seen on whether or not that’s a sign of promise or that it’s troubling. If he plans to continue his development as a 3-point shooter, he’ll need to continue to develop his stroke from the corners as that’s where he was most proficient during the season. He has the potential to be a difference maker off the bench for the Mavs. If he can develop his shooting touch and remain versatile in defending shooting guards and small forwards, he has a chance to really be a hit as a second-round draft pick.

The position appears to be the healthiest in terms of depth, but it is also the most fluid based on the potential of all three players being traded away to get better assets.