The Dallas Mavericks are in a tough position this offseason. Once again most of the team has hit free agency. The Mavericks pulled a big trade for Rajon Rondo at the trade deadline and the trade has ended up being disastrous. It looks like once again the team will look different next season. How many times can Rick Carlisle scrap together a working team with brand new players. And how much does Dirk Nowitzki have left in the tank?

The Maverick’s biggest problem seems to be that Dirk Nowitzki is not the same player. Dirk finally slipped up this season. His legs are stiff and look tired. He can’t keep up on defense and this makes him a liability. He’s not the same dominating offensive player either. Dirk needs help and in the NBA it’s quite hard obtaining another star. With Nowitzki there are only five players under contract for next season. This help will have to come from smart drafting and signing. Unfortunately Dallas has traded away all of their young players and picks. Jae Crowder was finally developing into a good rotational player but along with Brandon Wright he was included in that Rajon Rondo trade. The Mavericks have stripped away every asset they owned and now it’s time to start thinking of the future. The Mavericks need to realize that they probably aren’t going to win any more championships with Dirk.

The five remaining players under contract for the Mavericks are: Dirk, Chandler Parsons, Raymond Felton, Devin Harris, and Dwight Powell. Dirk isn’t the same player, Parsons is dealing with a serious injury, Felton is barely an NBA player, and Powell might not be in the league the next couple years. The Mavericks are in trouble to say the least. Key members of their starting lineup are also free agents. It’s a given Rondo won’t be back. But the Maverick have to decide whether to bring back Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler. Tyson Chandler was this team’s defense. After losing Crowder and Wright this team’s defense had no hope. He’s the most likely free agent from Dallas to come back. Monta Ellis is a bigger question mark. He struggled playing with Rondo and there have been rumors of Ellis being a negative energy in the locker room. The Mavericks may need to do a large retooling either way.

Dallas’s biggest problem over the recent years has been defense. This is the team that had a historically good offense before trading away Jameer Nelson, Jae Crowder, and Brandon Wright. Their defense wasn’t great before or after the trade. While the defense got better, the offense took a large hit and ended up being a terrible trade off. Rick Carlisle can make wine out of water. This is one of the best coaches in the league but the Mavericks need to provide him a good enough roster and some consistency. The Mavericks will likely pick the best available player in the draft and they have to hope he becomes a consistent rotation player considering how many holes they have in the roster. This selection could end up being Jerian Grant, Cameron Payne, or Justin Anderson. Perhaps the Mavericks can get lucky and one of the higher prospects will fall to them. Grant is an older point guard who may be ready to play minutes from the start. Payne can score and is a good pick and roll player. And Justin Anderson may be the exact type of player the Mavericks need playing behind Chandler Parsons. Anderson is an athletic 3 and D guy who teams love nowadays. Regardless of who they choose they should pick the player who will help currently and in the future. The Mavericks will most likely not keep their pick next year (another casualty of the Rondo trade).

The Rondo trade really decimated this team’s future and while Dallas may smile and insist they would do it again, anyone with a brain will tell you it was terrible. Dallas had the best offense, not only in the league but in history. Why mess with that? But that disastrous trade has been analyzed dozens of times. It’s time for the Mavericks to work on fixing their mistakes. Tyson Chandler will most likely be back. Monta Ellis is a 50/50 right now. So the most glaring need is at the point guard position. While there are quite a few options out there it will be hard to steal them away from their current team. Perhaps Dallas should have chased Ty  Lawson instead of Rondo but they no longer have the resources for that trade. The free agent point guards this off season consist of Goran Dragic, Brandon Knight, Reggie Jackson, and Patrick Beverely. No one below these four can be considered a starting quality point guard. Dragic will likely resign with Miami as he likes it there and they gave up quite a lot to get him. Jackson is a locker room cancer as we’ve learned from his days in Oklahoma City. It’s no surprise the Pistons got worse with him as well. This leaves Knight and Beverely. Knight is a restricted free agent so Phoenix can match any offer on him and most likely will considering what they gave up for him. But this is one restricted free agent Dallas should consider making an offer towards. Knight has improved almost every season. He can’t be a number one option but he can work in a team that requires ball movement despite not having the best vision as a point guard. However, Knight can be efficient if he’s receiving good looks. He’s also a very solid overall player. He can play solid defense, can hit open 3’s, and get to the basket. He would be a great pick and roll player for Dirk and Tyson Chandler. He’s also only 23 years old. Beverely should be a solid back up plan if things don’t pan out. He can be a bit of a ball hog and chucker but he’s the feisty physical defender Dallas lacks.

Dallas may have to choose between signing a good point guard or resigning Ellis. Perhaps they can sign a new point guard and shooting guard. To fill out the bench, Dallas should consider resigning Amare Stoudemire. They will also have a sign a backup big man to provide interior defense beyond Tyson Chandler. The Mavericks can let go of the rights to all their players and have as much as 33 million in cap space. However that would leave the team very empty. What is more likely to happen is they’ll try to hold onto Tyson Chandler and have enough cap space to sign a max player. There really aren’t many max guys in free agency this year so they’ll probably spread it across several players. The Mavericks have a golden opportunity to add to their future before the large cap jump. Some of the other free agents they can take a look at are Arron Afflalo, Danny Green, Mike Dunleavy. Or they can try and sign the two guys they traded who played so well for them, Brandon Wright and Jae Crowder (restricted). Two interesting scenarios the Mavericks could try is signing Texas native LaMarcus Aldridge or unrestricted free agent Greg Monroe. Aldridge could slid into starting power forward making Nowitzki a sixth man. Whether Dirk would be okay with this remains to be seen. However Aldridge would be an easy transition into the team and could be the team’s star for the next 3-4 years. Greg Monroe would be a tougher fit. He’s not a great defender and would require the team’s playstyle to change. But Monroe is a monster in the post who gobbles up rebounds, a Mavericks weakness.

The Mavericks have plenty of holes and this could be a terrible thing but the Mavericks could use it to transition into the future. The Mavericks made a big mistake by gutting their championship team and rebuilding through short term contracts. They should have used their great chemistry to continue to build a great team around Dirk and Tyson Chandler. Instead the Mavericks are in a cycle of neverending quick rebuilds. Nowitzki’s championship days are probably over but that doesn’t mean the Mavericks can’t stay competitive while building towards a future with the 7-foot German.