The Mavericks have shut down 33-year old starting power forward Dirk Nowitzki for a while due to a knee injury and to work on his conditioning as he didn’t start the season in tip top shape.  Nowitzki has played in 16 games (all starts) so far this year for the Mavericks and he is averaging 30.9 minutes, 17.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.  His shot has been off this season, especially from three point range where he is 8 for 34 (23.5%).  The Mavericks have replaced Nowitzki in the starting lineup with Lamar Odom and it hasn’t worked out so far.  Odom has started 3 games while Nowitzki has been out of action and he is averaging 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.  Maybe Coach Carlisle thought this would jumpstart Odom’s season, but it hasn’t workout out that way yet.  Odom has now played in 19 games (3 starts) for the Mavs so far this year and he is averaging 21.0 minutes, 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  He has shot lousy from the floor (32.9%), the three point line (24.1%) and the free-throw line (58.9%) so far this year.  The Mavericks better hope that Nowitzki gets healthy soon, because Lamar Odom is showing no signs of snapping out of his year long funk.

The Mavericks have signed 34-year old small forward Brian Cardinal to a 1-year deal.  Cardinal played in 56 games (4 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 11.0 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  He also shot 48.3% from three point range for the Mavericks last year.  He has now played in 412 games (37 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  This was a good move for the Mavericks as Cardinal’s long range shooting off the bench is a nice asset.

The Mavericks have signed 34-year old shooting guard Vince Carter to a 1-year deal.  Carter played in 73 games (63 starts) for the Magic & Suns last year and he averaged 28.1 minutes, 14.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  He has now played in 925 games (907 starts) so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 36.4 minutes, 22.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Vince Carter and Rudy Fernandez will duke it out in training camp to see who will start at shooting guard for the Mavericks in 2011-12.

The Dallas Mavericks have acquired 32-year old SF/PF Lamar Odom and a 2nd round pick in 2012 from the Lakers for a first round pick in 2012 and a $8.9 million dollar trade exception.  Odom played in 82 games (35 starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 32.2 minutes, 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.  He has now played in 829 games (678 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 35.6 minutes, 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  The Mavericks fell right back on their feet after losing starting center Tyson Chandler yesterday, as Odom is going to add an outstanding all around player to the team in 2011-12.

The Dallas Mavericks have acquired 26-year old shooting guard Rudy Fernandez along with the rights to SG/PG Petteri Koponen, who was drafted by the Blazers in 2007 for essentially both of the Mavericks’ draft picks.  Those picks were forward Jordan Hamilton out of Texas (he was dealt to the Denver Nuggets) and forward Tanguy Ngombo (he was dealt to the Blazers).  Fernandez played in 78 games (3 starts) for the Trailblazers last year and he averaged 23.3 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He has now played in 218 games (9 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he averaged 24.1 minutes, 9.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  This was a good deal for the Mavericks as Fernandez should be able to help them right away, while Hamilton and Ngombo were going to take a little while to be ready to help the team.  As part of this deal, the Blazers dealt a future second round pick to the Nuggets along with point guard Andre Miller for point guard Raymond Felton.

The Dallas Mavericks will have some tough decisions to make this summer as they have six unrestricted free agents coming into this off-season.  Center Tyson Chandler, PG J.J. Barea and SF Caron Butler are the three guys the Mavericks will likely try to go all out to retain.  It won’t be easy as they are around the top of the class at their positions in free agency.  DeShawn Stevenson, Peja Stojakovic and Brian Cardinal are also free agents this summer.  I don’t see the Mavericks paying any of those guys big money.  I think the Mavericks would bring Stevenson, Stojakovic or Cardinal back, but only at the team’s price.

The Dallas Mavericks have signed 24-year old SG/SF Corey Brewer to a 3-year contract.  Brewer played in 56 games (22 starts) earlier this season for the Timberwolves and he averaged 24.3 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  Brewer has now played in 232 games (147 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 25.7 minutes, 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Brewer is a solid defensive player and that is why the Mavericks wanted him.  They also wanted to block some of the other playoff bound teams like the Celtics from getting their hands on Brewer.  I like this pickup for the Mavericks.

The Dallas Mavericks will be without 22-year old rookie shooting guard Dominique Jones indefinitely due to a stress fracture in his foot.  Jones played in 18 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far this year and he is averaging 7.5 minutes, 2.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  He has had an awful time so far in his rookie year as he is only hitting 31.1% of his shots from the floor.  It’s never a good thing to get injured but maybe some R&R will do Jones some good.

The Mavericks have released 27-year old small forward Sasha Pavlovic.  Pavlovic played in 10 games (6 starts) for the Mavericks last season and he averaged 16.3 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  The Mavericks released Pavlovic so they wouldn’t have to pay him for the rest of the season.  Peja Stojakovic is almost ready to start playing for the Mavericks and that was also a consideration when they were thinking about keeping or letting Pavlovic go.

The Mavericks have dealt 22-year old center Alexis Ajinca, a future 2nd round pick and cash considerations to the Toronto Raptors for the draft rights to 25-year old SF/PF Giorgos Printezis.  Ajinca played in 10 games (2 starts) for the Mavericks this year and he averaged 7.5 minutes, 2.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  This deal was just made so that the Mavericks were enough under the salary cap to sign Peja Stojakovic.  Printezis was a 2nd round pick (#58 overall) of the San Antonio Spurs way back in 2007.  He is playing overseas in Europe right now.