The Mavericks have re-signed 33-year old forward Tim Thomas to a 1-year deal. Thomas played in 18 games (1 start) last season for the Mavericks and he averaged 15.8 minutes, 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He has now played in 824 games (408 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 25.9 minutes, 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Thomas missed most of last season as he was taking care of his sick wife. Look for him to give the Mavericks what they thought they were going to get out of him last year in 2010-11.

UPDATE: (9/15/2010) – Tim Thomas has decided not to play for the Mavericks this season. The team and the league are working together to void his contract. Thomas wants to tend to his ailing wife instead of playing basketball which is the honorable thing to do.

The Mavericks have acquired 27-year old C/PF Tyson Chandler and 22-year old center Alex Ajinca from the Bobcats for 34-year old center Erick Dampier, 29-year old SG/SF Matt Carroll and 34-year old forward Eduardo Najera. Chandler played in 51 games (27 starts) for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 22.8 minutes, 6.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 588 games (391 starts) in his 9 years in the NBA and he has averaged 27.6 minutes, 8.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Chandler will be Dirk Nowitzki and Brendan Haywood’s top backup in 2010-11. Alex Ajinca played in only 6 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 5.0 minutes, 1.7 points and 0.7 rebounds per game. He has now played in 37 games (4 starts) in his two years with the Bobcats and he averaged 5.7 minutes, 2.2 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. Ajinca gives the Mavs a nice big guy to bring along slowly.

Erick Dampier played in 55 games (47 starts) for the Mavericks last season and he averaged 23.3 minutes, 6.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. The Mavericks have been looking to get rid of Dampier for a while so they won’t miss him. Matt Carroll only played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Mavs last season and he averaged 4.8 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Carroll rarely got off the bench so he won’t be missed either. Eduardo Najera played in 33 games (3 starts) for the Mavericks last season and he averaged 14.6 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

This was a good trade for the Mavericks who offed players they didn’t want anymore to net them a solid big man in Tyson Chandler.

The Mavericks have signed 23-year old center Ian Mahinmi to a 2-year, $1.8 million dollar deal. Mahinmi played in 26 games (0 starts) for the Spurs last season and he averaged 6.3 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. He has now played in 32 games (0 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 5.9 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. Mahinmi has always played pretty well when given the chance so I like this signing for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks have re-signed 30-year old center Brendan Haywood to a 6-year, $55 million dollar deal. Haywood played in 28 games (19 starts) for the Mavs last season after coming over in a trade with the Wizards and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 8.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game. He played in 77 games (67 starts) overall for the Wizards & Mavs last season and he averaged 30.6 minutes, 9.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game. In his nine years in the NBA, Haywood has played in 607 games (469 starts) in which he averaged 24.6 minutes, 7.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game. The Mavericks were smart to lock up Haywood as he was the best center left on the free agent market.

The Mavericks picked 22-year old center Solomon Alabi with the 50th overall pick of the NBA Draft. They then shipped him to the Raptors for a future second round pick and cash considerations. Alabi played in 77 games (68 starts) in his three years in college and he averaged 9.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game. The Mavericks probably made this trade to recoup some of the cash they spent to acquire SG Dominique Jones from the Grizzlies.

The Mavericks have acquired 21-year old shooting guard Dominique Jones (#25 overall) from the Grizzlies for cash considerations. Jones played in 33 games (all starts) at South Florida last season and he averaged 21.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He played in 95 games (94 starts) in his career with the Bulls and he averaged 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Mavericks got one of the best offensive players in the draft so it was money well spent.

The Mavericks have sent the 57th overall pick (2nd round) of the NBA Draft to the Pacers to complete the trade that sent Eddie Jones and Shawne Williams to the Mavs. The Mavericks decided to trade this years pick because it was so late in the second round. The Mavericks were going to have to give up their 2nd round pick to the Pacers either this year or next year so it made sense to do it now and get it over with.

Backup forward Tim Thomas has left the Mavericks to care for his wife who is ill. He won’t likely be back the rest of the year. Thomas has played in 18 games (1 start) for the Mavericks this season and he is averaging 15.8 minutes, 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. This might hurt the Mavericks bench a tad as Thomas played well for them this season. But, I don’t blame him for leaving the team as there are a lot of things more important than basketball.

The Mavericks have signed 24-year old shooting guard Von Wafer to a 10-day contract. Wafer played in 63 games (11 starts) for the Rockets last season and he averaged 19.4 minutes, 9.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He has now played in 109 games (11 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 13.3 minutes, 6.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Mavericks were lucky to find a quality player like Wafer to help them off the bench.

The Dallas Mavericks have traded 29-year old SG/SF Josh Howard, 28-year old PF/C Drew Gooden, 28-year old SG/SF Quinton Ross and 28-year old PF James Singleton to the Wizards for 29-year old small forward Caron Butler, 30-year old center Brendan Haywood and 28-year old shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson. Butler will move right into the starting lineup at small forward for the Mavericks. He played in 47 games (all starts) with the Wizards this season and he averaged 39.4 minutes, 16.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Butler has now played in 533 games (500 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 36.7 minutes, 16.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Butler will give them a good lift on both sides of the court. Brendan Haywood will bump Erick Dampier to the bench. He has played in 49 games (48 starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 32.9 minutes, 9.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game. He is playing the best basketball of his career right now and he will give the Mavericks a presence under the basket at both ends of the court. Haywood has played in 579 games (450 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 24.5 minutes, 7.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game. DeShawn Stevenson was a throw in that the Mavericks will have little use for. He played in 40 games (13 starts) for the Wizards this season and he is averaging 15.4 minutes, 2.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. His shooting (28.2% from the floor) has been really pathetic this season. Stevenson has now played in 621 games (422 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 23.9 minutes, 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

The Mavericks won’t miss any of the guys they traded as they replaced them with better players. Josh Howard is the best player the Mavericks traded but he has been gimpy this season. Howard has played in 31 games (9 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he is averaging 26.7 minutes, 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Drew Gooden was a solid backup PF/C for the Mavericks. He played in 46 games (11 starts) for the the Mavericks this season and he was averaging 22.4 minutes, 8.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Quinton Ross wasn’t doing much for the Mavericks this season. He played in 27 games (7 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he was averaging 11.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. James Singleton also wasn’t making much of a impact for the Mavs this season. He played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he averaged 8.4 minutes, 2.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists.

This was a great trade for the Mavericks and it will put pressure on the powers in the Western Conference to counter it.