For nearly a decade the Dallas Mavericks have been posting 50-win seasons and put together excellent squads, yet, the franchise from Northern Texas is still chasing their first championship ring. More specifically, the Mavs failed to make it out of the first playoff round in three of the last four seasons despite playing some excellent basketball throughout the regular season. Without any doubts, owner Marc Cuban is desperately looking for some answers after the humiliating playoff exit versus the seventh seeded San Antonio Spurs last week.

To make things even worse, franchise cornerstone Dirk Nowitzki could possibly opt-out of his contract and join LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Amar'e Stoudemire and Chris Bosh in this year's free agency bonanza. Albeit Nowitzki has received his fair share of criticism over the past years due to his inability to carry the Mavs to a title, the 7-feet sharp shooter from Germany has hardly been the problem. After all, the 31-year old All-Star forward put up 25.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in no less than ten years of playoff experience.

Much more significant has been Dallas' lack of a serviceable center in recent years and their inability to defend explosive point guards as of late. Albeit Jason Kidd is still an excellent playmaker at the age of 37, his defensive skills are certainly declining and turned out to be a significant problem versus George Hill and Tony Parker in this year's playoffs. That said, there appears to be no doubt that Marc Cuban will be looking to be a major player on the 2010 free agent market. Albeit it is rather unlikely that LeBron James or Dwayne Wade will end up in Dallas, acquiring Joe Johnson or Carlos Boozer is certainly within the realms of reality.

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