Without any doubts, the Dallas Mavericks entered this year’s NBA campaign with the ambition to get the championship ring that the team around Dirk Nowitzki has been chasing for the past ten years. However, their recent losses versus the Lakers and Jazz might indicate that Rick Carlisle’s squad is not playing at the level they would like to. That said, the Mavs are still second in the Western Conference as they posted a solid 25-13 record in the first three months of play.

Nonetheless, Dallas’ front-office around owner Marc Cuban is trying to find a trade that could improve the team to compete with the L.A. Lakers for a spot in the NBA Finals down the stretch. Apparently, GM Donnie Nelson offered Utah a trade that would have sent Kris Humphries, Drew Gooden and Shawne Williams to Salt Lake City in exchange for former All-Star forward Carlos Boozer. Yet, the Jazz rejected to give up Boozer for Humphries and two expiring contracts which might be a sign that they are not overly desperate to get under the luxury tax threshold. Two days later, Dallas decided to ship Humphries and Williams to New Jersey in a trade that brought Eduardo Najera to Texas. Even though Najera is an experienced veteran, it appears to be questionable whether he will be able to help the team much. After all, the Mavericks’ roster is fairly deep and the 6-8 forward appears to be bound for a limited role as 10th or 11^th guy off the bench. In 13 games with the Nets this year, Najera averaged 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in just 16 minutes per contest. Considering the franchise’s goals, there is a good chance that another trade will happen before the trade deadline in February. Ultimately, the Mavs will need a more significant talent boost to become a legitimate contender and might have to use some of their more valuable trading chips such as the expiring contracts of Erick Dampier and Josh Howard.

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