12/18/12: Mavericks chat with SportsDay beat writer Eddie Sefko

OK, everybody, time for a huge weekly chat. We have the Mavericks shootaround that is supposed to open up at 10:45. We'll check on things with them, then jump on as soon as possible for all your questions. Feel free to file your questions early. And no, I don't know if dirk's coming back next week or next month. But it won't be next week. So file any other questions you might have and I'll jump on them as soon as the Mavericks give us some high-quality information out of the shootaround.

But doing an NBA game on New Year's Day would mean it would have to take place in Miami or Phoenix or somewhere really warm. But even then, the weather's just not dependable enough.

Don't think they have a choice but to try to build through free agency. They think they have a pretty good player in Crowder, which if you hit one out of three in late first round/early second round picks you are usually about par for the course. What you can't do is miss on high lottery picks. A Kwame Brown is a disaster. The Mavericks didn't have a disaster when they got Devin Harris. He turned into Jason Kidd. So that draft was a success. When you trade a late first round pick for Rudy Fernandez and he never shows up, that's an L. But the Mavericks have been about average with their draft picks. Just nothing huge, no great fnds, no second-round Carlos Boozers or Glen Davises. But there was a Nick Fazekas taken right before Davis. I'm just sayin'.

Name one they can get for what they have to offer and I'm sure they'd be willing to listen. I just don't see teams eager to get rid of Roy Hibbert or Brook Lopez or DeAndre Jordan. And by the way, the Mavericks would have better paint defense if they had better perimeter defenders, too. Defense is hard work. It's hard to get players to buy into that all the time. And by the way, don't come back at us with Marcin Gortat. He's not the answer defensively.

I don't think we have enough time in this chat to get to all of them. Normally, I'd say it was the home loss to Minnesota, but then the 26-point home loss to the Lakers -- who still were totally lost when they came here -- and the 20-point loss at Toronto, which wasplaying without its two best players and on a six-game losing streak, were terrible efforts. But for my money, place the road loss at Charlotte at the top of the list of bad beats. The Bobcats haven't beaten anybody to speak of since then and are fast closing in on their usual spot as the worst team in the Eastern Conference. But like I said, the Mavericks have a buffet of crummy games to choose from this season.

It means they are capable of a complete no-show effort without any notice. A skepic would say that the Mavericks must have enjoyed Toronto's many night spots a little too much before taking the court the next day. A night off in Canada has been known to undo a lot of game preparation. But the other side of the coin is that the Mavericks, when properly motivated, can play solid basketball and give themselves a chance to win against solid competition. They just don't do that every night.

It's always great to see Jet. He's one of the best players to ever wear a Mavs uniform and one of the best players to chat with in this era. He always has something on his mind and he usually says what he thinks in a colorful way. He's missed, for sure. As for his game, we've seen that happen before in Dallas. Terry can have those 1-for-6 games on one night and come back with 27 points the next. That's the way he is. And I'll say it again: I'll bet he returns to the Mavericks some day, either as a player or an assistant coach.

For my money, I'd rather take a chance on Al Jefferson, with no guarantee you can re-sign him after this season. Or maybe Paul Millsap. Both could be on the block in Utah if things don't turn around for the Jazz. Same goes for somebody like Kevin Seraphin of Washington. Basically, just look at some of the rosters of teams that already have lost hope in both conferences and see who might make sense for them to trade and for the Mavericks to acquire. The list is pretty thin.