Dallas Mavericks Wanted Jermaine O'Neal

For the first week of this truncated offseason, the Mavericks were bargain hunting. They got Vince Carter for next to nothing, and had interest in Jermaine O'Neal if and when he shook free from the Celtics in that proposed sign-and-trade deal with New Orleans, because no one thought O'Neal would stay in the Big Easy. But the offseason still looked like a net loss. You don't lose the heart of your defense (Tyson Chandler) and your starting small forward at the start of last season (Caron Butler) and prepare to lose a key part of your three-guard rotation (J.J. Barea) without it stinging a little. That was Dirk Nowitzki not-so-good-naturedly grumbling about how he obviously hadn't taken a big enough paycut last summer to allow the Mavs to keep Tyson Chandler -- whom Nowitzki had referred to as the best teammate he'd ever played with.