The Mavericks intend to take full advantage of the final two years of Dirk Nowitzki’s contract.

"I don't foresee Dirk all of the sudden hitting some wall in the next year or two," Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson said. "Our plan has always been to put ourselves in a positive position to win a championship. There's different ways of doing that.

"With the amnesty situation, we've come away with a pretty darn good player [Elton Brand] there. With free agency with (Chris) Kaman and the creativity in some of our contracts, we feel we can be right there in the thick of it this year and, next year, we've got significant cap room to get a couple big guys."

Chris Paul and James Harden are among the players expected to hit the market next summer.