The Dallas Mavericks plan to aggressively pursue the top available players in free agency but won't offer maximum-salary contracts.

Dirk Nowitzki is expected to re-sign with the Mavericks on a deal that will pay him enough to continue to feel "respected."

"We're going to swing for the fences," Mark Cuban said on Saturday. "I think some of these guys are opting out just to create leverage, and they'll go back. Then there's some that really want to go to different teams. We'll try to put ourselves in position to get them."

The Mavericks' pitch to free agents will be centered on their organization and Rick Carlisle. Cuban considers Carlisle one of the Mavericks' best assets.

"Everybody thought we were going to get crushed," Cuban said. "That allows us not to say, 'Hey, we played them the best,' but allows us to say, 'Look, when it comes to the playoffs in particular, Rick has got the skill set and we've got veteran guys who know how to implement offensive and defensive strategies that really give us a unique opportunity.' That's something that very few teams can say.

"If you look at other teams with cap room and then you just look at their coach and if they've made the playoffs, you look at how their playoff runs went, you're not looking at them and saying, 'Wow, that team really ... .' I don't want to throw anybody under the bus, but their coaches are not as good as Rick Carlisle."