Trevor Ariza waited outside the Dallas Mavericks' locker room for Salah Mejri after the Houston Rockets' 123-107 win.

According to a source, Mejri made a derogatory comment to Ariza about Ariza's wife and children between the third and fourth quarters.

Ariza became so upset that he exchanged words with Mejri, which prompted the referees to give Ariza a technical, his second of the game, leading to an ejection.

Ariza was accompanied by two security guards as he walked toward the Dallas locker room. Patrick Beverley, James Harden and Eric Gordon accompanied Ariza to wait for Mejri. Dallas police officers already outside the locker room as part of their regular detail monitored the situation to make sure it did not escalate.

Deron Williams came out of the locker room to try to calm Ariza down.

Mejri denied saying anything about Ariza's family.

"He was swearing and bulls---," Mejri said. "Ask him. He's out there. Ask him."

The Dallas Mavericks are signing Pierre Jackson to a partially guaranteed two-year deal.

Jackson had been averaging 29.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 35.7 minutes per game this season for the Texas Legends of the D-League.

Jackson was an early second round pick in 2013 out of Baylor by the Philadelphia 76ers with his draft rights going to the New Orleans Pelicans in the Jrue Holiday trade.

Dirk Nowitzki would like to continue his playing career next season to play 20 years with the Dallas Mavericks, but he's acknowledged that injuries could prevent that from happening.

Nowitzki is currently struggling with a persistent Achilles tendon problem and hasn't played since November 25th.

"If things don't go so well and it hurts everywhere, it could be that 2017 will be the end," Nowitzki told German magazine Sport Bild.

"Actually, my plan is to complete the 20 years and play for Dallas until 2018.

"But just because I have signed a two-year contract doesn't automatically mean that I will play for two years. It could happen next year."

Mark Cuban still isn't convinced Russell Westbrook is a superstar several months after he declared him short of his standard during last year's playoffs.

Westbrook is averaging a triple-double to start the season.

"He's putting up superstar numbers. That's for damn sure," Cuban said of Westbrook. "I'm not taking anything away from what he's been able to accomplish, but I'm not going to change my definition. He's putting up superstar numbers. You can't deny that."

Cuban believes a true superstar can carry a mediocre roster to 50 wins and a postseason series win.

"That's no disrespect to Russell," Cuban said. "He's been a beast. Few have done what he's done, but I'll stick by my definition. I'm not saying that he's not going to prove me wrong and that he [won't be] a superstar by the end of the year. That's fine, but I'll stick by my definition."

Mark Cuban is unlikely to part ways with the Dallas Mavericks' first round pick this year.

Cuban suggested he would only trade the Mavericks' first rounder, currently projected to be a top-5 selection, in exchange for a top-5 player in the entire NBA.

Cuban referenced the Dallas Cowboys' historical trade of Herschel Walker that setup their success of the 1990s as what it would take to trade the pick.

"If Herschel Walker calls me up and says, ‘That's better than any deal I've ever been involved with,'" Cuban joked.

The 2017 NBA Draft is expected to be one of the deepest in recent memory, particularly at the point guard position.

Andrew Bogut has been diagnosed with a minor bone bruise in his right knee and will miss approximately two weeks.

Bogut's future with the Mavericks is uncertain as they attempt to work their way back into the playoff picture.

Bogut was acquired in the offseason via trade and is on an expiring contract.

The Dallas Mavericks have no intention of trading Andrew Bogut at this point in the season.

The Mavericks hope to be able to salvage their season and reenter the playoff picture at some point.

If the Mavericks have no hope of making the playoffs before the trade deadline, they could be motivated to move Bogut. 

Bogut could fetch a first round pick from a contender. Bogut will be a free agent in the 2017 offseason.

Dirk Nowitzki remains committed to salvaging the Dallas Mavericks' season as he continues to sit with lingering soreness in his right Achilles tendon.

"I'm all-in. I want to play," Nowitzki said. 

"This is obviously not a career-ending injury that I've got. It's something that just keeps lingering unfortunately. I can hopefully get over it.

"There's still a lot of season left. December just started. We know that there's a lot of games coming, so hopefully sometime soon I'll be out there and then stay out there. I don't want to jump in and out of the lineup with soreness or fight this whole year. I'd love to be healthy and stay out there once I go."

The Mavericks have the worst record in the Western Conference.

"It's frustrating for me," said Nowitzki. "The whole situation is frustrating to be dealing with something I never have before in my career, so it's tough. But once I'm out there, I don't want the same thing to happen again that just happened last week, so I want to make sure now it's good to go. At this stage of my career, I don't move well anyways, so if I'm out there at 80-90 percent, I don't think I'm a big help. I want to make sure my body's responding the right way and we'll go from there.

"Achilles injuries are tough, and they just limit your movement a lot. Limit my movement 10 years ago, I'd still be able to play effectively out there. But if you limit my movement now, I'm already a step slow, and that makes me three steps slow. It just makes no sense to be out there."