Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t expect the Dallas Mavericks to make a significant trade before the deadline.

“The luxury tax is so brutal now, it’s going to double and triple, I think not a lot of teams at this point want money back,” Nowitzki said after the Mavericks’ home victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. “That’s just the way it is. I think there’s going to be a couple of big-market teams, like Brooklyn, which has money, and New York and L.A. with the TV deals, they don’t really care much (about luxury tax penalties).”

So in Nowitzki’s assessment, the NBA has three big-spending teams and the Mavericks are one of the “other” 27 franchises.

“All the other teams have got to find a way to have good teams, right around the salary cap, a little over, but below the luxury tax,” Nowitzki said. “That’s the way it’s going to be. No owner is just going to write checks left and right besides those three big markets.”