This may give off the impression that I don't have a particular fondness for the Dallas Mavericks, and I swear on Baron Davis' roller skates that is not the case. This paragraph is written to get all of my personal opinions out of the way before I discuss the team as a whole. You basketball fans already know the Mavs' story over this decade. They've been a team on the cusp and have the resources and talent to already have a title or two. But Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan and the entire city of Oakland have thwarted Mark Cuban's plans for sports world domination. A lot of the blame, and a lot of said blame coming from me, has fallen upon Dirk's German shoulders. Both credit and scrutiny are first given to the best player of a team; it's just something that comes with the territory. Dirk's (and Mark Cuban's) methods for dealing with the negatives are what bothers a lot of people. There's also the small obstacle of Dirk playing significantly smaller in bigger games and moments, but that'll be discussed on a broader level...
Players: The Mavs have a lot of talent. Whenever you can trade your point guard of the future and most of your bench and still make the playoffs in a competitive Western Conference, you have to be talented. Josh Howard is a do-it-all player (and probably on the trading block), Jason Terry can chip in with 20 points consistently, and how many players—let alone, seven-foot big men—do you know that has a jumper like Dirk's? But, as the case with the Wizards, something seems to be hindering them from getting over the championship hump. It seems that the team shrivels up in big games because a lack of [intestinal] fortitude (read: cojones) among their key players (read: Dirk). I don't know if it's the makeup of the team, the lavishly comfortable home facilities, or what; but at times they seem to play...well...soft. I like Shan Foster as their second-round pick, but by unwritten rule, he'll probably stay in the D-League for the whole season. More than likely, it'll be the same team for another season. To put that bluntly, they'll be relying on Eric Dampier to be productive. Is that good enough to make the playoffs in an ever-improving West?...
Coaches/Front Office: With back-to-back abrupt exits in the the playoffs, it was inevitable—fairly or unfairly—that Avery Johnson (who loves the game of basketball) would be out as head coach. Enter former Pacers and Pistons great Rick Carlisle to lead the team. Maybe he'll be the one to instill a more defensive mindset into the players, something that's plagued the franchise since Don Nelson told the team a few years back that, "the goal was to average 100 points a game for the season." One thing is certain: Mark Cuban is one of the few NBA owners willing to spend whatever it takes to win that coveted title...
Bonus: There wasn't a bunch of trivial and interesting information that I found in my 
Projection: As stated earlier, all of the elements have been here for this franchise to pose with the trophy in June for years now. Are they a top eight team in the West? If you're one of those people that believes in experience, then that answer for you is yes. However, I don't think the Mavs will buy into Rick Carlisle's system right away, and a lot of the other teams on the Left Coast are simply more talented than Dallas. Three of the teams in their own division—The Timmys, The CP3s, and T-Mac, Yao & the Rockets—are better than them. The resulting season is that they will miss the playoffs by a game or two; and will probably trade Josh Howard if they're out of contention by the all-star break. It will definitely be a few years before Mark Cuban gets that ring. Maybe he should have been a little more persuasive in the purchase of the Cubs, because it seems they'll end their 100-year drought before his Mavs are the best team in basketball...
Peace.
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