Dallas has been the worst franchise in the NBA during the '90s (not including expansion Vancouver), with a winning percentage of .279. Armed with a five-year, $7.5 million contract, Nelson conducted a housecleaning last season that saw the Mavericks go through three directors of basketball operations and an NBA-record 27 players. While the team should be dramatically more stable this season, there are bound to be a few more personnel changes. Like, say, a new coach. If Jim Cleamons lasts until April, it will be a miracle. It is no secret that he and Nelson have not seen eye to eye. With 19 seasons as an NBA coach behind him, Nelson says he no longer wants to play that role, but a return to the bench for him would hardly be unthinkable.

In the meantime, Cleamons has a few talented players to work with. Michael Finley, a 6'7" swingman, can explode to the basket, shoot the three and defend opponents of all sizes. Erick Strickland is another solid swingman, and point guard Robert Pack can slash through the lane in the halfcourt set and run the break with great energy—when he can run. He has averaged just 48 games per season since 1993-94.

But the Mavs are centered around their center, and if Shawn Bradley plays the entire season the way he played the final five games of 1996-97, there is hope. In those games, he averaged 22.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.20 blocks (compared with 13.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.57 blocks in his other 28 games with Dallas after the Mavs acquired him from the Nets on Feb. 17). Nelson—like the general managers who had Bradley in Philadelphia and New Jersey—is excited about Bradley's potential, but in this, his fifth season in the league, it's time for the 7'6" center to start realizing some of it. Perhaps the 30 pounds he gained in the off-season will make him a more powerful force.

Bradley will not get much help up front. Two years ago Kurt Thomas was one of the brightest young power forwards in the league. But he played only 18 games last season because of injuries, and in the off-season he underwent surgery on his right ankle for the third time. Power forward Samaki Walker was occasionally impressive as a rookie last season, but he too suffered from assorted injuries, playing in just 43 games. Suffice it to say that the reliable A.C. Green, at 34, should get plenty of minutes.

To shore up the small forward spot and help with the outside shooting, Dallas acquired Dennis Scott from Orlando on Sept. 24 for point guard Derek Harper and forward Ed O'Bannon. Scott is coming off an eventful summer. In July, at a basketball camp for kids, he responded with a tirade when a camper asked him if he had ever used drugs, yelling about the "rage" that burned within him. Then in September two people were shot at his 29th birthday party in Washington, D.C. "I've known Dennis Scott for a long time," says Nelson. "I know he's a good guy."

The Mavs are hoping that Chris Anstey, a 7-footer from Australia, will join the frontline rotation early in the season. Dallas traded the draft rights to center Kelvin Cato to Portland for Anstey, who can play all three frontcourt positions and has a solid middle-range jump shot. The Mavs didn't find out until after the trade that Anstey would not become their property until October, at the earliest—after his obligation to his Australian team ends. "It's not the way you want it, but it's going to be a blip on the screen," says Nelson. "Hopefully he's going to be here a long time."

Dallas has been a blip on the NBA screen over the last five seasons, winning just 110 games. The Mavs lost a lot of talent when, over a two-month span last season, they traded away the Three J's: Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson. Nelson was responsible for dealing the latter two J's, and his moves may actually cost Dallas some victories this year. Yes, the Mavs will lose, but at least they'll do so while playing hard (Mashburn's effort was invisible, his defense terrible) and without bickering (the egos of Jackson and Kidd prevented them from coexisting peacefully in the backcourt). Along the way the Mavs might actually develop some young players, like Bradley, Finley and Walker.

Ultimately, though, Dallas will still lose. A lot.

—Tim Kurkjian