Dirk Nowitzki

After a hot start to the season, the Dallas Mavericks have taken a step back and currently sit at a disappointing 11-13, good for 11th place in the Western Conference standings. However, Mavs owner Mark Cuban tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that despite the team's struggles, he is not ready to consider undertaking a full rebuild.

“We’re not ready to go there,” Cuban said. “Look, I’m always the one who says there’s nothing worse than winning 41 games. That’s no-man’s land. You can’t get a good pick. And I don’t see that for us yet. 

“Look at it the other way. If we were stumbling along like this and all of the sudden we made a big trade for a German guy for nothing, everyone would say, ‘Oh, let’s see where we can take it.’ So we’ll see. We’ll see what happens.” 

The "German guy" Cuban is referring to, of course, is Dirk Nowitzki, who has yet to play for the Mavs in 2012/13 and does not have a definitive date to return. Cuban wants to wait and see how Nowitzki, the 2011 NBA Finals MVP, meshes with the current group before looking to trade standout players such as Chris Kaman and O.J. Mayo.

Cuban also ruled out tanking:

“I’ll know when we suck,” Cuban said. “At the same time, I’ll also know what we’re trying to accomplish, and it’s not about anything other than, what puts you in the best position to win a championship? 

“When guys know you’re OK with losing, guys play like you’re OK with losing. When guys play like you’re not OK with losing, you get a different culture, different attitude, different approach to the game. We’re not a team that everybody just retired and we’re starting to look like the Bulls in ’98. 

“But you won’t see us like some teams have where you win 41 games for three straight years. Then, ‘Oh, this is the year,’ but nothing’s really changed. You won’t see us there.”

The Mavs will be a team to keep an eye on as the trade deadline draws closer if Nowitzki experiences a setback in his recovery or the team does not improve.

As of tomorrow, most players that signed new contracts over the summer will become eligible to be traded, but that doesn't meant the Mavericks, a team that added a number of new players this past offseason, will start aggressively pursuing deals. According to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, the Mavs aren't seriously engaged in any trade talks now, and figure to wait until Dirk Nowitzki returns to assess the roster and determine whether or not to make any moves.

Nowitzki underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in October and continues to recover from the procedure. The Mavs are hoping he'll return to the court before the new year, which would still give the front office a number of weeks to observe the team with Dirk in the mix.

Little-used young players on expiring contracts like Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones could be trade bait before the deadline for the Mavs, while Shawn Marion, who has a $9MM+ player option for next season, could also be shopped if the team wants to create additional future flexibility. That's just my speculation though, as there's no guarantee that Dallas will even feel the need to make a move.

8:13pm: Mavs owner Mark Cuban isn't looking as far ahead as Nowitzki, but won't turn his back on the team's superstar, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I think it’s too early to start thinking about that," Cuban said. "Obviously I’ll keep on signing him."

8:34am: Dirk Nowitzki told reporters yesterday that he likely won't be back on the court for the Mavericks until at least mid-December. While that news isn't good in the short-term for the Mavs, Nowitzki is hopeful that the extra recovery time will bode well for his long-term health. As Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes, Nowitzki would like to play for a couple more years after his current contract ends, a timetable that would see him on the court through the 2015/16 season.

"Like I said a couple weeks ago, when I came back two years ago, the championship year, there was really no practice and I came back after three weeks and it took me a long time to kind of get back," Nowitzki said yesterday. "I’m not going to do that this year. I need to make sure everything’s right before I come back. I can’t rush. I’m hoping maybe after these two years (of his current contract) to play a couple more years. So it would be the wrong thing now to push it and come back too early and maybe make something worse for the long term."

Nowitzki is earning a salary of about $20.91MM this season and is in line to make about $22.72MM in 2013/14 before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2014. He'll be 36 years old at that point, with plenty of NBA mileage on his body, but considering the number of players we're seeing continue their careers into their late-30s these days, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see Dirk still playing well at that time. As a point of comparison, Kevin Garnett hit free agency at age 36 this summer and re-signed with the Celtics on a three-year deal.