Derek Harper was a solid all-around point guard for the Mavericks back in the day.  His best season came back in 1990-91, when he played in 77 games (all starts) in which he averaged 37.4 minutes, 19.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  Harper played in 872 games (620 starts) in his 12 years with the Mavericks and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 14.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game.  Harper is still the Mavericks’ all-time leader in both assists (5,111) and steals (1,551).  He is also #3 in games played (872), #5 in three pointers made (705) and #4 in points scored (12,597) in Mavericks’ history.

34-year old power forward Dirk Nowitzki’s 2012-13 season started late as he was rehabbing from knee surgery.  That hurt him early on, but he looked like his old self late in the 2012-13 season.  He played in 53 games (47 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 31.3 minutes, 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 1,108 games (1,077 starts) in his first 15 years with the Mavericks and he is averaging 36.1 minutes, 22.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.  Nowitzki is the Mavericks’ all-time leader in games played (1,108), three pointers made (1,340), defensive rebounds (7,814), total rebounds (9,096) and points scored (25,051).  He is also #2 in offensive rebounds (1,282), #4 in assists (2,923), #2 in steals (964) and #2 in blocked shots (1,050) in Mavs’ history.  I expect Nowitzki to bounce back big time for the Mavericks in 2013-14.

53-year old head coach Rick Carlisle did the best he could with the players owner Mark Cuban gave him to work with in 2012-13.  The Mavericks just missed the playoffs in 2012-13 with a 41-41 record (50%).  The Mavericks are now 239-155 (60.7%) during the regular season in Carlisle’s first five years on the job.  He is also 23-18 (56.1%) in the playoffs and he has won an NBA Championship with the Mavericks.  Carlisle is now 520-366 (58.7%) as a head coach during the regular season in his first 11 years on the job in the NBA.  He is also 53-50 (51.5%) in the playoffs so far as an NBA head coach.  If the Mavericks improve the roster this summer, Carlisle will get them back to the playoffs in 2013-14.

The Mavericks auditioned a lot of rookies in 2012-13, but they didn’t get much production out of them.  22-year old small forward Jae Crowder played the most out of the Mavericks’ rookies in 2012-13.  He played in 78 games (16 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 17.3 minutes, 5.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  He only shot 38.4% from the floor, 32.8% from the three point line and 64.4% from the free throw line last year.  He did have 13 games in which he scored at least 10 points last year.  28-year old center Bernard James played in 46 games (11 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 9.9 minutes, 2.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  James shot 51.5% from the floor but only 61% from the free throw line as a rookie.  He had 2 games in which he scored at least 10 points, 12 games with 5 or more rebounds and he had 7 tackles with 3 or more blocked shots.  21-year old shooting guard Jared Cunningham played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 3.3 minutes, 2.0 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  27-year old point guard Josh Akognon played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 3.0 minutes, 1.7 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  23-year old shooting guard Chris Wright played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 1.3 minutes and 0.7 points per game last year.

The Dallas Mavericks missed the playoffs for the first time in quite a while in 2012-13.  They finished up with a 41-41 record, good for 4th place in the Southwest Division, 17 games behind the Spurs.  Here are the players who made the biggest impacts for the Mavericks in 2012-13, in my opinion:

TEAM MVP:  O.J. Mayo – 25-year old shooting guard O.J. Mayo was the Mavericks best player when you consider the whole season.  Mayo played in 82 games (all starts) for the Mavericks in 2012-13 and he averaged 35.5 minutes, 15.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He shot an impressive 40.7% from three point range last year.  Mayo only had 2 double-doubles in 2012-13, but he had at least 20 points in a game 22 times.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:  Shawn Marion – 34-year old forward Shawn Marion proved that he had plenty left in the gas tank last year for the Mavericks.  Marion played in 67 games (all starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 30.0 minutes, 12.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He shot 51.4% from the floor last year.  He also had 14 double-doubles and he had at least 10 rebounds in 15 games last year.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:  Darren Collison – 25-year old point guard Darren Collison just could never earn head coach Rick Carlisle’s trust in 2012-13.  Collison played in 81 games (47 starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 29.3 minutes, 12.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Collison only had 3 double-doubles last year.

25-year old shooting guard O.J. Mayo is going to opt out of his $4 million dollar player option for the 2013-14 season and become an unrestricted free agent.  This makes perfect sense for Mayo as he outplayed his contract big time last year.  Mayo played in 82 games (all starts) for the Mavericks last year and he averaged 35.5 minutes, 15.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He has now played in 383 games (263 starts) in his first five years in the NBA and he is averaging 33.4 minutes, 15.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  The Mavericks might look into re-signing Mayo over the summer if the price tag doesn’t get out of hand.  He was the Mavericks’ best player in the first half of the 2012-13 season.

Signing 37-year old point guard Mike James was a big waste of time for the Mavericks.  James has played in 44 games (22 starts) for the Mavericks so far this year and he is averaging 19.2 minutes, 6.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.  He is only shooting 36.8% from the floor so far this year.  The Mavericks should have just bit the bullet and rolled with 25-year old Darren Collison as the starting point guard.  Collison has played in 80 games (47 starts) so far this year for the Mavericks and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 11.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

The Mavericks got 27-year old shooting guard Anthony Morrow in a trade deadline deal with the Hawks and he has not done too much for them so far this year.  Morrow has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far this year and he is averaging 5.2 minutes, 2.4 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  He has now played in 37 games (1 start) overall this year for the Hawks and Mavericks and he is averaging 10.0 minutes, 4.2 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Morrow’s career appears to be going in the wrong direction.

25-year old shooting guard O.J. Mayo started the 2012-13 season like a ball of fire, but he has slowed down lately.  Since February 1st, Mayo has played in 29 games (all starts) in which he is averaging 35.2 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.  Mayo has now played in 75 games (all starts) overall this year and he is averaging 35.6 minutes, 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Mayo is shooting 45.4% from the floor, 40.7% from three point range and 81.9% from the free throw line so far this year.  The Mavericks need Mayo to step up if they are going to rise up and snare the #8 spot in the Western Conference Playoffs this year.

The Mavericks have signed 27-year old SG/PG Josh Akognon to a 10-day contract.  He was with the Mavericks in training camp before signing a deal to play in China.  He played in 36 games for the Liaoning Jieabo Hunters of China this year and he averaged slightly under 25 minutes per night in which he averaged 29 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.  He will likely be sitting near the end of the bench for the Mavericks the rest of the way in 2012-13.