Dirk Nowitzki encouraged by Mavs direction

The Dallas Mavericks whiffed on their offseason free agency plans two weeks in a row. They wanted to get hometown product Deron Williams last summer, but he stayed with the Nets. This past summer they tried to woo Dwight Howard who ultimately chose a different Texas team. Both season leading up to free agency, the Mavs trotted out a collection of players on one-year deals.

“It was tough,” Nowitzki told ESPNDallas.com. “First, it was Chris Paul. We didn’t get him and then obviously went for Dwight. We went all-out. We all flew out there. Cuban put a suit on, so that already showed us how bad we wanted him.

“But hey, it is what it is. We didn’t get him. I was frustrated there for a while, not knowing what we were going to do. Are we going to sign nine one-year deals again? But obviously Mark decided to go a different route. The first signing I think was Calderon, who I always liked as a point guard. I think Monta was probably a surprise to everybody. I didn’t see that coming. I always thought he wanted a little more money somewhere else. He did. I was fired up to play with him, even though I didn’t know how he was going to fit in here, but I was excited about the possibility of playing with him.

“I think as a franchise, we’ve moved on. We didn’t go for the whole cap space deal again, like we did last year, so I was obviously pleased to see that.”

If a mid-season deal presents itself, the Mavericks could look to take advantage of it.

“We’re still not done building. … Our goal obviously since 2011 hasn’t changed. We’re not happy making the playoffs. We want to compete for the championship.”