Remodeled Mavs ready to 'go for it'

— -- DALLAS -- Drastic change has become the norm for the Dallas Mavericks' roster.

Dirk Nowitzki has been the lone constant on the roster since the Mavs' 2010-11 title run and NBA lockout the following offseason. He has had 53 teammates during the past three and a half seasons. The starting jobs at point guard and center, in particular, have been filled in revolving-door fashion.

After recent offseasons that will be remembered for big swings and misses, the Mavs' front office hopes that has changed after its most recent remodeling job. The Mavs turned an aging eighth seed into a team they believe will be legitimate contenders, acquiring center Tyson Chandler, small forward Chandler Parsons and point guard Rajon Rondo since the end of last season.

It should be much easier to keep this core together than it was to create it in the first place. For various reasons, the odds were against the Mavs acquiring Chandler, Parsons or Rondo on an individual basis. Parsons was a restricted free agent who had a significant part in his former franchise's plans for the future. Chandler and Rondo were trade targets the front office described to Nowitzki as "very long shots."

The chances of landing all three?

"I would have laughed," Mavs owner Mark Cuban told ESPNDallas.com when asked what he would have thought if the scenario was mentioned as a possibility after the Mavs' first-round exit to the San Antonio Spurs last spring. "No chance. We've been fortunate."

As Nowitzki said, "Sometimes you've got to get a little lucky."

A look at the circumstances of each of the Mavs' major acquisitions since the end of last season:

The deal: Traded Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington, Shane Larkin and two 2014 second-round picks to the Knicks for Chandler and Raymond Felton.

The Mavs allowed Chandler to leave after the lockout primarily because they wanted to create enough cap space to land a "big fish" in free agency, with Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams the top targets in the front office's plans at the time. Dallas ended up using a chunk of that cap space to bring Chandler back a few years later -- and Cuban admitted he made a mistake by not re-signing Chandler in the first place.

Felton, a point guard the Knicks wanted to dump who has a $3.8 million salary this season and a $3.95 million player option for next season, was essentially the tax the Mavs had to pay to get back the rim-protecting, elite-rebounding big man who was the finishing piece to the 2011 championship puzzle.

"You've got to put yourself in position to, when the right deal is there, strike," said Nowitzki, who is consulted on every move considered by the Mavs' front office. "We did that with the cap room. It worked out our way."

Chandler, 32, has made just as much of an impact as he did during his previous one-year Dallas stint. His numbers (10.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game) are actually better across the board.

Dallas president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, who handles the majority of the Mavs' trade negotiations, had been quietly working on a deal for Chandler for a few months before pulling the trigger on June 25. Nelson saw the struggling Knicks' hiring of Phil Jackson as team president in March as a potential opportunity for the Mavs.

"When there's a change of regime, a lot of times guys are looking to set the table with their own players and coaches and philosophies," Nelson told ESPNDallas.com. "When you have a change of the guard, that's when the opportunity to turn over stones is a little bit better."

Dallas entered the offseason determined to make a significant upgrade at center after starting a collection of journeymen, such as Brendan Haywood, Chris Kaman and Dalembert, in the three seasons since Chandler left.

The Mavs liked Marcin Gortat, whom they once signed to an offer sheet as a restricted free agent that the Orlando Magic surprisingly matched, but weren't confident they could convince him to leave a good situation with the Washington Wizards. They were intrigued by Pau Gasol but had concerns about how he'd fit defensively with Nowitzki.

The Mavs knew how well Chandler, whose value dipped last season because of a disappointing season marred by a fractured leg, fit with Nowitzki and pounced on the chance to pair them up again.

"Let's just say we were very aggressive to get a presence on our front line that could make Dirk's life easier, not to mention a great guy in the locker room," Nelson said. "When that situation presented itself, it covered a lot of bases and reunited a pretty good front line. Those are two guys a lot of people want to play with."

The deal: Signed Parsons to a three-year, $46 million offer sheet.

The Mavs played out the pie-in-the-sky scenarios during the first week of free agency. Carmelo Anthony made a brief stop in his tour for a meeting with the Mavs at Cuban's home. Cuban traveled to Cleveland to meet with LeBron James' agent.

"We knew what we were up against on both of them, but to be one of a handful of teams that were granted requests, we knew we were doing things the right way," Nelson said. "Even in the process of taking those meetings, we focused on what was real and what was possible."