A little more than a month has passed in the NBA season, but it seems like we’ve already had a full year of distractions, both good and bad. Portland great; Indiana even better. The Knicks and Nets taking turns who’s bad and who’s worse. Kobe close to returning; Rose out for the year. Dwayne Wade hurting; the Atlantic Division hurting even more.
Meanwhile, the last team other than the Miami Heat to win a championship is quietly turning into a solid team, which is interesting for two reasons.
1. How is it that anything Mark Cuban owns is quiet?
2. After winning their first title, the Mavericks took such an unusual approach in trying to win a second.
No one is suggesting the Mavericks are title contenders this season. Then again, no one suggested it in 2010-11. The Mavericks of that season may have been one of the most unlikely NBA champions. They were the third seed in the West. On paper, they probably had no better than the sixth- or seventh-best collection of talent in the league.
But they had a dream postseason, when Dirk Nowitzki played like the franchise player that he’s always been and guys like Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and Tyson Chandler played to the outer limits of their talent. Role players Peja Stojakovic, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood made key contributions. Shawn Marion brought consistency, defense and leadership. And Jason Kidd was masterful in directing the show.
It was a magical playoff run that included sending Phil Jackson into retirement with a second-round sweep of the 
defending champion Lakers, who had homecourt advantage.
The direction Cuban chose after winning the championship has been well-documented. He was well aware that the Mavericks were a flawed team, so he decided to not sign some key free agents, then attempt to lure elite players to Dallas. That did not work for two years until this summer, when he was able to sign second-tier free agents Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon, the latter of whom threw an inbounds pass to Ellis for the buzzer-beating game-winner Saturday night at Portland.
The Mavericks intimidate no one, but their 13-8 record after Saturday’s victory at Portland – perhaps their best win of the season – would be good enough to get them into the playoffs. And, of course, better than all but two teams in the East.
“We’re flying under the radar, not expected to do much,” guard Vince Carter told the Dallas Morning News. “We’re in position to do some things if we continue to stay together, and obviously if we stay healthy.”
That has been a big difference between this season and last season, when Nowitzki missed the first 27 games following arthroscopic knee surgery. The Mavericks had to win 15 of their last 24 games – and five of their last seven – simply to make it to .500. They were 41-41, not good enough to continue their streak of playoff appearances, which ended at 12.
Enter Ellis, who has been a great scorer since his second season in the league but never has had a teammate as good as Nowitzki. Stephen Curry, David Lee and Brandon Jennings are all excellent players, but they’re not Dirk.
Although the Mavericks had a high opinion of Ellis, he has been better than expected. He currently leads Dallas with 21.6 points per game. Nowitzki is not far behind at 20.9 points, so he could overtake Ellis. But if Ellis maintains his pace, it would be the first time Nowitzki has not led Dallas in scoring since the 1999-2000 season.
But Nowitzki is one of those rare superstars who doesn’t have to be the leading scorer. For several years, he has embraced the notion that if the Mavericks could get another elite player, he would accept a secondary role. He has also been very public about his willingness to take a significant pay cut next season from his $22.7 million salary so a premium free agent can be signed.
Leading scorer? No big deal for Dirk.
“Knowing Dirk, he’d stick on 16 (points) for the next two years if he could if we win the games,” Cuban told reporters. 
“That’s all he cares about.”
Nowitzki’s presence undoubtedly creates opportunities for Ellis he has never had before. Ellis, who has averaged more than 20 points four times in eight seasons and has a 19.5 career average, never has had a teammate who commanded a double-team. Nowitzki also is one of the greatest shooters in basketball history, so when he is outside, it opens up driving lanes for Ellis, who has taken full advantage.
The Mavericks have a long way to go to be a smooth functioning unit. But Rick Carlisle has proven to be excellent at integrating new players into the system and getting the most out of them. The Mavericks are getting contributions from role players such as Samuel Dalembert and DeJuan Blair, and Carlisle has made optimum use of his bench.
The Mavericks are no doubt earning respect, but in a conference with the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Rockets and the soaring Blazers, they are not a front-burner team. But they are comfortable with that. They’ve been that way before.
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Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.