The 2011 NBA Finals, and the only NBA championship in Mavericks history, seems longer away than ever before as the 2013 season is set to begin.
Dallas broke up their championship team in an effort to have salary cap space last summer, but they were unable to find a second star to play with Dirk Nowitzki.
As a result, eight teams are getting better NBA championship odds than the Mavericks at 33/1 and four – the Lakers, Spurs, Thunder and Clippers – are getting better odds to win the West than Dallas at 16/1.
The Heat, coming off their 2012 championship, are the favorites at 11/5, but the Lakers (5/2) and the Thunder (9/2) are right behind them in an NBA as top-heavy as the league has been in over a generation.
If you're looking at long shots, two of the Mavericks competitors in the West – the Grizzlies (33/1) and the Nuggets (66/1) – seem a bit undervalued, but this doesn't look like a season for long-shots.