The Dallas Mavericks have been busy this offseason as they are looking to make another championship run during the Dirk Nowitzki era and are looking to lure free-agent-to-be Dwight Howard by adding some big names.

Rumor has it that the Mavericks have already begun preliminary talks with the Boston Celtics with hopes of acquiring point guard Rajon Rondo.

Rondo, who currently has two years remaining on his $25 million contract, is widely considered now as the central cornerstone of the Celtics with forward Paul Pierce and center Kevin Garnett being moved to the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week.

President of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters Thursday the club is planning to build around Rondo and he will not be traded. When asked if he was comfortable with Rondo being the team's centerpiece, Ainge said: "Yes we are. There's guys we're not looking to move right now."

The Mavericks have recently formulated a plan to rid themselves of their No. 13 pick in this year's NBA Draft with the hopes of luring Howard from the Lakers.

The best case scenario for the Mavericks is that they'll land Howard for next season and have him playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter and Shawn Marion as the team's core for the season.  They would have only the $2.5-million exception plus veteran-minimum contracts left with which to build the rest of the roster, although they do plan on making a strong run at retaining Brandan Wright.

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