In their continuing effort to build a contender for the first time since their NBA championship three years ago, the Dallas Mavericks are looking for a point guard they can trust, something they don’t have at the moment, but the potential addition of Jameer Nelson might take care of that problem.

By bringing back Tyson Chandler from the New York Knicks via trade, the Mavericks lost two point guards: Jose Calderon who was a starter last season and Shane Larkin, entering his second NBA season and didn’t play a very big part in the small success the Mavs can attribute to last season. The Knicks are trying to get rid of him as we speak.

Nelson, 32, has been with the Orlando Magic his entire NBA career, giving them 10 seasons of solid basketball since 2004. His best years are behind him, but he’s still a solid point guard and a smart distributor of the ball who also doesn’t let his small stature give him a problem of scoring on players. He averaged 12.1 points and 7 assists per game last season for the Magic, although he did miss 14 games.

His injuries are the worrying issue, although the Mavs do have Devin Harris and Gal Mekel in support. It doesn’t spell championship or All-Star team, but Mekel should do better in his second NBA Season, and Harris continues to be a valuable backup off the bench who can play in two guard positions.

There’s also Raymond Felton on the team, who just avoided some jail time. However, the Mavs don’t seem to be too confident about what they can get from him, and are willing to spend another $2-3 million a season on a point guard they feel more confident and comfortable with.

Mo Williams has also been in contact with them but unlike Nelson, who seems to be only entertaining offers from the Mavs and the Magic, Mo Williams is listening to plenty of offers and is probably a more popular choice if it comes down to picking one of the two.

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