The Dallas Mavericks will be without forward Devean George for at least the first two games after an MRI revealed a left hand injury, the Dallas Morning News is reporting.

"It's something that's being addressed," Coach Rick Carlisle said. "The MRI showed swelling. It shouldn't be that long, but the first couple games, he's not going to be available, which hurts us."

Dallas guard Jason Terry is warning people not to sleep on the team this season.

"I can see that they?re doubting us, and it?s been a long time since we?ve had that doubt about this team and this organization," said Terry.

"So I think guys are going to be ready, and teams are going to come in kind of like, 'Oh yeah, we ran through the Mavericks last year, they?re the same old team,' but it?s going to be a big shock to them."

The 2010 NBA All-Star game will be played at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News is reporting.

An announcement is expected to come on Thursday when the Mavericks open their season.

Owner Mark Cuban has previously been against trying to get the game to Dallas because tickets would not be available to the team's season ticket holders, but in the 50,000 seat stadium that would no longer be an issue.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have exercised the option on forward Shawne Williams for the 2009-10 season.  

?We are excited to exercise the option on Shawne?s contract,? said General Manager/President of Basketball Operations Donnie Nelson.  ?He is a young player that has improved every season and has a bright future as a Maverick.?

Williams (6-9, 225) was acquired in a trade with the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Eddie Jones on October 10, 2008.  He was selected by Indiana with the 17th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. The third-year forward averaged 6.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 65 games (3 starts) last season with the Pacers improving on his rookie numbers of 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in 2006-07.

He played five games for the Mavericks this preseason and averaged 2.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8.6 minutes.

Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle has been impressed with the play of Gerald Green in the preseason and won't hesitate to use him in the team's opener against the Rockets.

"Is he definitely going to be in the rotation against Houston? I don't know," Coach Rick Carlisle said. "Would I hesitate to use him? Absolutely not."

Green has helped provide energy off the bench in his previous stops, but mental miscues have doomed him.

"Based on his preseason, he's certainly in the equation as a guy we got to consider for the rotation," Carlisle said. "But in the last game, you saw some of the things that have been his nemeses ? over-dribbling a little bit, turnovers, a couple defensive mistakes. But he established over the first seven games some real consistency in those areas. So I don't look at those things as super-negatives."

Green believes that he'll learn from Jason Kidd as well.

"You can look at my old teams and the best guard I probably had was Rajon Rondo and I was very proud of him the way he developed," Green said. "But I haven't had a hall of famer.

"There's nobody like Jason Kidd. He sees what you're supposed to do before you do. He'll tell me, 'G, do this and trust me.' And then you do that, and it works."

Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki aren't fazed by all this talk of the Celtics and Lakers meeting in the Finals once again; they believe the Mavericks can win it all.

"Our goal is not to make the playoffs. Our goal has to be a championship team. We can?t be satisfied just making the playoffs," Nowitzki said.

"We?re not that far off," Dirk added. "If we can run this offense and stay solid defensively, we can play with anybody in this league."

Kidd, who only played half of the season in Dallas last year, agrees with his teammate.

"I agree with Dirk. We don?t talk about making the playoffs. We talk about winning a championship. If you talk about it and see it, it helps it become reality. If you get in that position, you have to take advantage of it. And we?re going to try to take advantage of it," Kidd said.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have requested waivers on guard Keith McLeod.

McLeod (6-2, 190) signed as a free agent on July 11, 2008 after playing internationally with Montepaschi Siena in 2007-08.  He averaged 4.5 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 14.4 minutes in four Euroleague games.  He was sidelined the entire preseason due to a right hamstring strain.

The four-year NBA veteran has played with five different teams (Minnesota, Utah, Indiana, Golden State and Dallas) and has career averages of 5.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 200 games.

The Mavericks roster now stands at 14 players.

Bulls rookie Derrick Rose had his strongest showing of his young career yet, scoring 30 points including the go ahead basket with 41.5 seconds left, to bring the team back from a 23-point deficit to beat the Mavericks 109-105 Tuesday night, according to a report published by the Associated Press.

Rose, the first overall pick in the draft, went 13-for-18 from the field and had seven assists.

The Mavericks are reportedly looking to ensure some depth on their roster heading into the 2008-09 season.

"I'm getting a feel for it," Carlisle said of his team's rotation. "But the regular season is the real barometer and a lot of these guys have a track record so I know that we have guys who can get the job done."

Point guard Jason Terry believes that the Mavericks have lacked depth in recent years.

"The last two years, we haven't been as deep ? we've been deep, but not productive ? so this year we're looking for some of that production night in and night out," Terry said.

Mavericks' point guard Jason Kidd claims that he didn't give his gold medal from Beijing to the wife of Las Vegas casino owner Steve Wynn.

"I told her she can borrow it whenever she wants, but it?s still mine," Kidd said.