was hired as Dallas' general manager on February 7. Within a week of his hiring, the Mavericks had released Fred Roberts and Oliver Miller. They then traded Jamal Mashburn to the Miami Heat for forwards Kurt Thomas and Martin Müürsepp and guard Sasha Danilović. Thomas did not play in 1996–97 and only ended up playing in five games as a Maverick before signing as a free agent with the New York Knicks. Danilović played in 13 games for the Mavericks before opting out of his contract and signing with Bucker Bologna. Müürsepp played in 73 games for the Mavericks over the next two years before leaving the NBA. Chris Gatling was the Mavericks' sole representative in the NBA All-Star Game, but he did not last much longer in Dallas. In one of the most massive two-team trades in NBA history, the Mavericks traded Gatling, Jim Jackson, Sam Cassell, George McCloud, and Eric Montross to the New Jersey Nets for 7 ft 6 in center Shawn Bradley, forward Ed O'Bannon, and guards Khalid Reeves and Robert Pack. Nelson claimed the trades were necessary because the situation in the locker room was unacceptable. However, whereas Cassell became a consistent floor leader, and Jackson, Gatling and, McCloud all continued to be substantial contributors to their teams for several more years, only Bradley lasted any time in Dallas. He would spend part of the next eight years putting up modest contributions for Dallas and giving them substantial numbers in blocked shots. Undrafted rookie guard Erick Strickland averaged 10.6 ppg. Along with Finley and Bradley, he was expected to be the core of this new Mavericks team. The constant changes made it impossible to establish any team chemistry in 1996–97, and the Mavericks finished 24–58. But they had acquired some of the pieces that would help them start to turn things around in years to come. In 1997–98, despite a poor record of 20–62, Dallas had a knack for giving some of the NBA's elite teams a hard time to beat the Seattle SuperSonics, New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, and Chicago Bulls. Against the Bulls, Dallas went on a 17–2 run to force overtime, where they won 104–97. Midway through that season, Nelson fired Cleamons and named himself head coach. 1998–2019: The Dirk Nowitzki era 1998–2001: New beginnings In the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, the Mavericks finished with a lowly 19–31 record, but Michael Finley and