The 2010-11 NBA season is now “officially” in the books. The Dallas Mavericks held their championship parade in front of hundreds of thousands of adoring fans on Thursday, so the last remaining team is now saying their goodbyes and heading to their offseason homes. The 2011 NBA Draft is now less than a week away, and as teams prepare for what promises to be a long, bitter lockout they are working furiously to get deals done and do a little housekeeping in advance of the July 1st deadline. Here’s a rundown of some of the teams actively looking to make a deal:

The Los Angeles Lakers are trying to decide just how much tweaking needs to happen as they look to get back into contention following an unceremonious second round exit. As HOOPSWORLD’s Eric Pincus reported this morning, the Lakers are contemplating moving All-Star power forward Pau Gasol, and Minnesota would seem to be a logical destination. Gasol could help Spanish teammate Ricky Rubio make the adjustment to life in the NBA, both on and off the court. The Lakers would love to have local favorite Kevin Love in the mix, and if the Timberwolves were to throw in the second overall pick in next week’s draft the Lakers might just pull the trigger on a deal. For more on that, read Pincus’ column here!

The Portland Trail Blazers continue to talk with teams about deals involving point guard Andre Miller, though they are certainly not 100% sold on dealing him. For Portland, Miller is a valuable trade chip as much for the non-guaranteed nature of his contract as he is for his status as a well-respected veteran floor leader. At the very least, a new collective bargaining agreement will involve a considerably reduced salary cap for the NBA, and teams that need to cut salary could see Miller’s contract as a viable way to do it.

The Utah Jazz should really get on the phone with the Blazers, as they have two pieces that have been of interest to Portland in the past. Portland made a qualifying offer to Paul Millsap when he was a free agent two summers ago, and now the Jazz are listening to offer for their power forward. The rise of LaMarcus Aldridge might mean the Blazers aren’t as interested in Millsap as before, but if Portland can’t address their big need at center they might still consider playing Millsap alongside Aldridge. Additionally, the Jazz are making a lot of calls to gauge interest in All-Star point guard Devin Harris, whose radically different style of play makes him a tough replacement for Deron Williams. Miller would be a better fit for the Jazz, as he has a much wider array of half court offensive skills and is also more effective in pick-and-roll situations. Also like Williams, Miller can post up and make things happen from the paint, which Harris has never been known for. The Blazers and Jazz should be spending a great deal of time talking to each other over the next two weeks.

The Philadelphia 76ers continue to shop Andre Iguodala, and the only reason a deal isn’t already done is that more offers may continue to surface. First and foremost, the Sixers need to curt salary in preparation for a sale, and moving Iguodala is their best route to financial flexibility. The Utah Jazz, again, should be involved in the discussion, as Iguodala would make a great replacement for free agent Andrei Kirilenko. Philly is looking for a big, so Millsap would make some sense there, but if pure cap consideration is the issue they could pull the trigger on a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have a large trade exception they’re looking to move. The Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are among other teams who are looking for a small forward upgrade, and could all be involved in discussions for Iguodala.

Two other teams that have put basically everything on the table are the Houston Rockets and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sources close to the Timberwolves told HOOPSWORLD recently that after a 17-win season you have to consider everything, and there are no untouchables on the roster, including All-Star power forward Kevin Love. There has been some discussion of moving Michael Beasley, in particular, perhaps to the LA Clippers, who would use him at the three. The Rockets are, as always, just looking for a deal. They need a center and have also targeted small forward as a primary need after trading Shane Battier at the trade deadline.

The Toughest Job In Basketball?

The stated goal of every NBA team before every new season is to win the championship, but in most cases that’s a selling point to their fans rather than a true and honest belief in the possibility. That’s why it was so surprising when the Miami HEAT all but throw a championship parade after signing Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh . . .and before playing a single game. When the HEAT set a championship as the only definition of success they set themselves up to fail, and made it so that even the impressive accomplishment of getting the NBA Finals was not enough to call the 2010-11 season a success.

Most point a finger at LeBron James as the one who is bearing the brunt of the wave of angry disappointment now coursing through the veins of HEAT fans. After all, he was the big name who made such a production of his decision to move to Miami. Still, we all know it’s not the star players who ultimately pay a price for falling short of expectations. Ultimately it is HEAT head coach Erik Spoelstra who will get the most scrutiny, even though he presided over one of the biggest turnarounds of the 2010-11 season.

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle went out of his way, even asked reporters to take a note about this, to recognize his colleague for his accomplishment in the light of such scrutiny.

“I thought Erik Spoelstra had the toughest job in basketball this year with that team because of the way the team came together and because of the unbelievably high expectations,” said Carlisle. “Those guys made sacrifices to come together. They sacrificed money and they sacrificed some other things. Their time will come, but this is our time. My hat’s off to Erik and the job that he did. It’s extremely difficult, extremely trying, and we went through a lot of difficult times before we got to our moment, and their time will certainly come.”

As one of the youngest head coaches in the NBA, it’s impressive that Spoelstra was able to take a team that made so many roster moves last summer all the way to the NBA Finals. It’s also good to see that management has already given him their vote of confidence going forward. It’s just unfortunate that many see his season as a failure because of the all the preseason hype around the HEAT. By any other definition, this was a very successful season for Spoelstra and his team.

The Matrix Reloaded

When the Dallas Mavericks acquired Shawn “Matrix” Marion as part of a four-team deal, many across the NBA thought they were getting damaged goods. After all, Marion had struggled in Miami and Toronto, and was at the beginning of a lucrative five-year contract. Had Mavericks owner Mark Cuban again overspent on a player past his prime?

Marion is certainly a couple of steps below the players he was in his prime in Phoenix, but over the second half of the 2010-11 NBA season he showed he still has plenty of basketball left in him. He moved into the starting lineup after Caron Butler was lost for the season, he was huge as the first line of defense against players like Ron Artest, Kevin Durant and LeBron James, and at the end of the day he was a huge part of the reason why the Dallas Mavericks are now NBA Champions.

{AUTHOR_BOX}”It wasn’t just about accepting a role for Shawn,” explains Rick Carlisle, who convinced Marion to change his game in significant ways this season. “He created a different role for himself by adjusting to our personnel. It wasn’t so much about him doing what I asked him to do, he’s smart, one of the smartest players we have. He’s one of the guys on our team who would know what every guy was supposed to do on every set play. He has that kind of basketball IQ. The thing that was important for us is that he’s our best athlete. He was an x-factor guy for us in just about every series. He’s an unconventional player, but if you look at what he’s done statistically in his career, he’s up there with some of the all-time greats in terms of his impact on the game. He was phenomenal.”

“You know, I think at the end of the day this is what you put all in all the work for, to be in this situation,” said Marion. “It’s amazing. I don’t care what has to be done, whatever you have to do to help yourself and your team accomplish the goal, that’s what it’s about. As professionals this is what we strive for year in and year out, to be a champion. There are a lot of great players in the history of the NBA who have never been able to accomplish this and we’ve done it.”

Effort has never been an issue for Marion, and he realized that giving everything he had to give was an important part of helping his team win it all.

“For me, it wasn’t just about digging deeper, it was about not wanting to leave any regrets out there on the floor. You want to know that you went out there and played until you couldn’t play any more . . .until you couldn’t jump any more or run any more. That’s what it was about. I think everybody played until they just couldn’t play any more and then they got a quick breath and got right back in the game. That’s what it’s about. When you go out there and you strive to leave it on the floor, you don’t want any regrets. You don’t want to be second-guessing yourself over the summer wishing you would have done this or that. You want to know you left it all on the floor and you got it done.”

There is always the temptation to look forward, and there has been a lot of talk around the Dallas media about the Mavericks repeating. To a man, though, the Mavericks are squarely focused on enjoying this championship to the fullest before even thinking about next season.

“I’m full now! Woooo-eee! I’ve got a different appetite now,” said Marion, laughing. “Right now we’re just going to enjoy this, but when it gets to be time for me to get back into the groove of things, we have to set the goals again. We always have goals an aspirations every year during training camp to aspire to be a champion. I think it will be hard, but this is going to be a big summer for the NBA. We’ll see how everything pans out with the lockout and the collective bargaining agreement, so for now we’re going to enjoy the championship and you’re going to see that!”

The Dallas Mavericks had to prove a lot of people wrong this season. They did it collectively and they did it individually . . and the reward for all of their hard work is the ultimate payoff. The Dallas Mavericks are the 2010-11 NBA Champions.

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