“He’s one of the fastest guards I’ve ever played with,’’ Nowitzki said of one of his new teammates. “Obviously, he’s got to use that speed to our advantage.

“He’s got to push the ball off makes, misses — it doesn’t really matter. He’s got to fly up the court and get the wings running with him.’’

And that’s not all Nowitzki is expecting from Collison.

“He’s got to penetrate for us, make some stuff happen, collapse the defense, kick it out to shooters,’’ Nowitzki said. “We expect him to be our motor every night, like (Jason) Kidd was. We expect him to be a hassle on defense.’’