The Mavericks haven't been doing much of winning the last few seasons -- with their last playoff appearance coming in the 2015-16 season -- and it's created an awkward situation. The roster still has expensive veterans like Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews. Dirk Nowitzki is going to return for his 21st season. These are players that probably won't want to sit around and wait for a rebuild.

Apparently, neither does the Mavericks organization. Despite only winning 24 games last season, Dallas is reportedly going to swing for the fences in free agency and try to grab a talented big man. According to Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, the Mavericks want to be back to winning sooner rather than later.

Ever since word spread in league circles in March that Dirk Nowitzki would return to the Mavericks for his 21st season, there have also been rumblings that the Dallas front office will look to make additions this summer that can put the team back on a winning track. The Mavericks can create space to sign a max free agent, and multiple league sources expect them to pursue a trio of big men: DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus Cousins, and restricted free agent Julius Randle. If the Mavericks do indeed plan to pursue expensive bigs in free agency, then it'd make sense to target a primary scorer, like Porter, rather than Bamba.  

These are quite the names Dallas has been attached to and they could all mean a different direction for the franchise. DeMarcus Cousins is coming off a devastating Achilles injury that could change the shape of his career. Dallas would be taking a big risk by signing him, but if he recovers well then the a player as talented as he is could help put the franchise back to its winning ways.

DeAndre Jordan is a peculiar name to see appear on the rumor mill. The Mavericks already signed him once before during his last free agency, but Jordan infamously changed his mind at the last minute and chose to return to Los Angeles and play for Doc Rivers and the Clippers. Apparently, the Mavericks still want to see what he could do with them in Dallas despite the awkward past.

Julius Randle might be the most interesting name of them all, because depending on how the restricted free-agency market pans out, Dallas might be able to get him relatively cheap. He's young enough to where, if Dallas did sign him, he could continue to grow and develop next to the other young assets the Mavericks are acquiring. However, while he's talented, he will not be leading the Mavericks to the playoffs anytime soon.

It'll be interesting to see what direction the Mavericks choose to go in this offseason. They do have veterans on the roster, but with additions like Dennis Smith Jr., and whoever they take in this year's NBA Draft, there's a great opportunity for Dallas to take its lumps now and build through the draft instead of trying to find a shortcut to winning now. However, maybe the Mavericks feel they owe it to Nowitzki to try and win games while he's still playing for them.